OUTREACH & MEDIA
Personal messages to voters are very effective, whether they come from a candidate or from those who support a candidate, measure or issue. We receive so much printed mail on a daily basis that a personal, handwritten note, card or letter catches our attention much more than any standard printed materials.
CASE STUDY:
In the Fall of 2018, snkids.org organized a successful postcard campaign to support the passage of the San Mateo-Foster City School District’s Measure V Parcel Tax. The District had a failed parcel tax and bond within the prior 5 years, which was daunting for the passage of any tax-based revenue feature. It was imperative to get the message out about the importance of the current tax measure.
We recruited hundreds of parents, students, teachers, administrators, and community members to handwrite postcards (to share the message of how important the tax measure was) to voters.
The measure passed, and we’d like to think that the 10,000 postcards that went out to voters made a difference!
If you have questions about preparing for and conducting a Postcard Campaign for your issue, measure or candidacy, let us know!
CASE STUDY:
In the Fall of 2018, snkids.org organized a successful postcard campaign to support the passage of the San Mateo-Foster City School District’s Measure V Parcel Tax. The District had a failed parcel tax and bond within the prior 5 years, which was daunting for the passage of any tax-based revenue feature. It was imperative to get the message out about the importance of the current tax measure.
We recruited hundreds of parents, students, teachers, administrators, and community members to handwrite postcards (to share the message of how important the tax measure was) to voters.
- We ordered the electronic voter file from the County Elections Office.
- We made address labels for the most frequent voters in the jurisdiction & placed them on the postcards.
- We ordered a “Stamp” that said “YES on V” (which was the Parcel Tax designation) and stamped each card.
- We ordered postcards with our snkids.org logo from our printer.
- We drafted parent and student message “templates” for copying onto the cards, but noted that personal-crafted messages were also fine.
- We bundled the postcards into packs of TEN and packaged larger orders in large envelopes along with the message “templates.”
- We put a sign-up on our website for people to request card packs.
- We made the cards available for pick-up and also delivered them, if requested.
- Some PTA’s and other amazing community members organized “Postcard Writing Parties” for groups to work on the card writing together.
- We asked the writers to pay for postage — We also received some stamp “donations” which we offered to some postcard writers, if needed.
- We asked community members to take photos of their cards, their gatherings to write them, and their deliveries to the mailbox to send them off – and to send them to us for posting on our website, or for posting (by us or them) on various social media channels! It was great to see all of the work being done!
- We asked for the postcards to be mailed a few days before the “Ballot Drop” from the elections office, so that they would arrive around the same time. We also collected some postcards and mailed them on our timeline, to make it easier for the writers!
The measure passed, and we’d like to think that the 10,000 postcards that went out to voters made a difference!
If you have questions about preparing for and conducting a Postcard Campaign for your issue, measure or candidacy, let us know!
