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.
How to Build a Winning Political Campaign Team
Putting together an effective political campaign team is one of the most important steps a candidate can take. It doesn’t matter if you’re running for city council or Congress—no one runs a successful campaign alone. A proper political campaign structure allows for...
Tips for Writing Your Political Candidate Biography
Every campaign website should include a candidate bio, where you add a personal touch and help voters understand who you are why you are running for office.
Choosing the Best Political Campaign Handle
Here’s a quick tip for candidates who are starting their online campaigns: Pick a name that’s going to last! For your website and social media profiles, you should choose a single name for consistency. The question is whether you should include the name of the office you are seeking.
10 Facts About Digital Political Campaigning To Keep You Up at Night
There are ten things that you might not know that can ruin your online political campaign. Be safe, be careful, and don’t let these things happen to you!
Planning Your Political Campaign – Candidate Checklists
A solid plan is key to any political victory. While it might be tempting to announce your candidacy as soon as you can, it is often not a wise move. There are many tasks required in preparing for a campaign. Candidate checklists play a big part in organizing your...
Running in the Next Election? Better Start Preparing Now
We are barely past the November general elections, so who wants to think about next year's Election Day? Smart candidates, that's who. Even if you are running for local office, the time to get started on your campaign is NOW. Filing periods for municipal elections are...
4 Challenges Candidates Face When Running A Political Campaign
Small political campaigns need to reach fewer voters, raise less money and typically campaign for a shorter period of time than larger campaigns. But that does not make local campaigning any easier for the candidates or their supporters. In some ways, small campaigns have it even tougher.
The Biggest Threat That Local Candidates Face
What’s the most dangerous threat facing every local candidate in the country next year? It's not fundraising, though that is always a challenge. It's not social media platforms. It' not misinformation. Nor will it be the number of yard signs you place or mailers you...
How Many Votes Do You Need To Win?
How many votes do you need to win a local election? In its most simple form, the winning formula is…
Free ‘Don’t Forget To Vote’ Graphic Templates
Just in time for Election Day, here are two free social media templates that you can customize and share with followers to help get out the vote. One graphic design template is sized for Facebook, the other for Twitter. Customize them the way you want. Change the...
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