Manpower to Your Elbow

 

Shane Greer

 

email

print

Also in this section:

• Taking on the Hecklers

John Shosky

• Making the Most of the Everyday

Jonathan Upton

• Up Close and Personal

Darren Lilleker

• Small Majority, Big Challenge

• Knowing Your Place

Val Morris Cook

• Campaign Doctor

With a general election now more than two years away, the minds of many campaigners are turning with ever increasing fervour to the question of campaign financing. The British political class finds itself staring with envy across the Atlantic at campaigns raising implausible amounts of money. At the same time, as we saw from Bill Rammell in this issue's interview, politicos are wrestling with the issue of unrestricted campaign spending prior to the official start of an election

 

But is money the most important resource in a campaign's arsenal? While our fixation with campaign financing might suggest so, the reality is that it's just one of the many valuable resources available. Indeed there is at least one resource of more value: volunteers. Money can buy a lot, but it can't buy people willing to give their time freely. Their motivation is many and varied, but it is not about remuneration. The smart campaign understands that just as people have to be persuaded to donate, so too do people have to be given reasons to work for free. 

 

I remember talking to a consultant in the US who had worked on a successful congressional campaign in Texas with limited money and a lot of volunteers. One of the first questions asked of new volunteers was "what do you do for a living", and in one case a volunteer replied "I'm a mechanic". Thinking creatively the campaign let everyone on their potential volunteer list know that if they came to volunteer during the weekends, a mechanic would look over any problems they were having with their cars. Needless to say quite a few people turned up with cars in need of work and a few hours to hand out leaflets.

 

Did the mechanic seal the victory for the campaign? No, but he was a small part of a wider effort to get feet on the pavements, working hard for the campaign. You might not have a lot of money, but if you think imaginatively it doesn't mean you can't attract the manpower you need.