Nate Johnson

Build a Strong, Loyal Support Base That Lasts Beyond Election Day In today’s fast-paced political landscape, it’s not enough to rally your supporters on election day. The real key to long-term success is building and growing a dedicated support base that stands by you through every campaign. By focusing on maximizing voter turnout, you can create a broad, reliable database that helps you identify and engage your most passionate supporters. Imagine having a community of volunteers who are not just following your campaign but are actively involved—sharing updates, spreading your message, and feeling like they’re part of something bigger. You can keep your supporters engaged and informed with the right tools and strategies, like creating closed Facebook groups for your volunteers. This allows you to tailor your messages and actions directly to their needs and values, ensuring that your campaign resonates with them on a personal level. And here’s the best part: by maintaining strong communication with your supporters between election cycles, you’re not just winning votes—you’re building a powerful, committed political community that’s with you for the long haul. This is the foundation for lasting political success.

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What is the biggest opportunity for local media outlets to grow their revenue? Community building. Jeremy Sinon, VP of Digital Strategy for Hubbard, was a guest on the Sound Off Podcast with Matt Cundill recently, and he told the story of how he built an online community for KFAN in Minneapolis, and it blew up. But here's the kicker: This all happened before Facebook. Today's digital tools make it far easier to build this type of community. So why aren't more local media outlets focused on community building? #communitybuilding

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In a recent email promoting its (very cool) Scout Quest service, our friends at M R laid out some of the reasons data co-ops are a problematic way to grow your email community. Most data co-ops are just a fancy way to spam people: "Co-ops find new names to add to your file without even opting them in. This can lead to emails heading straight to spam, a damaged reputation, and even blacklisting your org. Not to mention vexing your supporters and diminishing trust in nonprofits." Co-ops aren't a good option for organizations that care about privacy: "We get why orgs use these other co-ops, though. Building and nurturing a healthy email list is hard. Who wouldn’t want a shortcut? US. That’s who. And likely a lot of nonprofits who take privacy seriously — along with the supporters who trust them." Here's another good reason not to use data co-ops: If you're using any reputable CRM or bulk email software, it specifically prohibits sending email to people who didn't opt-in. That means you can't get any value from the data co-op without violating terms you already agreed to. I'm sharing a link to M R's Scout Quest service, which is a privacy friendly "different kind of co-op", in the comments below.

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