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How to run a successful campaign

INTRODUCTION It is Election season which means death by flyer… but it doesn’t have to be that way. Year on year we see students come up with creative campaign ideas to communicate their message. This guide (stealing their ideas) is designed to give you some amazing tips on how to build the best possible campaign.

Warning!

You do not have to do everything in the guide to win! And of course we are sure you will think of more creative and innovative ways that we haven’t thought of. The size of your wallet isn’t everything; sometimes the smallest budgets are the most successful campaigns.

All you have to do is remember two GOLDEN RULES:

1. Be Creative! 2. Talk to as many students as possible!

Elections can be stressful but ultimately they are great fun! So ENJOY and GOOD LUCK!

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How to run a successful campaign

PLANNING YOUR CAMPAIGN

YOUR CAMPAIGN MESSAGE

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HOW DOES THE PROCESS WORK?

To be successful you will need to understand the processes to run an election. You will need to know:

Key dates Forms that need completing Rules

This should all be outlined in your candidate handbook.

If you’re unsure – check with us at su-elections@qmul.ac.uk

WHY ARE YOU STANDING?

Take some time to think about why you want to run, what you would do for students and how you plan to convey your message. This should be what makes your manifesto.

Contact a couple of close friends and run your ideas passed them. Try and keep your first meetings to a couple of people to make sure you develop clear ideas

WHO ARE YOU REPRESENTING?

This is the most important question. It is crucial that you consider the students you hope to represent - after all this is why you are running for election. No two students experience is the same at university, experiences will vary because of social, cultural and other differences. It is important that you think about issues that will be common to everyone regardless of their background.

Start by thinking what you have in common with other students: you are all at university to get a degree. Then start to thinking about a broader range of issues that affect different people – run ideas by specific groups if you are unsure.

WHAT ARE YOUR KEY POLICIES?

After you have talked to different types of students and understand the issues that affect them the most you can start to develop key policies for your campaign. These policies should be what you put on your posters, on your leaflets and be the talking point when you are out on campus.

You should aim for around four or five policies that are:

a) The most importantb) Most appealing to students

Original and creative ideas will set you apart from the other candidates. The more distinctive you are the more recognisable your campaign will be.

The best policies strike the balance between populism (what students want) and what is achievable in a year.

Remember you will have a full manifesto online, where you can develop your ideas further, so try and keep main policies short and snappy.

If in doubt, ask yourself two questions:

Do my ideas affect the students I’m running to represent?

Have I got an idea how to solve or improve their problem?

Top tip!

Email Student Group Leaders, (Society Presidents, Sports Captains, Heads of Media etc.) to find out when their meetings are and go along. Ask them directly about what they’d like to change!

How to run a successful campaign

A key element to a successful campaign is the publicity – how will you tell students about your ideas and persuade them to vote.

Campaign Theme

Campaign themes come in all shapes and sizes. Themes have been linked to names or something that will appeal to students. Union campaigns have seen anything from Harry Potter themed, funny puns on people’s names to more serious policy ideas

Campaign Colour

Simple but effective, pick something that is going to stand out, link the colour to your name, an idea or even an item of clothing.

Campaign Slogan(s)

Some students create a slogan so that students will remember them. A popular choice is a slogan with your name. Example from the past include

Dominic Bell: Dom Dares Sophie Richardson: With Sophie life’s a beach Wilson Wong: Vote for the ‘Wong’ candidate Elle Hallam: El Presidente Alvin Ramsamy: I’ll bring you action and satisfaction – (Alvin and the Chipmunks) Philip Gilks: Vote the Big Man for the Big Job Brad Coales: Your education is not a lottery. Vote Brad Mini Zhou Vote Mini, Get Max Ruth Brewer: No guild should be Ruthless Jade Lee: Jade the builder; build towards success - (Bob the Builder)

Translate your message

With an international campus, why not translate your message so it reaches students more effectively! Make sure you provide it in English as well.

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VOTE NOW!

現在投票التصويت اآلن

ਹੁਣ ਵੋਟ ਪਾਉਣ

voter maintenant

kupiga kura sasa

votar ahora

stemme nå

How to run a successful campaign

YOUR CAMPAIGN PUBLICITY

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Posters Make it eye catching and distinct Look at famous advertising campaigns Make yours stand out through comedy, colour,

shape and size It should include your name, a photo, key

policies and slogan Think about where you put it to allow it to have

maximum impact See the website for where you can put them

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Leaflets

Like posters they should stand out Put voting information on them If double sided have something that is eye catching on one

side and then your policies on the other

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Video

Making a video is great to interact with those that don’t read a leaflet or don’t come onto campus very often

You can make it serious or a spoof Previous videos have been scenes from a film, songs, raps all

relevant to their campaign Upload them to youtube and share as much as possible

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T-shirts Excellent way of having supporters support your campaign A cheap way is to buy plain t-shirts and iron on transfer paper or

paint your theme

How to make a banner1. Collect big cardboard boxes (check recycling bins or

supermarkets) 2. Flatten the box and cover with backing paper (use recycled

paper if one sided)3. Stencil and paint your design, or stick your posters4. Make holes in them to attach it to things later5. Leave to dry in a warm place for 24hrs 6. Once dry put them around campus

Website

Can be useful to direct students to Wordpress is free If you use a blog for your template you will also easily

be able to see the traffic your website has each day

Facebook Group/Page

Great way to get your supporters to show their support for you and raise your profile

You can publish your full manifesto, post updates on what you are doing and encourage people to vote for you

Don’t overdo it, try and limit it to once a day Sharing photos is always a great way to spread the word

Twitter

Good way of communicating to potential voters

Use the election #tag #QMElections

Songs

Music can support your campaign Re-write a popular tune or

compose an original piece

How to run a successful campaign

HOW TO CAMPAIGN Campaign Team

A crucial part of a successful campaign is a good group of campaigners who will help you distribute flyers, put up posters and spread the word about your campaign

Try and hold a training session where you familiarise them with your policies. Tell them how you would like to campaign and go through the rules which all candidates and campaigners must abide by. The best way to guarantee a vote is to talk to the student not just hand them a flyer.

Good people to ask are: Housemates Friends from courses People part of your student group

Put together a rota so that your friends know how much of a commitment it will be. Remember that it doesn’t matter if your friends can commit a lot of time, they are doing you a huge favour so remember to thank them and budget for food and drink – a little gesture goes a long way.

If you are getting a bit stressed, take some time out and grab a warm drink. It will give you time to regenerate and refocus.

Make sure you keep your team updated. Spread people out across the different campuses. You want them to engage with students that you have not persuaded to vote yet.

Campaign Manager

Appointing a close friend as a campaign manager can be useful to reduce the pressure of the election as it will allow you to talk to as many students as possible. Choose someone who is a good organiser and someone who is committed to making you win. Make sure they have the time to do it and thank them at the end.

Talking to Students

Try to be brief and to the point – but make sure it will be something that they will remember. Have a good icebreaker to hand, and then ask them a couple of questions before you start to talk about yourself. Focus on the changes that are relevant to

them – remember the elections are about the voters.

Lecture Shout Outs

This is a very important part of campaigning. For a minute or two you have access to lots of students, all in one place, ready to listen to you. It can be a bit daunting walking into a lecture theatre with people you don’t know; start with your lectures. Try and arrive 10mins before the lecture starts in order to get permission from the lecturer. Keep your pitch to a minute, especially if it is at 9am.

Using sweets

This can be a good way to start a conversation with a potential voter.

Flash Mob

This can attract attention to your campaign during a busy time of voting.

Campaign Launch Party

Having a launch party on the first night of voting can be a good idea. Invite your friends, their friends and get people along to celebrate the launch of your campaign.

WHERE TO CAMPAIGNCampaigning in halls of residences

Halls can be a fantastic place in the evening when campus has gone a little bit quite. Be mindful that these are students’ homes so make sure you are polite, ask permission and don’t put posters up.

Campaigning at student events

Go along to student group events to try and gain support from the group and its members. Speak to president first to check its ok to attend in this capacity. Contact details are on the Union website.

Campaigning during nights out

This can be effective to raise your profile especially if you have your team dress up. But try and avoid too many late nights.

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How to run a successful campaign

KEY DOS AND DON’TS

GLOSSARY OF TERMSAccountability – making sure that students can check you are doing your job properly. If you win you could do this through blogs, reports and making sure your election manifestos are available for students to see all year round

Polling Station – a place where students can vote

Campaigning – this is what you need to do in order to persuade students to vote for you. As you will see in the guide, there are lots of ways to do this and be creative

Candidate – someone who puts themselves forward to run in elections

Democracy – this means we are run by members. Elections are part of this

Election – the process by which students choose their elected officers

Electorate – the name for the group eligible to vote in the election

Hustings – also called candidates debates, this event offers all candidates the chance to speak to an audience of students on a range of topics

Lobby – this is the process of using your skills of persuasion to convince a group or organisations, such as the University, to change or introduce something

Manifesto – this is a document that each candidate produces to be published online, for students to read to help them decide who they want to vote for

Policies – a set of ideas that reflect your opinions and beliefs, which you use to try and persuade people to vote

Returning Officer – this is the person who has the final say over election disputes and problems with the election process

Student Group – Affiliated student led, societies, sports clubs, student media outlets and volunteering groups.

STV – stands for single transferable vote, which is the way votes are counted to determine the winner in the elections. Effectively it means everyone is asked to rank the candidates in order of how much they support them, rather than simply choose an individual

Voting Period – this is the period of time that the elections run for and students are eligible to vote; they cannot vote outside this time

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DO…

Do go out and talk to people Do enjoy it as much as possible Do be aware that students get fed up of elections

very quickly so think of new exciting ways to engage them

Do remember to eat and take regular breaks Do be able to sum up why a person should be able

to vote for you in 30secs Do be creative and make things Do make a fun and entertaining video Do use social media Do make sure you do lots of lecture shout outs Do have a clear message Do keep your best campaign ideas a secret till you

use them Do take lots of campaign photos, by which to

remember the campaign you’ve run

DON’T…

Don’t spend too much money, especially on sweets

Don’t go overboard with publicity; a few posters in each building is enough

Don’t overwork yourself or your team Don’t be put off if a student is disinterested or

rude to you, the majority will be interested Don’t be unfair to other candidates by taking

their posters down or negatively campaign Don’t promise things that you can’t achieve Don’t litter campus

What you’ll need

FlyersPostersBlu TacCardPaintLarge sheets for bannersSweetsT-shirtsWallpaper pasteScissorsHard copies of extended manifestoSpray Paint StickersWarm Clothing