GPO test-drives 2011 strategy in tough by-election contest
The Green Party of Ontario (GPO) has demonstrated its growing strength as a political force in Ontario with a solid third-place finish ahead of the NDP in the recent Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock by-election. Reflecting on the campaign, I feel we showed that we can run an organized campaign that can build capacity and demonstrate the GPO’s growing relevancy in Ontario. We also showed that we can establish a target voter coalition and message strategy, while raising enough money to properly fund a professional campaign.
Being prepared allowed us to establish and execute realistic, party-building objectives.
The first objective was to run an organized, professional campaign that would engage voters and attract volunteers. Despite the absence of an organized team on the ground (no CA or EDA at the drop of the writ), we were able to recruit a group of skilled volunteers from the riding and across the province to organize fundraising, canvassing, voter ID, communications, advertising, event planning, and GOTV efforts. Fortunately our volunteer base grew exponentially, which is a sign of a fun, well-run campaign.
Given the size of the large rural riding, we focused volunteer efforts on phone canvassing. The campaign also placed a high priority on sign deployment in order to demonstrate a strong, high profile presence. We knew it was critically important to introduce me to every voter in the riding in the first days of the campaign so we mailed a simple postcard to every household in the riding. This enhanced our canvassing and my attendance at events because voters recognized me from the postcard.
Our second objective was to identify a target voter coalition and test-drive a focused messaging strategy. Based on Green Party success in ridings with somewhat similar demographics such as Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound, the campaign team focussed on a message strategy targeted to small businesses and farmers; people employed in tourism, arts and culture; younger voters and members of conservation, heritage, community and environmental groups. We established a communications plan and messaging strategy targeted to these demographics and maintained message discipline throughout the campaign.
The message strategy contained three key themes based on Green values targeted to our key demographics: prosperous local farms; safe, healthy communities; and an economically sustainable future. We linked all communications and issues to these strategic themes and developed a four-week strategy that provided flexibility based on feedback from the electorate, while providing a communications framework to maintain message discipline.
Each week had a theme to frame our messaging: bigger is not always better; old fashioned is the new fashion; healthy local communities; and harness local energy. Each speaking event and press release was designed within the framework of our weekly theme to maintain a consistent message throughout the campaign. Our strategy culminated with a call to action in the final days: “This time, vote Green.”
By having a clear communications structure, we successfully coordinated campaign communications with the GPO’s communication team. This included messaging through the GPO website and e-newsletters, which made volunteer recruitment and motivation easier and ensured that all party members were on message.
Our final objective was to raise enough money to finance a professional campaign and to maintain fiscal discipline by staying on budget. A group of committed volunteers were able to raise thousands of dollars within weeks of launching the campaign. The fundraising team focused much of their efforts on a fundraising event in Toronto a week after the writ was dropped, which raised over $10,000.
We focused additional fundraising efforts on an email campaign to party members and networks we developed in the riding during the campaign. Meet-and-greet events that ended with a soft fundraising pitch successfully resulted in donations of approximately $100 per participant.
The by-election experience has convinced me that a well organized, professionally run Green Party campaign can successfully raise enough money to cover vital campaign expenses. As a party, we need to build campaign reserve funds both centrally and at the local level to kick start campaigns and fundraising efforts. This investment – if utilized properly – could be leveraged into a successful fundraising effort over the course of a campaign because it enables the campaign to raise profile and demonstrate momentum from day 1. This inspires confidence in supporters to contribute financially to the campaign.
The campaign also benefited from excellent networking within the Green Party community. We recruited the federal candidate in the fall 2008 election to provide important support in the early days of the campaign and other local Greens who were becoming active in organizing events in the riding. Finally, my business connections with farmers in the riding helped the campaign establish a small network of key contacts that grew during the campaign.
Since the campaign quickly focused on the issue of ‘parachute candidates’ because of John Tory residing outside the riding, the experience highlights the importance of forming and building strong CAs. The campaign team has already taken steps to form a federal EDA and provincial CA in the riding.
The key result of this historic by-election is that the GPO has built momentum and has established its relevancy as a political force in Ontario. The party needs to capitalize on this momentum, as we build toward electing MPPs in 2011. The by-election campaign should serve as a model of what we can achieve with an organized, professionally run campaign.
Mike Schreiner is the Green Party of Ontario’s Policy Coordinator and was a by-election candidate in Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock. He was Co-chair of the GPO’s 2007 Election Platform. www.mikeschreiner.ca
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