How to Win a Campaign

The full, raw interview with Joe Sangirardi of the Human Rights Campaign. In this full interview, Joe shares his time tested best practices for advocacy fundraising. Find out what materials you should always have on hand when calling donors and learn the most important step you must take immediately following an ask.  Resources  Advocacy Fundraising vs. Political Fundraising 7 Questions with Jason...

The full, raw interview with Greisa Martinez Rosas from Ep. 5: Storytelling for Advocacy. Tune in to hear Greisa share some time-tested strategies for story collecting and storytelling that have made United We Dream the leader of storytelling in the advocacy space. If you want to start storytelling to augment your advocacy efforts or if you want to improve your preexisting storytelling infrastruct...

Sign up for TCW's Advocacy Training February 25-26th! Use discount code howtowin to get $100 off your enrollment fee. Head to tcwadvocacy.com to learn more! Presented by The Campaign Workshop

For many progressives, the thought of hiring a lobbyist may have never even crossed the mind once. And it’s not a surprise. Lobbying has a stigma and its association with certain unscrupulous actors hasn’t done the industry any favors. That’s why Joe and Martín spend this episode shedding some light on what is often seen as a profession operating in the shadows. Learn what lobbyists do, how lobbyi...

Advocacy work often means dealing with sensitive or personal issues for vulnerable communities on a daily basis. That’s why we need to be extra cautious that we’re doing advocacy right, and not inadvertently causing extra burdens or difficulties to arise for the very communities we’re fighting for. Tune in to learn how to know whether your advocacy is going in the right or wrong direction, and wha...

Fundraising is the lifeblood of advocacy work. Without steady, diversified revenue streams, nonprofits would not be able to fight the good fight day in and day out. In this episode, Joe and Martín share important lessons they’ve learned from years of advocacy work and training that will help you improve your quarterly reports. Tune in to learn how to connect your ask to a potential donor’s daily l...

Your communications strategy needs to be well-thought out and effectively implemented. You need to decide what mix of earned and paid media you will use, and how you will harness your organization’s membership to act as amplifiers of your message. And of course, you will need to establish long-term engagement with your audience. Tune in to learn how to create an effective advocacy communications p...

Just like in the game Risk, alliances are important in advocacy work too. Knowing who you can partner with and creating coalitions with your allies can help you expand your reach, draw from a larger pool of resources, and give weight to your demands. This week, Joe and Martín share their coalition building and coalition management best practices, as well as insights into how to use power mapping t...

Your advocacy campaign may be using patch-through calls, letter writing, petition signing, or any number of other tactics. However, without targeting and metrics, how will you know if these tactics are working? Through targeting and metrics! Tune in to this episode to hear Joe and Martín break down how to determine who the key decision-makers are and what data you should collect. This week’s guest...

Advocacy storytelling is both an art and a science. While there are millions of stories to be told, you need to choose the right stories for your goals and tell them effectively and compassionately. This week, Joe and Martín tackle the world of storytelling, breaking down what storytelling is, what it is not, who can tell stories, where you can find stories, and why storytelling is essential to yo...

Grassroots and grasstops advocacy might sound like opposites, but they’re really more like complements. Doing grassroots organizing the right way can help set you up for success in influencing grasstops advocates.  In this episode, Joe and Martín explain this symbiotic relationship and how to leverage your organization’s membership to execute a coordinated grassroots-grasstops campaign. Joe interv...

Messaging for advocacy is a central skill you must master to win your advocacy campaign. Convincing your audience to be on your side is not an easy task, and you need to draft messages that stay true to your organization’s goals but do not sound just like your mission statement. In this episode, Joe and Martín will teach you how to develop your messaging and explain what you need to keep in mind w...

Research and polling are essential parts of advocacy campaigns. Understanding the policy arena and testing your messaging will prevent your organization from wasting limited resources and help keep you on track to win. Tune in to learn about some different research methods, how to make the most out of a limited research budget, and what to look for when hiring a research consultant or pollster. Th...

Setting goals may seem like an easy task, but it’s easy to make them too broad, too specific, or too ambitious. Tune in to this first full episode of S2 to learn how your organization should be thinking about goals. Joe and Martín will explain primary vs. secondary goals and the importance of having both long-term and short-term goals. Martín chats with former Chief Advocacy Officer of the America...

We are finally in a post-Election Day world! This past election cycle was one that will go down in history, both for how important it was for Democrats to win back the White House and for how radically different campaigning has been in the age of COVID-19. In this special episode, Joe and Martín go over some of their personal highs and lows from 2020 and cover the most important lessons that candi...

In this Season 2 trailer, Joe and Martín are back and ready to dive deep into the world of advocacy campaigns. They discuss what advocacy means to them, how they got their starts in advocacy, and how you can get started in advocacy regardless of your experience level. All you need is a cause and willingness to fight for what you believe in. Sign up for the email list below so you can be the first...

Expressing your support for the BLM movement and addressing the concerns of racial and social justice activists in your community will be essential parts of running a winning progressive campaign this year. That’s why Joe and Martín have devoted this episode to going over what you need to do to ensure your campaign appropriately and effectively engages the BLM movement and clearly demonstrates you...

If we had a crystal ball that could tell us exactly what the outcome of the presidential election will be, many of us would sleep a lot easier at night. But of course, we do not have a crystal ball, and instead we turn to myriad polls, models, and other predictors to try to tell what’s going to happen on election day. That’s why Joe and Martín spend this special episode breaking down the rationale...

What do U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders, Angus King, and Lisa Murkowski and rapper Kanye West have in common? They’ve all been third-party candidates! But, three of them have been legitimate third-party candidates, and one is more of a spoiler. Tune in to this special episode to learn what a third-party candidate means for your campaign and how you need to respond. A third-party candidate running in...

Grassroots fundraising is what powers the progressive movement. Small-dollar donations and people-power are the nuts and bolts of twenty-first-century campaigns. In fact, to make it easy for small-dollar donors to find and donate to your campaign, you have to employ twenty-first-century tools. That’s why in this Tools Episode, Joe and Alexis Chininis of ActBlue discuss how campaigns can use ActBlu...

Information is power. That’s why BallotReady is so important, especially today. In this Tools Episode, Joe speaks with Alex Niemczewski about Ballot Ready, a tool that provides your constituents with information about all of the races on the ballot for the upcoming election. It also teaches the public about early voting rules and helps them make a plan to vote.  As a data-driven platform, this too...

From Suze Orman to Robert Kiyosaki, there’s no shortage of people trying to tell you how you should budget your life. But unlike with personal finance, there aren’t any celebrity finance gurus just waiting to tell you how to budget for your campaign, which is why we  interviewed Conner Johnston, co-founder of Warchest. In this Tools Episode, Joe chats with Conner about Warchest, the only tool that...

Call time, the time spent calling potential donors to ask for their investment in your campaign, is an ongoing, arduous process. To find a way to help make it easier and more effective, Andrew Blumenfeld developed a tool called, you guessed it, Call Time. In this Tools Episode, Joe sits down with Andrew to learn how Call Time can help you fundraise faster. Call Time helps you keep track of who you...

In this Tools Episode, Joe chats with Russ Oster about how campaigns can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their canvassing operations using Grassroots Unwired. With Grassroots Unwired, your canvassers can collect data, take photos and videos for constituents to share on social media, and even collect donations. Listen in to learn how you can use Grassroots Unwired to stay connected with...

The digital world is where today’s voters connect with friends, strangers, and influencers. In this Tools Episode, Joe speaks with Mike Liddell about Digital 8, a tool that makes it easy for you to reach your constituents and move them to action. When your constituents use Digital 8, all they need to do is click to donate, sign up, or get involved. It's that easy. Tune in to find out if Digital 8...