In today's highly competitive campaigns, it is more important than ever for office seekers to enhance voter service, maximize voter contact, and control costs.  Voters are demanding better information, and competitors are continually raising the bar with new solutions to meet voters' needs.  Within the last two years, the e-Campaign has emerged as a critical tool for successful campaigns willing and able to leverage this new communication technology. An e-Campaign can solve problems and boost voter turn out.

An Increasingly Valuable Campaign Tool

Growing campaigns are flocking to the e-Campaign.  Once candidates are on line, they use an e-Campaign more frequently and for a broader range of essential campaign applications.  This proves e-Campaign pays off.

Growing campaigns first turned to an  e-Campaign to obtain more industry, support, or get more voter information and out perform competitors. For many, an e-Campaigns have now become a way to streamline operations, improve voter services, and get more votes.  Much of this increased e-Campaign use can be tied to the emergence of a new class of solutions that will result in growing campaigns' success:

e-Campaign Solutions Shape the Campaign of the 21st Century

e-Campaign solutions are software and hardware tools that tap into the power of the e-Campaign.  They provide dramatic productivity improvements for candidates by opening access to information, resources, and services establishing a networked campaign environment.  They set new standards for relationships between a growing campaign and its voters, partners, volunteers, and employees.  e-Campaign solutions can enhance a campaigns productivity in three primary ways:

·        Providing new ways to ensure voter loyalty through on-demand information.

·        Building and maintaining relationships with supporters and votersusing real-time campaign programs and new campaign applications.

·        Improving campaign efficiency through collaborative work arrangements and easy access to information

Empowerment for voters

An e-Campaign has become an essential tool in increasing voter loyalty.  A candidates Web site, together with e-Campaign solutions such as voter relationship and campaign management, can extend the level of personal voter service that growing campaigns deliver today.

·        Improve access to information---Both voters and candidates look to e-Campaign to find information instantly.  By turning a Web site into an information vehicle, campaigns can give their voters hassle-free, around-the-clock access to candidates and voters information.  Simply providing basic information on where the candidate stands on specific issues can increase voter satisfaction levels without major investments.  By going the extra step to track site areas that voters visit can gain important insight into your voter's interests.  It can also make it easier for you to provide voters with the data they need to make important voting choices.

·        Enhance voter service---e-Campaign solutions and the Web can be leveraged to provide various levels of "self-support" for voters.  Voters may obtain critical information about campaign issues and platforms, or learn answers to common questions without having to initiate direct contact.  When done effectively, this can improve the quality of service a growing campaign providesand can reduce staffing levels.

·        Simplify campaign transactions--- Through electronic commerce, e-Campaign solutions converts political Web sites into a powerful source of obtaining contributions, capable of reaching millions of e-Campaign supporters worldwide.  More and more voters are comfortable buying products and services over the Web---in fact, according to Forrester Research, global e-commerce revenues will reach $3.2 billion by 2003.  Voters appreciate the convenience and simplicity of Web contributions.  They simply click on " Contributions" and an e-Campaign Solution manages the entire contributor transaction from credit authorization,to payment, and fraud protection, to tracking, fulfillment, and reporting.  Your voters can contribute around the clock.  Voters can place and verify their contributions themselves, and electronic contributions are less prone to error.  In addition, efficiency and voter satisfaction increase as needs and requests are managed with ease through e-Campaign networks.

·        Reach a broader voter base---An e-Campaign dramatically expands geographic exposure coverage, enabling a candidate to build awareness and inform voters worldwide about their concerns.  e-Campaign opens the candidate to members of the public that might otherwise be impossible to reach. Using the Web to find and qualify contacts, successful campaigns have new opportunities for exposure and attracting contributions.  Candidates may also place advertisements on other Web sites frequented by potential voters.  Visitors to your Web site can be self-qualified by filling out forms to request contact by campaign representatives and staff.

Collaboration with Supporters and Campaign Partners

Building and maintaining campaign-to-campaign relationships is one of the foremost opportunities an e-Campaign presents for experienced and unexperienced to campaigns.  e-Campaign Solution tools such as Web-based procurement, web site management, and software used, raise the ability of campaigns to better collaborate with in the campaign.

·        Reduce travel and communications overhead---Online collaboration can reduce the need for travel, phone calls, faxes, and overnight mailing.  Sharing designs, documents, and presentations interactively reduces the time and operational costs of partner and supplier communications.  As many growing campaigns have already discovered, an e-Campaign can identify and pre-qualify potential suppliers or campaign partners, reducing communications and travel costs associated with pre-qualification.

·        Collapse time-to-voters---Online collaboration allows candidates to move faster.  By streamlining the processes associated with gathering, organizing and reviewing information, candidates can get their ideas and platforms to prospective voters ahead of the competition.  This permits the new candidate to forge a competitive edge.

Productivity Tools for Chairmen &Volunteers

By finding innovative ways to improve campaign practices, first time and incumbent candidates can conduct more efficient canvassing of voters, accurately calculate and label contributions, qualify audiences and better serve their supporters.  Campaign managers will find that an e-Campaign web site staffed by trained computer literate volunteers or employees will streamline the internal operations.

·        Improve voter relationships---eCampaign productivity tools empower staff by permitting them to build stronger relationships with voters, while responding faster and more efficiently to voter requests.  Candidate representatives can manage appointments more efficiently, send correspondence faster, and access campaign data, or voter information; develop pollster configurations, and reflect on the mood of the voters even while they are traveling or at a voter site.

·        Raise the standards for excellence---Though employing knowledgeable, well-trained staff is critical to growing campaigns, providing ongoing training and education is cost prohibitive.  Web-based training reduces time and costs associated with hand held training.  With Web-based courseware, you can establish online training centers for employees by creating Web pages with self-paced training modules.  Staff train at their own pace, at their own desktops, eliminating the need for a central training location, thereby reducing travel time and costs.

·        Enhance e-Campaign performance---Many campaigns are turning to collaborative technologies to expand the capability of teams and to build a greater sense of community in the headquarters.  Technology-enabled teams are less bound by space and time, and they can be structured specifically by tasks.  Exchanging information via e-mail can dramatically increase volunteer's productivity and responsiveness.  The functionality of groupware extends well beyond e-mail---group calendaring/scheduling, data conferencing, videoconferencing, group document editing, workflow, and many other collaboration applications are now available.

·       e-Campaign Intranet Shared Knowledge---While an intranet can serve as a repository for easy form, policy, and procedure access, it can also be used to distribute current project information and "best practices" among campaign chairpersons.  This type of sharing turns information into actionable knowledge and ultimately provides your headquarters with a sustainable competitive advantage.  Intranets increase a campaigns' rate of learning by making information available to any supporter/voter anytime and anywhere.  The intranet easily becomes a platform for knowledge management about your opponent's issues and where the public is on their issues.

Are e-Campaign Solutions Right for You?

Implementing any new campaign process can be a challenge.  However, growing campaigns can rest assured that e-Campaign solutions can be put into service quickly and easily.  "

 ·        Evolution, not revolution---Taking advantage of E-Campaign solutions and e-Campaign technologies is an evolutionary process.  Many candidates have also begun to integrate their front office and back-office operational systems.  Statistics are still in the making for this expansion method of campaigning.

·         Candidates that want to introduce e-Campaign solutions into their campaign practices need to understand how this media challenges established work patterns and habits.  It is important that a political organization carefully manage:

·        Information within the campaign

·        Expectations within the minds of Campaign Managers and Volunteers

·        Changes that occur when new e-Campaign solutions and processes are implemented.

Your organization can begin to assess its own readiness for e-Campaign campaign Solution adoption by answering the following questions:

·        Strategic plans---How large is your campaign today?  How many employees/volunteers will work towards getting the candidate elected?

·         As growing campaigns increase their use of networked applications across a greater number of geographic locations, the capacity of your organization network begins to have a significant impact on the voting population.

·        Technology---What is the state of your current technology infrastructure?  Do you currently use a LAN?  Do you take advantage of shared e-Campaign access?  Is your organization Web enabled?  How technologically perceptive is your staff?

·        If your organization has been postponing the adoption of these technologies, you could be putting yourself at a competitive disadvantage.  It may be time to begin evaluating how to put technology to work for your campaign.

·        Your Competition---What kind of e-Campaign presence do your competitors have?  Do they have Web sites?  Do their Web sites meet voter needs and expectations?  What is the likelihood of your competitors adopting e-commerce?

·        Proliferation and deployment of an e-Campaign and e-Contribution technologies throughout your organization makes them a wise choice.  If your opponents are on the Web, then you probably need to be there too.

·        e-Campaign Issues---What type of voters are you focused on (such as students, senior citizens, entrepreneurs, those on welfare, teachers and on and on).  Are you looking to expand your campaign to reach a broader voter base?  Is your platform suited to web based examination?  Do voters look on the Web to see your platform and what you believe in?

·         e-Campaign Voter Relations---Are your voters on line today?  Are they currently seeking services online?  Do they go to the Web to look for information on issues such as yours?  Do you view improving voter service and communications as important?

·        e-Campaign solutions and an e-Campaign will help you acquire and retain valued voters by making supporter information readily available regardless of the voter point of contact.

·        Productivity---Would you like to find new ways to increase organizational productivity?  How do chairpersons and volunteers within your organization collaborate?  Do you currently have a training program in place?  What methods do your committee members use to share knowledge and information? 

·        e-Campaign solutions and e-Campaign technologies offer significant new ways to control campaign costs thereby blocking contributions for more worthy causes.

Taking the Next Step

Determining answers to the above questions can be your first step in leveraging an e-Campaign to transform the way you run your campaign.  The answers will also facilitate finding a solution partner best suited to help you select, implement, manage, and support an e-Campaign solutions that address your requirements.  To ensure that you begin this process effectively:

·        Plan your technology infrastructure---Plan now for the evolution and growth of your computing and networking infrastructure.  Become knowledgeable about new e-Campaign Solution products and services, which meet the specific ease-of-use, reliability and security needs of political campaigns such as yours.

·        Anticipate your networking upgrade needs---A growing campaign's hosting may need to be upgraded to realize the full potential of electronic communication.  Examples include moving from e-Campaign access via a single modem to an ISDN line for headquarters-wide use, or upgrading to a client/server network from a peer-to-peer network.

·        Purchase integrated solutions---Seek vendors that offer complete solutions, including e-Campaign solutions, installation and integration services, and infrastructure and e-Campaign access solutions through a single point of support.  Look for vendors who focus specifically on meeting the needs of growing candidates.

·        Take the next step---e-Campaign solutions enable growing campaigns to transform the way they run campaigns relating to voters, supporters, contributors, staff and volunteers, by informing them quickly and precisely about events and news that pertains to them.  The benefits of using an e-Campaign are compelling, and the application solutions that enable it are readily available and feasible for today's political scene.  Take the next step now and learn how your organization can quickly achieve a workable and state of the art campaign program by adopting an e-Campaign solutions.