Now that the filing deadline has passed and the campaign season has kicked off, a serious need has arisen across the Commonwealth: persons to staff the campaigns.
From Congressional campaigns all the way down to local races, every campaign needs people to do the day-to-day work – keeping track of the money, managing the schedules, planning the field work, and so much more.
Some campaigns can only afford volunteers to fill these roles. Some can pay a small stipend. And in the largest campaigns, roles like Campaign Manager can be command a six-figure salary.
What roles are needed?
Campaign Manager – The campaign manager is often the most visible person on the campaign. For smaller races, they volunteer their expertise and effort. For larger races, Campaign Managers are paid. The campaign manager coordinates the various campaign operations: field, communications, polling, advertising, and finance.
Campaign Treasurer – When you are selecting a campaign treasurer, they must also be someone you trust. On local races, a close friend with accounting experience would be ideal. On countywide or statewide races, it is recommended that you hire a full-time accountant to handle finances. The campaign treasurer will handle payroll, taxes, and campaign finance disclosures.
Field Director – The field director coordinates all direct voter contact. This includes knocking on voters’ doors, phone-banking, and hosting house parties and meetings with the candidate that are not fundraising-driven. They are also in charge of voter registration and GOTV if there is no specific person assigned to do that.
Digital Director – The digital director is responsible for digital communication strategies, social media strategic planning, and digital ad buying and planning. They are also responsible for website updates, campaign file management and storage, project management software, and online security. This person may also be your communications director on a smaller campaign. In larger campaigns, these may be separate roles.
Volunteer coordinator – This persons manages everyone who volunteers for the campaign, figuring out what they can do and what they want to do, then keeping them plugged in to all the volunteer work that needs to be done.
Scheduler – Just as the name says: manages the schedule of the candidate. In a large campaign, the candidate goes where the scheduler sends them, and all requests for appearances go through the scheduler.
I’m interested – how can I get involved?
Some of the roles above usually need prior experience working on a campaign, depending on the size of the campaign. Others, though, can be done by someone new to the work, as long as they have the discipline and time to get the work done correctly and on deadline.
Treasurer, for example, is a role that can be learned, but must absolutely be done exactly as prescribed; otherwise, the candidate can face serious charges and fines.
Anna Whites with the KY Democratic Auxiliary and Trent Garrison with Bluegrass Activists Alliance are working together to build a list of possible campaign staffers, to be shared with candidates. If you are interested in filling any of these roles on either a volunteer or paid basis, contact them via email at annawhites@aol.com or trentgarrison@gmail.com. Be sure to include the following:
- Name
- City and county
- Phone
- Previous experience working on campaigns
- What role(s) you are interested in
Let’s get these campaigns staffed up and rolling – the elections are coming fast!
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