Campaign Plan Political environment

It has been noticed that in the recent years the Shot Wood School District has had very few success at the polls. It has lost by a small margin more than once in past few years even though the voters and the tax payers were asked to cast their votes. It is crucial for the school to get the support in the upcoming elections because if they lose this fundraising the school will have to not only reduce their budgets by 22% but also decrease the staff by 1.5%. This loss will also reduce the ability of the school to buy new materials and force them to cut-back on the finances allocated for the non-academic programs (O'Day, 2003).

The Village of Shot Wood along with the surrounding townships of Red, White and two precincts of Blue Township are included in the Shot Wood School District. As, it is in the presidential year that the November General Election comes in therefore, a lot more voters will come to the polls on the Election Day as compared to the other years. Therefore, it is expected that the expected number of voters will be over 6,000 (COC, 2008).

Surveys show that about 52% of the voters are going to be women. Approximately 40% of the voters who have registered are above the age of 60. Furthermore, 92% of the students live in the Village of Shot Wood. The average value of the houses is calculated to be $103,000 and $35,000 is the median household income. Although there haven't been any serious opposition regarding the fundraising efforts in the past. However, it appears that a group of anti-tax activists is getting stronger (COC, 2008).

It was in a recent survey regarding the attitudes of the community towards the school that some very interesting points were revealed such as the fact that about 87% of the community thinks of the school as a community asset which proves that the community awareness is very high. Another interesting fact that the survey revealed was that majority of the people didn't even know that the school has a website and therefore, had never visited the site (O'Day, 2003).

According to another study that was concerned with the voter turnout showed that the many voters who supported the fundraising failed to turn up to cast their votes in the off-year elections. In 2004 the number of votes was less than 2,000 while in 2006 it increased but was still not more than 2,500. However, now that in the upcoming election the number of voters is expected to be a lot higher, the campaign needs to prepare for this increase (O'Day, 2003).

It was concluded from an internal SWOT analysis conducted this year that the people feel a certain amount of pride in the school and that they do want it to grow and prosper. It was also noticed from this analysis that the people mainly believe that the two losses in the previous elections faced by the school were mainly due to the economy and not the poor performance by the school (O'Day, 2003).

Strategy Statement

1. We will be focusing most of our effort on convincing the people to vote for our fundraising, facilitating the access of the voters to the polls.

2. Efforts will be made to identify at least 3,000 voters that will probably vote on the Election Day for the fundraising.

3. A data of the registered voters will be acquired from the Board of Elections database.

4. Another main strategy to enhance the campaign communications is going to be using and repeating effective core messages that will help in motivating the workers along with improving the networking structures.

5. Enabling the presence of an effective and efficient campaign.

6. Asking for the domestic support for the fundraising.

7. Raising funds by sending the appeal letter, making phone calls, organizing events etc.

8. Recruiting the volunteers for the campaign and fundraising efforts (O'Day, 2003; COC, 2008).

Tactics

In the August of 2007 the total number of votes casted by the supportive voters was less than 1,500. This time, in order to have a successful fundraising it is very important to motivate at least 3,000 people. In order to fill the gap of the last run, the campaign committee has to:

1. Identify the individuals who are most likely to cast their vote for the fundraising and to ensure that their access to the polls is facilitated.

2. Identification of the people who haven't decided on who they will cast their vote for is necessary alongside understanding the means to convince...

The themes will be repeated by the campaign again and again in order to persuade the voters.
3. Building of an organization that not only has the people and the money but also runs effectively and efficiently.

4. We will also try to get the support of the community for the fundraising as this will reflect very positively on the campaign and create a positive and soft spot in the potential voters for our campaign.

5. Contacting the previous donors with the appeal letters to ask for their support in the campaign. This will also be followed by the phone calls if and when appropriate (O'Day, 2003; COC, 2008).

Time line for implementation of tactics

The operational schedule will consist of 20 weeks. It will start from the mid of June (i.e. 15th) and will end in November. Throughout this time there will be various designated departments in the campaign that will be carrying out their assigned activities. Following are the departments potentially working in the campaign:

1. Fundraising department: This will be responsible for collecting funds and dealing with the expenses within the campaign. The estimated cost of the campaign is estimated to be under $12,000. Appeal letters and phone calls will be made to the previous and prospective donors.

2. Administration: This is the department that is going to be responsible for the maximization of the human resource and to ensure that they are working at their highest potential. Setting up the databases of the voters and dealing with the taxing authorities. This department will also be concerned with the training of the members of the campaign. These members will be employed to work on the Saturday mornings till the Monday night before the election. There won't really be an office for them to work on the campaign; rather they will operate from their individual homes, hence their work structure will be similar to that of a freelancer. However, the XYZ Real Estate has offered the use of their phones as a contribution to our campaign. Therefore, we will be making use of their phones to make the persuasive phone calls. The volunteers will also be allowed to make the calls from their homes if they want to.

3. Voter Contact: The main duty of the people from this department is to make contact with the supporters to improve their morale and try to persuade the undecided voters to vote for our campaign. A letter will be written and sent by this department to the potential voters thanking them for their support and asking for their vote. This letter will also inform these reporters about how the different ways they can vote early and vote absentee information. This department will also be answering the questions of the people by conducting regularly scheduled meetings in the town hall and other places.

4. Field work and Visibility department: The people working for this department will be concerned with showing and representing the forcefulness and momentum of their campaign. Billboards and yard signs will be hung by these people in the prominent places. An ad will also be purchased by the campaign which will run across the town newspaper in the week leading up to the election reminding the people about how the school needs their support. Business owners will also be asked to display messages in their shop windows showing their support for the school. The coverage of the campaign on the media will also be the duty of this department. Press releases and announcements of important events will be also be carried out by the visibility department. The recruitment of the volunteers and getting the brochures printed etc. will also be handled by this department.

5. Communications department: This department will be concerned with the speaking engagements, endorsements, sending mail invitations to various events etc. (O'Day, 2003; COC, 2008).

Operational Schedule

Week 20: Week of June 15- Getting Organized

Campaign goals:

For the purpose of fundraising the budget needs to be finalized. A list of the potential donors needs to be complied. The opening balance is going to be of $500, which will be gifted by the parent club.

The speaking engagements need to be specified for the purpose of communications and the key supporters' endorsements need to be secured.

The administration needs to finalize the plan for campaign meeting and get the file of the voters from the Board of Elections.

For the field work the volunteers need to be recruited. Also, the available places should be identified for the purpose of…