Writing A Field Plan Part II

Writing a Field Plan
Part 2: Tactics, Timelines & Benchmarks
May 28th, 2008
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authorized by any candidate or candidate’s
committee.

Welcome to DFA Night School!
Streaming live at Blog Talk Radio:
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Questions?
Email: nightschool@democracyforamerica.com
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DFA Chair
Jim Dean

Tonight’s Trainers
Matt Blizek
DFA Training Director
Night School Host
Helen Strain
Field Organizer for over
20 years

Field Planning in 2 Parts
Last Month:
1. Setting Your Vote Goals
- Win Number
- Vote Goal
2. Targeting Strategies
- Geographic
- Voting History
- Demographic
Tonight’s session
3. Voter Contact Tactics
- Canvass
- Phones
- Mail
- Paid Media
4. Timelines
5. Benchmarks
Need to catch up? Listen to Part 1 here:
www.democracyforamerica.com/ﬁeldplan

Conversations win Elections
Direct voter contact over
the telephone and at the
door
Delivers a campaign’s message
to targeted voters in a personable
way
Gives the campaign valuable
information about the voter’s
preferences
Allows for a targeted ﬁeld
campaign
Voter Preference Targeting

Knocking on Victory’s Door
No tactic leaves a greater impact on voters
Ideal for identiﬁcation, persuasion, GOTV,
petition gathering, voter registration, early
voting
Drawbacks:
Requires volunteer base, time consuming
Not all homes are easily accessible

Knocking on Victory’s Door
Know your turf
Prepare your canvass
packets
Train your volunteers
• Provide ‘context’
• Explain the Canvass Packet Materials
• Review scripts, responses and coding
instructions
• Role Plays!
Sample Canvass Packet
• Scripts – Sample Script
• Walksheets -
• Maps -
• Campaign Lit
• Candidate FAQ
• Goodie bags (food, water,
stickers, etc)
(Remember: Canvassers work in
pairs so create duplicates of
each packet!)

Dialing for Democracy
Your most versatile voter contact tactic
• High number of contacts
• Two way communication
Ideal for voter identiﬁcation, persuasion, & GOTV
Drawbacks:
Lower impact than canvassing
Increasingly difﬁcult to reach voters

Dialing for Democracy
Location, Location,
Location…
Recruit twice as many
volunteers as phones
Recruit and train phonebank
captains
Sample Call Sheet
Click here to download
Sample Script
Click here to download
Make Your Phonebank Fun!
• Energy & enthusiasm
• Set group goals
• Practice & Role Plays
• Food & drinks
• Fun, Games, prizes

What’s in the Mail?
Highly targeted persuasion & GOTV tactic
Once you start, you cannot go dark
Stick with an interesting & repetitive message
Know your production, shipping & delivery timelines
Drawbacks:
Lower impact than canvass, phones
No info back from voters
Expensive

Designing Effective Mail Pieces
Campaign Mail Design Tips
Easy on the text - Less is more
Picture is worth 1000 words
No envelopes
No white space
Know your audience
Good
Needs work

Yard Signs and Visibility
Yard signs belong in Yards, NOT street corners
Shows supporters and donors your support base
Reminds supporters of their support
No more than 1% of budget spent on visibility
Drawbacks:
Signs don’t vote (just ask Ron Paul)
Often overemphasized at expense of more effective tactics

Paid Media
Powerful persuasion tactic when done right
Once you start you cannot go dark
Widespread exposure to electorate
Can be targeted by Demographics
Drawbacks:
Lower impact than canvass, phones
No info back from voters
Very expensive
Time consuming

Questions?
Email: nightschool@democracyforamerica.com
Instant Message:
DFA Night School

Timing is Everything
1) Start from your goal (Election Day)
and work backwards
2) Identify Your Timeline and
Strategies
3) List your tactics & set benchmarks
4) Revise and Update

Setting Benchmarks & Metrics
Identify Your Key Metrics
# of voters contacted
# of supporters identiﬁed
# of early vote applications (if applicable)
Identify Your Contact Metrics
% of attempts with contacts (50% standard)
# of calls/doors per hour (10-15 standard)
% of Supporters / Undecideds / Opposes (30% / 40% / 30% standard)
Stick with numbers – Can you reach your goals?
Your early warning system – Are you on track?

Blizek for City Council
Goals, Strategy, Tactics
Goals:
• Minimum 6 contacts to each undecided likely voter
• (1 canvass, 2 phone calls, 3 mail pieces)
• 1233 supporters ID’d by November for GOTV contact
Strategy:
• Target swing districts with an ID canvass to identify
undecided voters & important issues.
• Follow up with targeted phone calls and mail to those
voters.
• End campaign with GOTV contacts to ID’d supporters &
D-Base Precincts
Tactics:
• Canvass, Phonebank, Direct Mail, Visibility,
Paid Media

Blizek for City Council
Benchmarks
Benchmarks: Totals Formula
Registered Voters: 5224 From Local Election Office
Likely Voters: 2371 Registered voters x Turnout % estimate
Total Targeted homes: 1423 = 2371 x .60 same household
Doors to Knock: 2846 = (1423 x 4 contact attempts)
Phone calls to make: 5692 = (1423 x 4 contact attempts)
Phone calls per week 285 = 5692 / 20 weeks
Doors knocked per week 142 = 2846 / 20 weeks
Total Supporters identified:1233 = Win number (Turnout projection x 52%)
Supporters ID’d per week 62 = 1233 / 20 weeks
Do the research! Be as specific as possible!

May 1st – June 30th
22 weeks to go
Focus:
Write Field Plan
ID Supporters & Issues
Voter Registration?
Tactics:
ID Canvass  Swing Precincts, likely voters
Preparation & ID Phase
July 1st
17 Weeks to go
Focus:
Persuasion
Tactics:
Canvass  Swing Precincts, likely voters
Phonebanks  Swing Precincts, likely voters
Key Metrics:
Door knocks: 426
Phone Calls: 855
Total Voters contacted: 640
Supporters identified: 192
Undecideds Identified: 256
Key Metrics:
Door knocks: 0
Phone Calls: 0

Persuasion Phase
August 1st
13 Weeks to go
Focus:
Persuasion
Tactics:
Canvass Swing Pcts, Likely voters
Phonebanks  Swing Pcts, Likely voters
September 1st
9 Weeks to go
Focus:
Persuasion
Tactics:
Canvass  Swing Pcts, Likely voters
Phonebanks  Swing Pcts, Likely voters
Mail  Undecided Voters
Visibility  Base PrecinctsKey Metrics:
Door knocks: 994
Phone Calls: 1995
Key Metrics:
Door knocks: 1562
Phone Calls: 3135

Persuasion & GOTV Phase
October 1st
5 Weeks to go
Focus:
Persuasion
Tactics:
Canvass   Swing Pcts, Undecideds, likely voters
Phonebanks  Swing Pcts, Undecideds, likely voters
Mail  Undecideds, Targeted Demographics
Paid Media  Targeted Demographics
Visibility  Base Precincts
November 1st
1 Week to go
Focus:
GOTV
Tactics:
Canvass  Base Precincts, ID’d Supporters
Phonebanks  Base Precincts, ID’d Supporters
Mail  ID’d Supporters, Demographic supporters
Paid Media  Targeted Demographics
Visibility  Base Precincts
Key Metrics:
Door knocks: 2130
Phone Calls: 4275
Total Voter contacts: 3202
Key Metrics:
Door knocks: 2840
Phone Calls: 5700

Homework
1. Plan out a timeline for your campaign
2. Use your Vote Goals from Part 1 to set yourself
benchmarks
3. Send your completed Field Plan to
nightschool@democracyforamerica.com for
feedback

Next Month
Getting A Job on a Campaign
W/ Amy Pritchard of Democratic GAIN
June 25th, 8:30pm ET
23
DFA Training Weekends
www.democracyforamerica.com/training
June 7-8 Lansing, MI
June 14-15 Kansas City, MO
June 21-22 Albuquerque, NM
July 12-13 Miami, FL
July 17-20 Austin, TX Netroots Nation
www.democracyforamerica.com/campaignjobs

Thank you for joining us!
Need to catch up on earlier Night School presentations?
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