CANDIDATE ENGAGEMENT: Candidate Forums, Appearances and More Presented by

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Cheryl Clyburn Crawford Today’s presenters A natural advantage that nonprofits have is that they are neutral brokers. Truly nonpartisan. Cheryl Clyburn Crawford Executive Director MassVOTE Who

AGENDA CANDIDATE FORUMS CANDIDATE APPEARANCES SHARING RESEARCH AND QUESTIONNAIRES GP - A natural advantage that nonprofits have is that they are neutral brokers. Truly nonpartisan. Agenda

Candidate forums Collaborating with partners Organizing the forum Staying nonpartisan Candidate Forums

Why host a candidate forum Get your issues in front of the candidates/future office holders Provide an opportunity for voters to learn about and meet the candidates Build relationships with the candidates Be a player, become known as an organization connected to politics GP - A natural advantage that nonprofits have is that they are neutral brokers. Truly nonpartisan. Why

Collaborating with Partners Organizing

Partners: Benefits Having co-sponsors… Increases the likelihood that candidates will participate Can mean a larger audience turnout Strengthens relationships for future work Partners

Partners: Challenges Coordinating meetings Maintaining communication Sharing the work – one group takes the lead Partners

Organizing a Candidate forum

Getting Started Starting early – about 4 months out Having a plan – date, place Targeting your audience Organizing

Recruiting candidates Candidates want - A large audience A guarantee of neutrality Well known and respected sponsors and partners Time at the forum to meet with the audience informally Organizing

Choosing a Format Equal Time Q&A – The standard format Other Formats Organizing

Turning out your audience Planning early and starting early Targeting your audience Making it personal Don’t let this happen to you! Organizing

Publicity Using all your communications vehicles Recruiting a media partner Getting a well known moderator Talk a little bit about why publicity is so important Organizing

Guidelines for Candidate Forums Staying nonpartisan Guidelines for Candidate Forums GP takes over Stay Nonpartisan

The basics Cover a range of issues or topics within your own issue area Provide equal time for the candidates during the forum No “litmus test” questions Stay Nonpartisan

Inviting Candidates Ask all viable candidates to attend Follow up Must have at least 2 candidates to have a “forum” Talk a little bit about why publicity is so important Stay Nonpartisan

cancellations For last minute cancellations, either cancel or change from a forum to a candidate appearance No politicking or fundraising Announce that appearance is not an endorsement Stay Nonpartisan

During the Forum Maintain a nonpartisan atmosphere in the hall No leading or biased questions Allow candidates to meet voters after the forum and allow literature outside the hall Talk a little bit about why publicity is so important Stay Nonpartisan

Checklist on a timeline For detailed timeline, download the Candidate Forum Checklist from our website. Checklist

Candidate Appearances

3 Ways candidates may appear During an election season, candidates may appear at your nonprofit in one of three ways: As a candidate As a public figure On their own at a public event Appearances

Appearing as a candidate If you invite candidates to the same event: Invite all candidates in the same race (they don’t all have to come) Campaigning and political fundraising are prohibited Remind the audience this is a nonpartisan event If you invite candidates to different events: Provide all candidates with a similar opportunity to speak to your audience – similar time, venue and presentation format Appearances

Appearing as a public figure You may want to invite a candidate to an event in their capacity as a current or former office holder, an expert in their field, or as a celebrity. If so: The public figures candidacy can play no part in your decision to invite them Their candidacy may not be mentioned Campaign activity of any type is prohibited Candidates can also appear on their own. If so, point out to the audience that this is not an endorsement. The candidate may not address the audience or distribute campaign literature. Appearances

Sharing research and questionnaires & More

Sharing research You may share research with candidates, as long as The same information is available to all candidates You may respond to requests for information from candidates, as long as You do not expend resources creating new research or information You can also share your own research or data with candidates, as long as your provide all of the candidates in a race with the same information. This is a great way to educate candidates about your issues, your constituency, and your community. Candidates rely on you to educate them on your issues. Research & More

Candidate questionnaires Ask questions on a range of topics Not just yes or no. Let candidates explain view, but give a word limit Send it to all candidates in the race If a candidate doesn’t respond - may list “no response” or use official statements from the candidate’s website In addition to forums and appearances, candidate questionnaires are great way to help your community become familiar with where the candidates stand on issues important to you. They can take some time to prepare and you will need to be careful to ensure that they remain nonpartisan. Take a look at Nonprofit VOTE’s “Nonprofits, Voting and Elections” guide for more information on preparing a candidate questionnaire. One more way to engage the candidates is to provide them with information about your community and your work. Candidates need you to educate them about your issues. They don’t know everything and if you want them to care about the issues that you care about, then you need to explain to them why you care. One caveat, if you send information to one candidate, you have to send it to all of them. No fair giving one candidate an advantage. Isela has a great example. Research & More 28

Resources Visit the Resource Library on our website for more information and the following recommended resources: A Nonprofit’s Guide to Hosting a Candidate Forum “Checklist on a Timeline” Checklist “Working with Candidates” Factsheet “Candidate Appearances” Factsheet Sophie will go to the website and show the audience how to find each of these resources Resources

Cheryl Clyburn Crawford ccrawford@massvote.org 617-542-8683 ext. 211 info@nonprofitvote.org 617.357.VOTE (8683) www.nonprofitvote.org Nonprofit VOTE 89 South Street Suite 203 Boston, MA 02111 Cheryl Clyburn Crawford ccrawford@massvote.org 617-542-8683 ext. 211 Lindsey Hodel lindsey@nonprofitvote.org 617-357-8683 Contact 30