The Center for Campaign Leadership’s campaign training programs offer the next generation of political consultants a nonpartisan look at political campaigns. While focusing on the fundamentals of running effective campaigns, importance is also placed on the role of ethics in campaigns. Presentation Sessions Over the course of the two-day training, bipartisan teams of distinguished political consultants will lead sessions dedicated to four essential components of a successful political campaign – message development, fundraising, message delivery, and grassroots mobilization. Speakers will share their expertise and knowledge with participants as they discuss not only what it takes to win, but also how to wage a political campaign that is both ethical and effective. A question & answer session will follow each speaker presentation session. The four sessions dedicated to the essential components of a winning campaign plan are: Message Development: Creating, Targeting, and Testing your Message Campaign experts discuss the components of a winning campaign message, including theme, rationale, and issue positions, and how to use personal, professional and political biography to complement the candidate’s message. The Money Hunt: Identifying Donors, Soliciting Dollars, and Drafting a Fundraising Plan Professional fundraisers review the basic steps involved in raising money for political campaigns, including how to develop a fundraising plan and how to identify and motivate likely donors.		"Great Resource. Thank you! I really appreciated the bi-partisan mix and the emphasis on campaigning not just to win, but for getting more people involved in the political process changes my mind a bit about political campaigns and what purpose they serve." Participant, 2002 Los Angeles, CA Training
Driving the Message Home: Media, Mail and Direct Voter Contact Campaign experts discuss the most effective ways to get your message across to the voter, including how to generate earned media, deliver your message through paid media and direct mail, and develop other forms of effective voter contact. Getting Organized: Building a Grassroots Organization Field experts discuss how to build a strong and well-managed campaign organization, including how to identify and recruit volunteers, build coalitions, and develop an effective Get-Out-The-Vote operation. Workgroup Sessions In addition to hearing from experts in the field of campaign politics, participants will have an opportunity to apply the lessons and principles they learn as they develop a campaign plan over the course of the two-day training. Through the campaign plans and small-group discussion, the curriculum encourages participants to candidates to reflect on the various ethical dilemmas they might face during an actual campaign. Below is a description of the four components of a campaign plan that will be developed during each workgroup session of the two-day campaign training. Workgroup Session I: “Developing Your Campaign Message and a Fundraising Plan” Using candidate and district profiles, poll results, and information regarding the candidate’s donor history, campaign teams will develop both a message for their candidate’s campaign and an outline of a ten-week fundraising plan. Workgroup Session II: “Developing Your Message Delivery Plan” Campaign teams will identify the most effective vehicles for delivering their campaign message to voters, given the constraints of their budget and the size of their targeted audiences, and will create a ten-week timeline for how to deliver the campaign’s message. Workgroup Session III: “Developing Your GOTV Plan” Campaign teams will take into account the voter history of the district, recent poll results, and an update on remaining campaign resources as they develop a 72-hour Get-Out-The-Vote plan. Workgroup Session IV: “Finalizing Your Campaign Plan” Campaign teams will finalize the four components of their campaign plans, transfer the information to visual aides, and prepare to present their plans at the “nominating conventions.”