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Organizing for Action to Effect Changes
Roles and Duties in Political Campaign
For many campaigns, especially smaller, one person may hold many of these roles. In addition, many of these roles may be volunteers instead of paid employees. Regardless, once a role is assigned, the responsibility lies with that person
CAMPAIGN MANAGER
The campaign manager oversees all aspects of the campaign including day-to-day operations, the hiring and management of staff, the coordination and implementation of the fundraising operations and ongoing coordination with the candidate. They are also responsible for creating and managing the campaign budget. Campaign managers must have excellent organizational skills, be level-headed, have good interpersonal skills and not be afraid of raising money.
FINANCE DIRECTOR/FUNDRAISER
The finance director is responsible for raising the money that will allow the campaign to accomplish its goals. The finance director works closely with the candidate, campaign manager and a finance committee to meet the financial goals of the campaign. They are in charge of keeping the candidate on track with fundraising, preparing for and staffing call time, and overseeing all fundraising events. A good fundraiser must be highly organized, outgoing and willing to push the candidate and campaign toward meeting their fundraising goals.
COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR/PRESS SECRETARY
The communications director is in charge of all of the campaign’s interactions with the media. They build relationships with the press, communicate with the media as the key spokesperson, set up interviews and identify media opportunities for the campaign. They may help write and develop campaign literature, draft speeches for the candidate and create copy for the campaign web site. The communications director should have prior experience and contacts with the media, be a good writer and communicator, and be a pro-active thinker and strategist.
FIELD DIRECTOR/VOTER CONTACT
The field director is in charge of making sure the campaign gets its message out through direct voter contact. Their main responsibility is to develop a comprehensive plan that includes door knocking and phoning in order to ID voters and persuade them about the candidate. They may also coordinate voter registration efforts. Finally they coordinate the GOTV effort if there is no staff person specifically responsible for GOTV. The field director needs to be highly organized, energetic, capable of motivating and managing staff and volunteers and able to manage large quantities of data. As with most things, the number of field staff will depend on the size of the campaign.
CAMPAIGN TREASURER
The campaign treasurer oversees the financial and accounting aspects of the campaign. They monitor all contributions, maintain financial records and are responsible for compliance with the relevant election board. On smaller campaigns treasurers may have the responsibility to approve expenditures and assist in the preparation and monitoring of the budget. Campaign treasurers are often the only other individual, apart from the candidate, whose name is filed with an election authority, and must have significant experience in accounting or finance.
TECHNOLOGY MANAGER
This information technology manager coordinates and manages all aspects of the campaign with regard to technology – web site, database, computer infrastructure, etc. The IT manager’s responsibilities might range from maintaining the web site to developing the database to providing a computer network for the staff. This person needs to have a broad knowledge of technology, computers and software and be able to work in a rapid-paced environment. In larger campaigns the web site and data responsibilities would likely be split.
VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR
The volunteer coordinator works closely with the Field Director to identify, recruit and manage volunteers to help with various campaign activities. They help coordinate the work the volunteers, utilize their skills and talents well and provide motivation. The job requires strong interpersonal skills, patience, persistence, enthusiasm, good communication skills and the ability to work with all kinds of people.
POLITICAL DIRECTOR/CONSTITUENCY ORGANIZER
The political director works with specific constituency groups to organize their involvement with the campaign, for example – labor, seniors, educators, veterans, communities of color, new Americans, environmentalists, and college students, etc. They help develop a voter contact plan in coordination with the field director for particular communities by building relationships with the existing organizations that represent these communities. This person should have experience working with diverse constituencies, commitment to expanding the base and good communication skills.
SCHEDULER
The scheduler is responsible to accepting and acting on all invitations, seeking out potential events and putting together the candidate’s schedule. The scheduler makes sure that the candidate is briefed about each of the events and is given proper directions, contact information, and collects briefing information from the other team members on each event. The scheduler also ensures that candidate call-time and voter contact time remains the top priority. The scheduler needs to be assertive, meticulous with details, pleasant on the phone and able to say “no” when necessary.
OFFICE MANAGER
The Office manager is responsible for maintaining the campaign headquarters and coordinating the administrative aspects of the campaign. They may need to manage staff, infrastructure, supplies, and a myriad of other details. This person needs to have a good over-view of the entire campaign and the ability to solve problems as they arise.
LEGAL ADVISOR
It is important to have access to a legal advisor who is versed in all aspects of election law and campaign finance.
OTHER ROLES IN LARGE CAMPAIGNS
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Field Staff: o GOTV Coordinator o Phone Bank Coordinator o Canvass Director
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Research Director
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Policy Director
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New Media Director