The San Diego County Democratic Party is hosting a series of online candidate training sessions for endorsed Democratic candidates and their staff to cover campaign fundamentals and position teams for success in November!
During these trainings, you'll hear from established campaign professionals, elected officials, and San Diego County Democratic Party staff about everything you need to run a strong campaign--campaign operations and organization, finance and fundraising , voter contact, and communications.
Our trainings will be offered as four virtual standalone sessions—one for each of the core campaign elements.
Please see below for more details and links to RSVP for each standalone session and the all-day session. If you have any questions, please contact Campaign Services Director Maral Babai at [email protected] or 858.218.6998.
Standalone Core Sessions (Virtual)
Finance: Fundraising, Budgeting, Basic Compliance Wednesday, August 19, 6:00p.m.-7:00p.m. Featuring La Mesa Vice Mayor Lauren Cazares and finance professional Max Coston of Sunrise Political Solutions. We'll begin with the finance basics--forming a campaign committee, filing Form 410, setting up bank accounts, and staying compliant-- before moving into budgeting, where attendees will learn to build and prioritize a realistic budget for their campaign, including real-world pricing for mail and digital tools. The second half turns to fundraising: who to ask, key deadlines, and how to rolodex your network, followed by practical methods, scripts, and sample asks that attendees will get to practice themselves. RSVP here.
Fundamentals: Campaign Organization and Management Wednesday, August 26, 6:00p.m.-7:00p.m. During this session, we'll review how to develop a campaign plan and set goals, create timelines and action plans, define campaign team roles and responsibilities, and volunteer recruitment and management. The session will also address time management for candidates, common campaign pitfalls to avoid, and how local party resources can support candidates through Election Day. RSVP here. Voter Contact: Field Programs and Best Practices Wednesday, September 2, 6:00p.m.-7:00p.m. This session will walk through how to build and execute a field plan, beginning with the fundamentals of defining and targeting who you will be contacting, how to prioritize parts of your district, core methods of voter contact, along with scripts and best practices for tracking contacts and using the voter file database. We'll wrap up with reviewing a Get Out the Vote strategy, and share some basic scripts and templates to get you started. RSVP here. Communications: Messaging, Branding, Digital Presence Wednesday, September 9, 6:00p.m.-7:00p.m. This session will begin with defining messaging--the short, clear, persuasive statement that tells voters why they should choose you and how you differ from your opponents--and how to craft a message and build branding that sticks. covers how that message carries across channels: social media and digital ads, your website and digital presence, campaign handouts, and direct and slate mail. Attendees will leave with practical tools for making the most of every communication opportunity with voters. RSVP here.
