Key Political Campaign Job Descriptions
Whether you are running a big or small campaign, you will need people to help you. This means you will need to know the strengths of the people you are working with so they can be assigned the proper role. Smaller campaigns don’t need as many coordinators because they are run with less people. If you are interested in learning more about small, low budget campaigns, you should read: Running Low Budget Campaigns.
For bigger campaigns, you must have well-defined job descriptions for the people running the campaign. The role of the campaign manager is to make sure the coordinators/chairpersons are effectively doing their jobs.
Volunteer Coordinator/Chairperson
The Volunteer Coordinator will be responsible for:
1. Recruiting volunteers.
2. Organizing contact information for volunteers and being aware of what volunteers are willing to do.
3. Scheduling volunteers to work shifts and complete projects.
4. Supervising volunteers as they do their duties (including door-to-door canvassers, meet and greet staff, and office volunteers).
5. Recognize volunteers who go above and beyond, and promoting them.
6. Overseeing and assisting with the training of volunteers.
Finance Coordinator/Chairperson
The Finance Chairperson will be responsible for:
1) Recruiting and supervising the treasurer and other fundraisers.
a) Treasurer: Keeps accurate accounting of all incoming and outgoing money; signs all campaign checks; makes regular reports to the Finance Chairperson and Campaign Manager.
2) Soliciting donations.
a) Calls important contributors.
b) Arranges meetings with potential supporters.
c) Creates lists of potential supporters based on previous campaigns and information gathered at campaign events.
3) Serving on the budget committee (along with the Treasurer).
4) Planning and organizing fundraising activities.
5) Overseeing the writing of thank you cards and acknowledgements to those who have contributed.
Publicity Coordinator/Chairperson
The Publicity Coordinator will be responsible for:
1) Working with Steering Committee to establish priorities.
a) Helps establish budget.
b) Assists with creating slogan and style for campaign.
2) Researching past campaign literature, and developing campaign pamphlets, flyers, and handouts.
3) Purchasing promotional signs, billboards, bumper stickers, campaign buttons, etc.
4) Meeting with candidate about press releases. Collaborates with Research Chair to provide factual information.
5) Developing media contacts.
6) Writing copy for newspaper, television, internet, and radio advertisements.
7) Supplying media with pictures of the candidate.
8) Supervising speech writers, advertisers, etc.
Research Coordinator/Chairperson
The Research Chairperson is responsible for:
1) Forming and supervising a committee to research and give input on voter and issue targeting.
2) Helping the candidate target key issues.
3) Developing positions for candidate.
4) Researching the opponents’ positions.
5) Researching the office candidate is running for.
Scheduling Coordinator/Chairperson
The Scheduling Coordinator is responsible for:
1) Keeping a calendar of appointments and meetings for the candidate.
2) Tracking campaign timetable and deadlines.
3) Working with Volunteer Coordinator to arrange candidate’s event schedule.
4) Soliciting events and activities for the candidate.
5) Supplying key staff with advance copies of the candidate’s schedules.
6) Researching all public appearances for the candidate, providing:
a) Time, address, directions, contact numbers, and maps
b) Contact people and roles.
c) Time length for candidate, and ground rules.
d) Background on group and attendance.
Some of these duties will vary depending on the campaign, but these description provide a good base for what every campaign manager should look for when hiring and recruiting staff.