Campaign Website

The first step in setting up a website is finding a website address.  There are a few ways to do this. 

• Free or low-cost websites are available on the internet. 

Just go to any search engine (like www.google.com or www.yahoo.com) and type “free website” into the search.  Several options will come up.  The quality and ease-of-use of these sites vary, so you may wish to investigate a few of them. 

Most of the free websites available will require that you place their ads on your page.  This may not be a problem, but sometimes the advertising on your website may conflict with the message of your website, so this is an important consideration.  It may be better to choose a low-cost option if you would like to avoid advertisements.  

In addition, you will most likely only be able to choose a portion of your website address.  Usually, a free website will have the name of the company providing the website included in the address.  For example, if you chose to use www.freewebsites.com, your website address could be www.anytownlevy.freewebsites.com. 

If you want to have an address that includes only your name, like www.anytownlevy.com, this option will not work for you (see option 3).

• Donated Websites

You may have a volunteer on your campaign or local business that is willing to donate some space on their website for your campaign.  In this case, you may also be able to get some help making the website, as well.  Your website address will likely be similar to the free websites available on the internet:  www.anytownlevy.business.com or www.business.com/anytownlevy.  Unlike the free websites, however, there may not be the requirement of advertisements on your page. 

• Purchase a Website

If your campaign is interested in a website with an address that you choose (www.anytownlevy.org) without the name of another company also in the address, your campaign will need to purchase a web domain name and then choose a company to host your website.  This is the most expensive option, but also provides your campaign with the most control over the website.  To choose the name of your website, you may search an online list of existing web addresses to learn if the name you want is still available.  One website that offers this search for free is www.register.com. 

Once you have chosen the name for your website, the next step is to choose a company to host your website for you.  This simply means that the host company will store your website on their computers, which are connected to the internet.  Most companies that provide internet services can host your website.  Some of these companies include www.earthlink.com, and www.seanet.com. 

The costs associated with purchasing your own website include a one-time registration fee (about $70) and a monthly fee to your webhosting company (usually between $20 and $30).

What to put on a campaign website

The beauty of a website is that almost anything that someone is interested in learning about can be posted on your website.  All campaign materials, including fact sheets, lists of frequently asked questions, updates on the campaign, posters that can be printed out for windows, volunteer and event sign-ups, can be posted on your website; it is even possible to collect online donations.  Whatever you choose to post on your website, make sure the layout is simple and clear.  Many people visiting your website may be new to using websites, so it is important to make is easy and not intimidating.

Common things included on campaign websites include:

• Summary of the levy or bond
• List of renovations and improvements to be provided by the levy or bond
• List of frequently asked questions about the levy or bond
• Information on ways to help the campaign, including online form to sign up as a volunteer
• Campaign calendar of events
• List of endorsers
• Campaign news and updates
• Printable car and window signs
• Voter registration information, including registration forms in multiple languages
• Links to news articles about the levy or bond
• Volunteer star chart to track support on a school-by-school basis (see volunteer section)
• Information on donating to the campaign

A note on online donations:  There are two ways to collect donations “online”.  The first is to list a campaign address and ask supporters to mail a check.  This is simple and does not require that your campaign be capable of accepting credit cards. 

The second option is to accept credit card donations via your website.  Collecting donations online is something many people have come to expect from websites.  It is easy for your supporters to contribute and donations can be collected at any time.  However, at this time, it is unlikely that you will receive many donations this way.  Many of the people who make donations to levy and bond campaigns are not comfortable making donations online.  For this reason, it is not wise to put any significant money into this. 

However, there are some companies that will process the credit cards for you in exchange for a fee.  If your campaign has a non-profit tax id number and you are interested in gathering credit card donations online, one option is www.eservices4u.com.  This is an online credit card donation service for non-profits that charges a fee per transaction but no set-up or monthly fee (at the time of this writing).  This may be a good option, since you only pay a fee if you receive a donation.  If you don’t receive any online donations, you don’t pay a fee.  This can also give you credit card capabilities off line- just print out a form that gathers all the necessary information, have donors fill it in, then enter the information yourself online for processing.  Check with the company to determine the current fees and services available.  To search for other options, type “credit card donations non-profit” in a search engine like www.about.com. 

If you do have any requests for donations posted on your website (or anywhere else), you must include a note that donations to the campaign are not tax-deductible.  This is required by law and could cause problems for the campaign if it is missing.

School District websites

Because school districts tax-payer funded government agencies, they may not participate in electioneering.  However, this does not mean that school district’s are prohibited from producing factual information pieces about the levy or bond.  Because the levy or bond will fund school district operations, it is appropriate and legal for school district staff to create factual materials.  Some pieces that have been produced by school districts include:

• fact sheets about the levy or bond and what it would fund
• surveys and videos of school facilities to assess the need for renovation and construction
• information about voting and registering to vote,
• posters reminding voters about the election
• articles in school newsletters explaining the purpose of the levy or bond and the importance of voting
• letters and newsletter columns signed by superintendent, school board members, principals, etc explaining what the levy or bond will do and why it is important to vote. 
• Thank you notes to parents and citizens for being part of the school community and reminding them to vote
• Information about parent voting histories- match parent lists against voter lists to determine percentage of parents that voted in previous elections to encourage parents to vote (see example in levy library;  this does not show how voters voted, just if they voted)

The key to any piece produced using school district time, staff, or resources is to avoid encouraging voters to vote one way or the other.  All materials must be factual and neutral.  It is acceptable to indicate whether there is a need for the services provided by the levy or bond, but not acceptable to say “vote yes for the levy.”  

Using Email

More and more people use email regularly.  This can be helpful to a levy and bond campaign.  Email is a quick and efficient way to communicate with supporters about volunteer opportunities and upcoming events.  A short weekly or bi-weekly email newsletter is one way to use email to communicate regularly with supporters.

When you collect contact information from volunteers, ask for their email address.  If the campaign does not plan to share their email address with anyone outside the campaign, be sure to tell the volunteers this (and follow through with this promise).  It will make them feel more comfortable sharing the information with you. 

It is important to make any emails you send short and easy to understand.  Be courteous of the reader’s time.  One way to do this is to include a message at the start of the email summarizing the contents: 

“In this Anytown Levy Email Newsletter, January 17:

·      Where to pick up yard signs

·      How to help spread the word

Dear Anytown school supporter,”

It is also a good etiquette to include a note at the end of each email you send telling them how to remove themselves from your email list.  An appropriate note would be: “The Anytown Levy campaign will be sending out periodic messages between now and the election, February 5.  If you do not wish to receive further emails from the Anytown Levy campaign, please reply to this message with your email address and the word ‘remove.’”  If they request to be removed from the list, remove them immediately. 

A note about school and government email addresses:  Whenever possible, it is a good idea to use personal email addresses rather than email addresses provided by the school district or government.  It is legal for school and government staff to receive political emails at their work email address, but they should not respond to them during work hours, or use the work email address to forward the message.   There may also be additional rules instituted by the school district or government department.  You may wish to include a note in any email that says:  “If you have received this email at a school district or government address, please send us your personal email address.  Do not respond to this email during work hours or forward this message.”  While it is unlikely they will be breaking any laws, it is respectful to help them avoid the appearance of wrong-doing, as well.

Volunteer Email Trees

Many people regularly send emails to friends and family.  Write a persuasive email encouraging voters to support the levy or bond and send it to your supporters.  Ask them to forward the message to as many people as they can, who can then forward it again.  Prepare a message that can be passed out to parent and community groups and ask them to use their email lists to spread the message, as well.  These messages can be very effective because they are friend to friend.

Newspaper articles

Depending on the size of your local paper, getting an article written about the levy or bond may be very difficult.  You will need to create a news-worthy event, send out press releases to the local reporters, and follow-up with them before the event to make sure they get the information they need.  Some ideas for a news-worthy event include having a local celebrity, like the mayor or a sports figure, at your phone bank; a children’s press conference with children answering questions about how the levy or bond will affect them- young children can be especially good, but prepare all the children and choose the most confident to speak; a neighborhood parade with children and parents near a school that will benefit from the levy or bond.  Unfortunately, even with the best prepared event, if something more news-worthy happens that day, you may not get the press you want. 

Op-eds

Writing an editorial piece for the paper is another way to get information published.  Call the editor of your local paper and ask for the opportunity to write an editorial.  They may publish your editorial alone or side-by-side an opposing view.  You will need to consider this when deciding to do an editorial.  If you feel that it will dredge up an opposition when there hasn’t been one, it may do more harm than good.

Newspaper ads are the easiest way to get into the newspaper.  If the campaign has money available, this may be a good option.  Target your ad for the day of the election and the day before the election.  Keep it simple to read and understand, not overly crowded, and make sure it is placed in a well-read section of the paper.

Letters to the Editor

During the last few weeks of the campaign, it is a good idea to have volunteers write letters to the editor of your local newspapers encouraging people to vote for the levy and giving information about the date of the election.  Since space will be limited, only include the most persuasive, basic facts about the levy- a good fact to include is that seniors on fixed incomes are exempt from the levy.

The more letters are sent to the editor on the subject of the levy, the more likely one will be published.  Ask a few phone bank volunteers, including student volunteers, to take a quick break from phoning and ask them to write a letter (making phone calls is still the priority, however, so don’t take up too many volunteer’s time).  Prepare some sample letters or an outline of key points for a letter to guide the letter writers.  If possible, don’t have them simply sign a prewritten letter.  Ask them to add something personal about their child’s school or experience so all the letters do not sound the same.  Remember, not all the letters will be published, but the more the editor hears about the levy from readers, the more likely one or two will be printed.