Attend to process
French Associates, states you are not doing an effective job of marketing if all you do is put up a billboard. You are not doing a good job of communication if all you do is publish four newsletters each year. Marketing, communication, and school elections are all processes. Each of these processes begins when you decide to do something. None of these processes has an ending.
An election campaign is not a single thing or event. It is a complex process that must be goal-oriented and flexible enough to accommodate changes in the campaign environment.
Tip Four: Process requires people and a plan. Winners know what they want from their "three Ps"-their plan, their process, and their people. And, here's a bonus tip related to process: Don't get trapped into believing that your campaign ends on election day. Actually, that's the day your next election begins and the election process recycles.
Know people's perceptions
Do you know what people think about when they think about your schools? Do you know what they like and don't like about the school district? Do you understand what school information they want and how they want it delivered? Unless you have completed a survey, odds are you are just guessing at the answers to the above questions.
Perceptions are important to understand. You can have great schools but if the perception is that you have mediocre schools, guess what? You have mediocre schools.
If public perception is that the new high school you plan to build is too expensive, guess what? Your election may be headed south.
Tip Three: Understand that subjective perceptions usually count for more than objective information. Get a statistically sound assessment of perceptions in your school district. Then keep it up to date.
Contact French Associates, School deisgners for K-12 schools
MSD Washington Township scored big at the polls on May 4. The school corporation passed its referendum by more than 70%.
French Associates, Architects strategic alliance partner-Banach, Banach & Cassidy-worked on the campaign with Washington Township citizens and school officials. BB&C conducted a pre-election telephone survey in the community, managed the voter data base, and provided strategic counsel during the referendum campaign. Washington Township's citizen committee leadership graduated from the Campaign College conducted in Indianapolis by French Associates and BB&C.
TIP 2 from French Associates
Know who will vote
If we called a one-hour school election for two o'clock this afternoon, three categories of people would show up-yes voters, no voters, and undecided voters. The same categories of people will show up at the school election that you have called for next year. The challenge is to discover how many of each category resides in your school district. Once that is done, the job that needs doing is fairly straightforward: Reinforce yes voters, generally ignore no voters, and try to move the undecideds into the yes voter column.
Tip Two: Know how many yes voters you need to win. Find them and get them to the polls on election day.
A briefing from
French Associates and
Banach, Banach & Cassidy
Almost everyone believes that education is important. And, almost everybody says that we must invest in our children because they are "the future." Given these beliefs, it seems that school districts should win every election they bring to the voters. Au contraire!
People vote in school elections for myriad reasons. This is what makes every election unique. Yet, school districts that tend to win at the polls do exhibit some characteristics that losers don't. The winning characteristics and some related tips are the subject of this article.
Build a support base
School leaders know that most voters in school elections decide how to vote long before election day. On election day voters step in to the voting booth, close the curtain, and pull one of two levers-yes or no.
School leaders also understand that campaigns don't win elections. Campaigns simply harness support that is already there.
And where does this support come from? It is the result of doing good over time. It is also the result of making sure people in your community know about your good work. Put differently, when school people compromise on communication with their constituents, they build barriers to election success.
Tip One: Think long-term. Build a base of support for your schools by doing good work, engaging people in the educational process, and communicating effectively. Use campaigns to reinforce the support base that you build and tap it for yes votes on election day.