Not all campaigns are created equally

Continuing our look into the experiences of Young Fabian campaigners on the ground during this election, Manchester-based Sam Bacon looks at what makes a campaign popular and keeps volunteers coming back for more…

Now that we’re all firmly in campaign mode, like other activists across the country over the next few weeks I’ll be trying to determine where to spend my precious hours pounding the pavements.  Whilst the candidates will be equally worthy to campaign for, the experience of campaigning for each will vary massively.  I’d like to share two contrasting approaches that I’ve seen in the over the past few weeks during the pre-election campaign, and hopefully point towards the more successful of the two.

Campaign A.  On an especially cold and windy Saturday, I met a group of other activists from across the region.  We stood outside in the biting wind whilst the organizer grabbed leaflets, clipboards and contact sheets.  No one was asked what experience (if any) they had, and no one was introduced to anyone else, or made aware of who was coordinating/organizing the campaign.  We never had opportunity to speak to the candidate, and certainly received no thanks from them or anyone else.

Contact sheets and clipboards were given to ‘old hands’ already known to the organizer, and they immediately marched off in a seemingly random direction.  The rest of us new activists (literally) ran behind them trying to keep up. We didn’t know where we were going, for how long, what the local issues were or even what exactly we were supposed to be doing.

Unsurprisingly, I have rarely seen a more dispirited group of volunteers.  Gradually over the next two hours more and more people slipped away, cold and dejected and likely never to return.  No one on the campaign ever asked for volunteer names let alone their contact details, and to date, no one ever expressed any thanks or provided follow up as to what difference our contribution made that day.

Campaign B. Volunteers were told to meet at a central venue, where in the confines of a warm, comfortable room, we were fully briefed on what we would be doing, where, for how long and how it impacted on the wider campaign, and thus why it was important. The candidate mingled with the gathered group, and all sorts of food, drinks and snacks were offered.  Finally, a sign-in sheet was passed around asking for our name, phone number and email address.

Before setting off we were divided into teams with a clear leader, and given the opportunity to ask questions.  When we did hit the streets, people were fired up and enthused and they were clear in their role and how to perform it.  No one left before the end of the session.

All volunteers were invited to meet again after finishing to share their experiences and yet more refreshments.  Problems or questions were raised immediately, helping debrief everyone and refine the process for next time.  This social interaction along with subsequent thank you emails helped turn a group of individual volunteers into a genuine campaign team.

Simply put: Campaign B does not struggle to find volunteers each week…