Political Campaign Tips and Strategies
Practical guides for candidates running local and state campaigns. Find advice on starting a campaign, building your online presence, fundraising, messaging, voter outreach, and more.
Essential Articles
How to Prepare for a Run for Local Office
Learn the basics of preparing for a local campaign, including qualifications,
budgeting, fundraising, building a campaign team, filing requirements, and
getting voters to the polls.
Read the guide
Setting Up Your Political Campaign Timeline
See what needs to happen before, during, and after a campaign launch, from early planning and filing through fundraising, voter outreach, and Election Day.
View the timeline
A practical guide to planning, building, and launching a campaign website that gives voters the information they need and supports your campaign goals.
Read the website guide
Find out which pages and content your campaign website should include to inform voters, collect support, accept donations, and keep your campaign active.
See the essential pages
Comparing Political Donation Platforms
Compare common political fundraising platforms and the factors campaigns should consider when choosing a service for accepting online contributions.
Compare donation platforms
Understand how your campaign slogan, core message, and issue platform work together—and the different role each plays in communicating with voters.
Learn the differences
Need a Campaign Website?
Online Candidate has helped political candidates build their online presence since 2004. See our custom campaign website packages and campaign-specific features.
Developing Strong Messaging for Your Political Campaign
In any political campaign, the goal is to persuade the public to vote for the candidate by delivering a persuasive message. For example, campaign websites serve as a central hub for communication, allowing candidates to convey their messaging effectively to a wide...
How Much Should You Doctor Your Candidate Head Shots?
Is the candidate looking his or her best online? With the wonders of digital design, a little doctoring can go a long way. Here are our recommendations for what to do and not to do with a candidate’s head shot.
9 Tips For Better Online Fundraising
Online fundraising has grown tremendously in the last decade. Campaigns and nonprofit organizations today can raise money with the click of a mouse or a tap of the phone. But raising money requires planning and skill. It's not enough to just have a website donation...
The Worst Advice We’ve Heard About Online Campaigning
Even though there is plenty of good information about politics and online marketing, a lot of awful ideas and assumptions are still floating around. Here are some truly bad things that clients have told us over the years. Some are just misconceptions about online marketing and how it works, while other ideas can be election-breakers if followed through.
How to Adjust Your Online Campaign for a Primary, Runoff, and General Election
Learn how to adjust your campaign website, messaging, email, and digital outreach for a primary, runoff, and general election.
Top Tips for Your Political Email Marketing
Political campaigns are always looking for new ways to reach out to potential voters. They are usually short on time, money, and resources, but they don't want their message lost in the noise of the election season. This is why many marketing techniques that work well...
Keep Your Campaign Material Original – And Avoid the Consequences
Here’s a reminder to make sure that you have rights and permission for anything you use on your political campaign website.
Overcoming Online Fundraising Naysayers
Even after all these years of online political campaigning, some clients still tell us about the pushback they get for wanting to fundraise online. The argument made is that it ‘costs too much’ and that the fees are too high. In other words, because a fundraising method incurs costs, then it should be avoided.
8 New Years Resolutions for Political Candidates
There are many New Year's resolutions that people make, but few people follow through with them. If you are running for office this year, here are some resolutions you'll want to keep. Put together a solid political campaign plan. Today's political landscape is more...
Creating a Facebook Page for Your Political Campaign
Planning on setting up a political campaign Facebook page? For new and experienced politicians, Facebook provides a powerful way to connect with and engage with supporters and voters. For some political candidates, social media is a whole new world. They may not be...
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