1. Building a Winning Campaign Team
GCU Students’ Association Elections

2. Overview
Building a Team
Organising the Campaign
Staying on Track

3. Building a Team
Building a campaign team is the task most candidates feel is the most daunting – probably because we look at this activity in too formal a manner
What we really mean is that you should be looking to your friends and the people you know to help you out while you stand for election
They don’t need to be seasoned campaigners or do anything they don’t feel comfortable with in order to be able to help

4. Building a Team
Who are you going to ask to help your campaign?

5. Building a Team Friends & family People on your course
People in your group/club/society
You do not have to be a student to campaign in GCU elections – many parts of the campus are open to the public

6. Organising the Campaign
Based on previous elections, some students may have gained the impression that having the largest campaign team matters the most
In reality, having a smaller but better managed team makes the difference
Consider the effect of 3 or 4 people speaking to students all week against ten people standing at the entrances to campus handing out flyers
Some campaigns also prioritise some actions (lecture shouts, flyering etc) and don’t think about what else their volunteers could be doing

7. Organising the Campaign
What activities do you want your volunteers to do for your campaign?
Think about all the ways that a volunteer could promote voting for you in the election

8. Organising the Campaign
Once you have an idea of who will help you:
Find out when they are free
How much time they can commit
What they are willing to do for the campaign
With this information you need to:
Draw up a campaign plan
Let everyone know what they are doing and when (they don’t need to see the whole plan!)
Make sure your Campaign Manager has a contact number for all of your volunteers and they have the CM’s number too

9. Staying on Track
In order to make sure your team remains effective until the end of the week it is important to get a few simple things right:
Make sure nobody works too hard – people are less effective at convincing students to vote when they are tired and have been talking all day
Look after your team – you or your campaign manager are free to supply your team with teas and coffees (this is not considered an election expense)
Review what is happening in the campaign – try to make sure you speak with everyone during or after they have helped you out to find out what is working
Say thank you – this one is just that simple

10. Staying on Track A final cautionary note
You are responsible for what your campaigners do in your name
Make sure that they are either aware of the rules or know what they have to do well enough to avoid breaking any
Even if something isn’t against the rules, if somebody campaigning for you does or says something inappropriate it will still reflect badly on you