Tips

Test Your Phone Scripts

Posted on Tue, Jun 18 2013

By NOI

Tags: field organizing, testing, tips, voter contact

Like subject lines and donation button colors, phone scripts can be tested. And why wouldn't you? The script is the thing we train volunteers to do, organizers use it dozens of times a day, and it's the whole content of the conversation with phone bank targets.

Journalists are people, too (?)

Posted on Fri, Jun 14 2013

By Chris Cassidy

Tags: communications, press strategy, tips

Yep, journalists are human beings. Like you, they have deadlines, bosses, people to see after work, and lots of email to sort through. The way most people pitch journalists, though, seems to ignore one very important rule from kindergarten: The Golden Rule.

Recycle your Facebook content

Posted on Thu, Jun 13 2013

By NOI

Tags: facebook, online organizing, social networking, tips

Just because you're working on social media doesn't mean you shouldn't recycle. In fact, one of the easiest and most effective ways to quickly boost the engagement level on your Facebook Page is to recycle the best performing posts from the past.

Need an easy, free image editor?

Posted on Wed, Jun 12 2013

By Eric Ming

Tags: apps, graphics, online organizing, tips

As someone who has never had any design training, editing photos and creating graphics for work was always an intimidating proposition. That was until a friend turned me onto Picassa. Picassa is a free program from Google (available for Windows and Mac) that allows you to quickly touch up, organize, and add basic special effects to images without the costs of more expensive programs like Photoshop.

Celebrate great leadership

Posted on Tue, Jun 11 2013

By John Brougher

Tags: management, organizing and leadership, tips

Being an organizer is a busy gig. We're out knocking doors and hitting the phones, pitching reporters, raising money for the cause... Managers and leaders can make or break our efforts, but it's easy amongst all of the constant, never-ending workload to take good leadership for granted.

Refine your data with Google Refine

Posted on Mon, Jun 10 2013

By NOI

Tags: apps, data, technology, tips

Do you have data? Of course you do. Is it messy? Too messy for even Donny Bridges to clean? Or maybe you'd like to understand it better, but don’t have the time or know-how to do it by mucking around in SQL. I have something awesome to show you. It combines the skill of Google with the possibilities of open source software.

Why are they saying no?

Posted on Wed, Jun 05 2013

By Megan Simpson

Tags: organizing and leadership, tips, volunteer management, volunteer recruitment, volunteer retention

As organizers, we hear no a lot, especially when making a volunteer ask. One thing I learned along the way was to always be ready with a follow up ask if you volunteer’s first response is no. Keep asking until you get a commitment, “Oh, Friday doesn’t work for you? How about next Monday? No? What about Wednesday?” The trick is to knowing when it is okay to be pushy in your ask and when you should back off.

Get free stuff from Google

Posted on Tue, Jun 04 2013

By Nick Catalano

Tags: apps, operations, technology, tips

I rely on Google Apps for everything. GMail lets me keep track of my email, Google Calendar helps me stay on time to meetings, Google Talk lets me communicate with my coworkers, and YouTube lets me post my organization's videos on the web.

Fixing e-embarrassments

Posted on Mon, Jun 03 2013

By Jamie McGonnigal

Tags: organizing and leadership, relationship building, self management, tips

We've all done it: sent an email or IM to the wrong person, “replied all” when we meant to reply to just one person, or otherwise sent something embarrassing. Sometimes this is totally harmless. Other times, a snarky comment or private thought causes real problems.

Get more from your data: learn SQL!

Posted on Fri, May 31 2013

By Tim Anderegg

Tags: data, data management, tips

Do you want to get more control over your data? Anyone who works with data can benefit from learning SQL, whether you’re an online campaigner, a voter file manager, an analyst, a pollster, or anyone else who works extensively with data. Here’s a little info on what SQL is, how you can learn it, and why it’s valuable.

Stop living with screenshot chaos

Posted on Thu, May 30 2013

By Audrey Edmonds

Tags: apps, online organizing, screenshots, technology, tips

Screenshots are useful for documenting your work, troubleshooting problems, and so much more. So do yourself a favor, and keep yours organized. When I started working on campaigns, I used my personal laptop for work, and every morning, I was greeted by a scary, unsorted pile of .jpegs. Fellow mac users, you know what I'm talking about.

Tips

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