The old saying that “money is the mother’s milk of politics” is true,

but there’s a deeper truth there than just the importance of money, but rather the importance of

“early money”

.

Just like a mother’s milk helps a child grow, early money helps a campaign grow. And

early money attracts more money

, because it helps a campaign build the things that it needs in order to be viable. And people like to invest in campaigns that look like they will win.

So what does this have to do with you?

If you want to have a greater impact over which campaigns are “viable” and have a shot at winning, you can coordinate with other conservatives on which candidates should get “early money”.

There are many large groups that do this on the national level, such as the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List and the pro-abortion Emily’s List, (which actually stands for “early money is like yeast”). But these are large national groups focused primarily on federal races.

What’s needed are groups of conservatives who will work together to leverage campaign contributions on the state and local levels, which get far less attention and fewer dollars.

Start a Donation Group

You don’t have to create any kind of formal group or register with any government entity. Just have a group of like-minded conservatives who decide they want to collectively seek out and raise early money for targeted candidates and encourage other conservatives to support them as well.

Adopt some rules in order to target more effectively.

For example:

Agree that you want to identify quality candidates in winnable seats – with good long-term political potential, (such as the school board candidate who could probably win a state house seat in the future).

Agree that you will only recommend X number of races (in order to concentrate your resources rather endorsing everybody that anybody happens to like). This is critical.

Agree on a threshold of support a candidate needs to be on the list, (like three-fourths of the group…or even unanimous support).

Agree that everyone will at least give X to everyone on the list or to X number of candidates on the list.

After everyone has made their own contributions, promote the list to others.

Leverage Your Support

Arrange the list in such a way that it has the campaigns’ mailing addresses and website donation links to make it easy for people to contribute. Then send it to everyone’s email lists with a letter of support over all of your signatures. Post it on Facebook and/or a webpage somewhere. Promote it by linking to it in online ads (even Facebook ads). Finally, you could even give your “group” a name if you want it to look more formal.

Keep in mind that most people are too disconnected from politics to make campaign contributions. Further, of the 18% of Americans who actually do contribute, most of those dollars go to federal or state-wide races – where they have the LEAST amount of political leverage.

An effort like this can help convince people to contribute to conservative candidates that they otherwise didn’t know anything about.

Remember, contributing to good candidates is one thing. Contributing to them early is even better. But organizing an effort to get other conservatives to collectively contribute early is best.

That’s real leverage.

Talk to other conservatives you know about starting a campaign donation group and leverage your impact.

When you’re involved in politics, one of the most important things that you can do in order to be more successful and have a greater impact on the things that you care about is to know “why”.

What’s important? What are you trying to change? Why are you running for office? Why are you volunteering to help a candidate or an organization? Why are you donating money?

Knowing your “why” keeps you centered

, especially through all of the unpleasant things (and people) that you have to deal with by virtue of being involved in politics. It’s the North Star that can guide your next steps, and it’s the fuel that can drive you forward and help get you up in the morning.

You Need To Know “Why?”

For political activists

, you need to know why for yourself, but also so you can communicate it to others.

For candidates

, it’s what can give you that “fire in the belly” to keep going, to do the organizing, the events, the media, and raising the money that it takes to run a successful campaign. It helps you answer the “Why are you running” question.  (

See this 1979 example of Ted Kennedy not being able to answer “why?”

)

Remember, sooner or later “stupid” is going to catch up with you.

Maybe in the form of events, a process, or rules. Maybe a person that you have to deal with, or people saying things about you on social media that they wouldn’t say in church, and who make being involved seem like a visit to the dentist.

When that happens, (and it will), the odds that you could burnout or quit go up. And if that happens, then you won’t have any impact at all.

In order to push through, keep going and make a difference, you need to know “why”.

So, what’s YOUR why?

Good messages that are relevant are more likely to cut through the clutter. Bad messages get tuned out.

When it comes to effectively communicating a message, there are a lot of great lessons from the business world that we can apply to politics. One of them is known as the “elevator pitch”. It’s a condensed way to get a clear and convincing idea or proposal across to someone else in about the time that it takes to ride in an elevator. A quick and succinct summary of what you’re doing, why, and what you want people to do.

What’s the thumbnail version?

Why is it important? Can you bottom-line it in thirty seconds or less? In a way that defines a problem to fit your solution, and describes how your solution will fix it? Or, in a way that matters to your target audience?

Outline of a Political Elevator Pitch:

Describe your idea, what you’re trying to do or the result that you want

Why is it important? Make it relevant to people and their values.

Describe the key benefits of your “solution”. What’s in it for them?

Clearly state what they need to do. Make it easy and actionable.

Be sure to frame the problem in a way that fits your solution. Be passionate and use “benefit” focused terms. Be concise and clear. Write it down. Read it. Then delete anything that’s not critical.

Remember, the trick is to get all of this across in a few sentences, or about thirty seconds.

Making yourself go through the process of creating a good elevator pitch can help you clarify what you’re “selling” in your own mind, and get a better understanding of the point of view of your target audience.

If you’re going to go to the trouble of speaking out for a policy or proposal that you believe in, (or even run a campaign), then you may as well go to the (slightly more) trouble of crafting a clear and concise message that can help you be more successful.

Otherwise, what’s the point?

It’s one of the few guarantees that we have in politics: if you quit, you’re usually guaranteed not to like the results.

When you’re not involved, it’s more likely that things will not go your way.  You’re giving up your seat at the table to someone who probably doesn’t think like you do, or who doesn’t have the same priorities as you.

The Law of the Jungle says that, if you sit still long enough, something’s going to eat you.

Others will take advantage and gain ground against what you believe, or possibly even undo something that you’ve been able to accomplish.

We quit too easy

The problem is that too many conservatives have a lot of “quit” in them.  We get upset, get involved, ramp up, make a difference, then quit and go home and leave things up to someone else.  Or maybe we lose, get mad, then quit and go home.

Neither is a recipe for long-term political success.

Quitting leads to the additional problem of having to spend too much time ramping-up, rather than staying engaged and being ready for the next battle.  It wastes time, resources, opportunities and potentially any previously hard-won gains.

Ramping-up is expensive.  Staying engaged is cheaper and more productive in the long-run.

The question is, do we want to make a difference and have an impact, or just complain?

Proverbs 12:24

Years ago I adopted Proverbs 12:24 as a political motto.  It tells us that

“The hand of the diligent shall bear rule; but the slothful shall be under tribute”.

If we feel like we’re “under tribute” politically – and there are a LOT of reasons to feel that way – it tells us why.  Someone, at some point, got lazy and quit.  Maybe that was us or someone else, but that’s spilled milk at this point.

One of the great things about scripture is that it not only diagnoses our problems, but it also tells us how to fix them.  To make a difference, we have to be diligent.

So don’t quit!

It’s all about people

.  People work for candidates in their campaigns, cast ballots on Election Day, and then lobby those elected officials to help shape public policy once they get into office.

But given that so few people actually do participate in the political process, the few who do are at a premium, so it is important that leaders at all levels understand some basic principles of how to manage political volunteers.

Building and managing a network of willing volunteers requires skills that are different form how you would manage employees. You know, because they’re not being paid. The following are some general principles that you should keep in mind.

Share the Vision

Do they know the vision?

Don’t assume volunteers understand how your campaign or group operates and why. Share the vision so they will understand what the goals are and how they can help achieve them. The bigger the vision, the more motivating it will be.

Clearly communicating the vision creates a spirit of unity and purpose, and good leaders will always make an effort to motivate volunteers by keeping them focused on the importance of the cause they are involved in. Keep their “eyes on the prize”, so to speak.

Remember, people who aren’t being paid have to motivated by something other than money.

Without a vision, there is no leadership on your part…and no motivation on their part.

Keep it Simple

It seems that the more complicated a plan is, the more the planners tend to like it. The tendency seems to be that, if it’s big, intricate and impossible to understand, then it must be a great plan. With most things in life, the opposite is true; much more so in grassroots politics.

Complex plans usually fail because they have too many moving parts, too many places where they can fail (or people can fail) and are too difficult to understand, implement and fix. All of which leaves too much extra room for Murphy’s Law.

A simple plan makes it easier for volunteers to see how they fit in, how to execute, and how their involvement makes a difference and connects with the vision.

Just remember the KISS method of planning: “Keep it simple, stupid”.

Be a Leader

One of the most important rules is never to ask someone to do a job that you wouldn’t do yourself.

It’s a simple idea based on human nature, but you would be surprised how many people overlook it in politics. Building and running a campaign or grassroots organization can require a lot of “grunt work”, which means a lot of volunteers and a lot of hours. Lead by example. Show them how the job is done and that you’re willing to pitch in to help do it.

If you’re going to get the most out of a team, then they need to know that you’re a part of the team as well.

Aim for Success Not Perfection

Grassroots organizing is inherently “messy” because it involves people. And people can behave in all kinds of funny ways, which impacts how well you’re able to get things done. In other words, for the sake of your own sanity, you have to recognize that things will never be perfect. In fact, trying to be a perfectionist will likely leave you short of your goals and missing out on many opportunities – not to mention run off a lot of volunteers.

Don’t stress so much on one area that you’re never able to take care of anything else.

There is limited time, resources and volunteers in order to get most of the things done that need to be done.

Your job is not to run a perfect operation, but rather something that can outmaneuver and “out hustle” the opposition

. You can’t let the small details get in the way of the big picture. Remember the old saying, “the best is the enemy of the good”.

Pass it On!

People don’t do what they don’t understand.

The more knowledge a volunteer has, the more confidence they will have and the more effective they will be. Don’t keep what you know to yourself. Make a point of passing on what you know to people who are motivated and want to get even more involved.

Every grassroots leader should work to identify and train other leaders

. Keep in mind that the best place to identify future leaders is from the group of people who are already willing to help. From a conservative grassroots standpoint, the goal is a network of trained, experienced activists who can impact the things we care about participating in political parties, helping good candidates get elected, and lobbying for our conservative principles.

Without their support, nothing happens.

Elections have consequences.

And if nobody runs against them, the consequences are more years of them doing the things that make conservatives complain in the first place.

As the saying goes, you can’t be somebody with nobody.

You have to have a candidate.

Someone – preferably a good, well qualified and equipped someone – has to be willing to put themselves out there and run.

Someone who has a “fire in the belly”, the talent and the potential resources to do what’s necessary to run a good campaign, not to mention do the job if they get elected. Someone with the ability to unite everyone in the Party to work in the same direction and to turn out the votes necessary to WIN.

Preferably NOT the perennial candidate who wants to run for anything and everything, but demonstrates none of those necessary qualities.

The fact that so few (good) people are willing to run is a big part of the reason why our government is in the shape that it’s in today on so many levels. But, we have to remember that politics hates a vacuum, and it will continue whether you (or someone else) steps up to run or not.

What are you doing to help recruit someone?

Are you letting them know that you’re willing to help if they’re willing to run? Or, are YOU the “somebody” who needs to run?

Talk to like-minded people at work or in your church. Who do they think would make a great candidate? Someone in the business community? Someone who has already been elected to a lower level office?

Good campaigns – and good elected officials – start with good candidate recruiting.

So recruit good candidates!

When it comes to organizing and being politically effective, the most important elements are addition and multiplication.

Addition in the sense of growing your ranks, and multiplication in terms of leveraging your collective impact through organized, coordinated activity.

Of the

three essential elements of grassroots politics

, (identifying, educating and mobilizing),

identifying others comes first for a reason.

1) Find People Who Think Like You Do

You can’t really “organize”, if you’re the only person in the room, which means you have to reach out.

If you’re concerned about something, odds are that a lot of other people feel that way too. You’re first job is to find them.

You’ve probably already got a short list in mind of people that you’re around on a regular basis who share the same concerns as you do. Talk to them about “doing something”. Make a list. Send them an email and ask them to reach out to others as well. Go through your church directory or other memberships lists of groups you’re involved with. Ask your friends to do the same.

2) Form a Core Group

Every successful political effort, no matter how large or small, has a “core” group of people driving the train.

These are the people who were motivated enough to get the effort started to begin with and have the concern and energy to keep it moving and make sure that it’s more than just a semi-organized gripe session.

From your initial list you should be able to identify a small core group of people to get together with and make some plans. Talk about your common concerns and identify some clear, achievable goals. Then determine who’s willing to do what. Ten people is a great target.

3) Cast a Wider Net

After you’ve got your core group together,

your first major project should be (surprise) to identify MORE people.

Start a petition and place it in stores and churches in your area. Start a

free online petition

and send an email describing the issue and a link to the petition to everyone you know (asking them to forward it on to others too). Let them know that you’re trying to identify people who care about the issue in order to take action. You can also post similar information in online political forums and groups (such as on Google Groups, Yahoo Groups, or sites like Free Republic , etc.).

Remember, it’s all about the numbers.

Whether it’s grassroots lobbying or pushing a referendum or a candidate’s campaign, numbers matter.  That means that identifying conservatives matters.

The people are out there. You just need to get started with an organized, intelligent effort to find them.

But when it comes to typical “meetings”, (whether official group meetings, or project meetings), take time to do the things to make them more useful, (and not boring or a waste of time).

Here are some good tips for running meetings:

Have the Right Leader

Without having the right person to “run” a meeting, things can get off the rails pretty quickly and stay there

. You need someone who can politely (but firmly) facilitate discussion to make things productive, and yet still keep it moving along. It’s not a job for just anybody who wants to “run” things.

Start on Time

Starting on time sets a professional tone and it’s respectful of those who show up on time.

Meetings that are always starting late (because you’re late, or others are late), just encourages bad habits, and everyone will get used to never starting on time. And starting late usually means “finishing late”.

Have an Agenda

An agenda is the “plan” for the meeting, and you gotta’ have a plan.

Make sure that there is an agenda, and that everyone has a copy – and that you follow it!

Otherwise things will probably get off track, or you’ll spend too much time on one thing and not get everything done. Know what action items need to be resolved, (who, what, when, where). Repeat them to the group for clarification. Otherwise, you’re just meeting to meet, and what’s the point of that?

Don’t Over-stuff it

Don’t be so ambitious with how much goes into an agenda that it never gets done, or the meetings always run long and frustrate people. Remember, people like to talk, and most items usually take longer to cover than you may think.

Make sure that you have enough time to do the things that need to get done.

Have Ground Rules

The most useful meetings are those where everyone participates but things stay focused, which is rare.

Having some general ground rules that everyone agrees on can make things more productive. Things like: how much time you’ll spend talking about any issue; what subjects should comments be limited to; what’s off limits; and is what’s said supposed to be confidential? Try to get everyone to agree to whatever ground rules work for your group. You could even print them on the top of the agenda to keep them fresh in everyone’s mind.

Facilitate, Don’t Dictate

Part of the job of running a meeting is making sure that you involve and get good feedback from the people that are there

. Otherwise you’re wasting an opportunity to get everyone’s collective minds focused on the job at hand. And how else can you know if people are getting what they want from the meetings or the group? Nobody has the market cornered on good ideas. Take advantage of the chance to do some brainstorming –

just don’t let it drag on too long

.

Review Action-items

It’s not very productive to meet and then have the people who are there not really know what was decided or what’s expected of them after the fact.

Summarize and review what was decided and note any action items, (who, what, when, where).

End on Time

Ending on time goes hand in hand with starting on time.

People have other things to do and plan their lives around, so respect their plans. If you think that a meeting will need to go long, let people know ahead of time. Just remember, “long” usually means “boring”.

And boring kills!

Follow Up

Be sure to follow-up with people who need to be followed up on

. Don’t let things go undone between meetings, or you miss one of the main points of having a meeting to begin with.

Remember, volunteers are at a premium.  If you’re going to take the time to meet, then you should take the time to get the most out of it.  Keep these tips in mind and meetings will be more productive – and the group will appreciate it.

hen it comes to public policy, elections have consequences. And when it comes to elections, WINNING is all that matters. Not your opinion, the candidate’s opinion or the Party’s opinion.

It should go without saying, but it still needs to be said. You can’t govern if you don’t WIN.

The only people that get to govern are people in the government. That’s why it’s called “the government”. And you’re not a part of the government unless you get elected to it.

Losers don’t get asked for their opinion when the government sets budgets, tax rates, immigration policy, education policy, etc. The winners don’t care what the losers think. They’re losers. By definition, they couldn’t get an Election Day majority that shares their opinions to show up to the polls when it mattered.

Focus On Winning!

That’s why good candidates – and good political parties – spend so much time, effort and resources focused on winning elections.

It’s why political parties in America were formed. It’s their mission and definition of success. Because, if a large enough coalition of people with common beliefs and goals get together and support specific candidates, they have a better chance of making sure that those candidates WIN.

If you can’t win, then you need to find a reason “why” that doesn’t involve blaming the opposition.

Was it an unwinnable race to begin with, resulting in a waste of resources? Could we have communicated a message that was more relevant and resonated better with voters? Could we have organized better to turn out more voters. Could we have raised more money to better afford to communicate and organize? Did we do enough to unite the Party, or was it divided?

Winning brings opportunities for change. Losing brings more to complain about.

If you care about policy, focus on winning. Period.

We desperately need less of the former and more of the later. Less show horses and more work horses.

Less people chasing likes and clicks and a guest spot on Fox, than people helping elect candidates to office that can help change policy. Fewer people in the cheap seats yelling at the players, and more people who are willing to go down on the field, do some work and get their hands dirty.

Ignore the Show Horses

Of course social media itself can be useful. It can help communicate a message and encourage organization.

But there’s a difference between using social media, and “being” social media.

A difference between making a difference and just seeking attention, but that’s the currency that too many people seem to be after in politics today. Ignore them. Don’t feed the beast.

It’s the age of the social media celebrity politico. And we’re worse off for it. The political version of reality TV; people who are famous for being famous, and otherwise useless.

Find the Work Horses

To modify a familiar phrase: those who can, “do”; those who can’t, (or don’t), become social media celebrities.

All of which is to say that our challenge is to build a bigger, better reservoir of experienced political talent that can organize effectively, help candidates win and then go on to help elected officials implement policy. Not more people who want to keep the focus on themselves.

Identify those who truly care and actually want to make a difference.

Help them get the political training and experience they need. Then help them find opportunities to “do”!

We’ll be better off for it.