I donated once, maybe 5 years ago, and now I receive 20+ texts per day asking for money. It's intrusive and annoying. I tried just blocking the numbers and ignoring for 2 weeks, and I tried responding "stop" and then blocking for 2 weeks, but the texts keep coming.

I can't be the only one who hates this.

I'm helping on a local race where our texting program is basically three people and one volunteer who somehow knows where every new list comes from. We ended up using RumbleUp because the campaign wanted peer-to-peer texting instead of blasting people, but what surprised me was that the software wasn't the hardest part.

The bigger challenge was figuring out who owns managing replies and when a conversation should get handed off to field. Once people start texting back, every gap in your campaign workflow becomes obvious. It made me realize that a good texting program is as much about having clear processes as it is about choosing the right platform. Curious how other campaigns handle this. Do you have one person managing replies, or do field, volunteers, and comms split the workload?

So we’re a tiny campaign (like, truly shoestring), and everything feels like it’s being held together with duct tape and Google Sheets. We’ve got voter files in one place, volunteer notes in another, some random spreadsheet for event RSVPs, donation tracking hidden behind a password only one person knows, and now someone just added texting on top (we got RumbleUp). Predictable chaos, basically.

I’m realizing the real biggest bottleneck after adding texting isnt the list upload or segmenting or even the sending... its what to do with the info after the texts start rolling in. Like, when a voter replies “I need a ride,” “I want a yard sign,” or I already voted what’s the next step? Where does everything get logged outside the text platform? Right now everyone just says “put it on the whiteboard,” which isn’t exactly a sustainable process, lol.

I feel like every small campaign runs into this same wall - too many disconnected systems, not enough people to maintain them, and no clear workflow for how info moves between them. The texting part is just the tip of the mess. Has anyone found a good way to tie all this together without spending half the budget on some massive CRM setup?

Would love to hear how other small teams are handling post-contact data. Do you keep it super simple and just flag what’s critical, or do you actually sync everything somewhere centralized? I’m all ears if anyone’s cracked this, because right now our whiteboard solution isn’t gonna cut it much longer.

More specifically, is it easy or common for field organizers to get policy jobs?

I’m from Missouri and have served 4 years in the Marine Corps. My current state representative’s seat will be open in 2028, and I’ve been thinking a lot about the possibility of getting involved.

I know someone in my area who I think would actually make a great candidate, but I’m not sure if he would even be interested in running. Personally, I’ve always had a strong interest in politics and would love to run for office someday.

My biggest concern is that I don’t have much experience with campaigns or the political process. I understand that having a good message and connecting with voters matters, but I don’t really know how to build a winning campaign from the ground up.

For those who have been involved in politics, campaigns, or local government: what advice would you give someone in my position? What should I be doing over the next couple of years to build experience, credibility, and a realistic path toward running for state office?
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I recently wrote an article for C&E about carriers filtering political texts into spam (full piece here) after sitting down with Ken Tracy from CampaignHQ on my podcast, and full disclosure... all the tactical advice here is his.

The most interesting/important bit I think is this: Any time you can turn a disadvantage into an advantage that only you are capitalizing on, you're creating a strategic edge over your opponents. If your texts avoid the spam folder while your opponent's don't, your message is being seen and theirs isn't. If your voicemail script makes for an engaging read as a transcript rather than needing to be listened to, you get a second point of contact that your competitors are losing out on.

Here's the best advice:

1. Get STIR/SHAKEN compliant
2. Time-sensitive messages do well
3. Write voicemails to be read rather than heard
4. The part of the text that gets previewed from the home screen is the most important
5. Ask a question, then actually reply
6. Read it as the voter would. Be casual. Write like a real person.

Then, super cool. Shane Greer wrote a follow-up on LinkedIn proposing a carrier-level fix that's worth your time to read as well: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/shanegreer_caitlin-huxleys-piece-on-campaigns-elections-share-7483238671366836224-WcLV

Please give me feedback and maybe even sign up !!

Some of you might remember a post from u/urnicus about a star-rating system he'd cobbled together to score voters by turnout propensity (5 stars = always votes, 0 = never). I'm a campaign strategist by trade, and it caught my attention because it was basically a homemade version of what professional campaigns pay serious money for.

We got to talking, and over the past while we've been building it out into a proper tool: Campaign Compass now available at bootstrapoffice.com. It automates the early data work a campaign needs, things like building your target universe, cutting inactive voters out of your contact list, and exporting prioritized voter lists for texting, calls, and mail.

We recently recorded a podcast episode where we analyze a real district live (Georgia HD 149). One thing that jumped out doing the statewide view: multiple competitive districts where the margin is a few hundred voters and nobody even filed to run! This blows my mind, and is such an oversight.

Video here: https://youtu.be/gmGCjdxU8h8

Happy to answer questions about voter targeting, propensity models, or how we approached building this. And if you've run a race yourself with a duct-taped spreadsheet like Ryan did, I'd love to hear how you did it.

What blogs, journals, magazines, or networks should a person try to publish in in order to reach those in charge of forming opinions for Democrats in the general presidential election?

We are considering holding a debate/campaign event in Location: Spokane, WA and wanted to ask about how we might be able to incentivize candidates to participate. One suggestion was to sell tickets and the panel could decide a winner who would get the proceeds donated to their campaign, but it could be a hard sell trying to get people to buy tickets to a debate that does not include any of the front runners before the primary. Another idea was to charge each of the campaigns a small fee for hosing the event, and the panel would decide a winner of the debate who would be awarded a prize equal to the total amount collected from all the candidates.

lets say 5 candidates show up and each pay $100, after the debate the panel would award the winner with a $500 donation.

Are we infringing on any campaign finance laws that make it undesirable for candidates to participate?

I am running a political campaign in local politics. I’m fighting an uphill battle as I am going Independent. This means much less support and grassroots communications. I want to use an AI agent to help however I’m finding the major agents have blocks on political activities. My tone and strategy is of informational neutrality but clarifying messages with the agents gets blocked often. Do you have any suggestions?

Was listening to MTG today on Piers and she said there is a push being made for a third party but the people need to want it. Anyone know what needs to be done to make this happen?

Looking to hop onto a campaign this election cycle and just got a field organizer offer that I will need to relocate for. Money is tight and I think trying to find a place to rent would be a struggle for me, at least until I get a couple checks.

My question is pretty simple, what is your experience using supporter housing if you have. I’m sure how you answer is heavily dependent on the specific campaign and living arrangement but I’m curious if there is any common consensus on if it’s advisable or not.

Does anyone have opinions- either good or bad - with their experience using the Mobilize platform for event management? What are the main pros and cons, and is there an alternative that you prefer?

If you are volunteering / doing an unpaid fellowship for a campaign what is the likelihood of getting fully employed after? I was wondering this because I feel like it is unclear what is the hiring process in the case you are working for a campaign and the person you work for hypothetically wins, and how that typically works. Would love some insight about that

With various news about Graham Platner, and George Santos previously, as prime examples, I wonder whether and how campaign managers and other operatives vet their candidates, and how much this varies by the s eat that is up for election.

200 million USD self-funding for a race for governor and you don't even win the nomination. And it's just the tip of the iceberg.

Hi All! I've accepted an offer to join the ops team for a state-wide coordinated campaign. Curious what you wish you knew before your first day working at HQ or for a campaign in general?

Hi there! New to this. In VA. Any apps that allow a campaign to post job ads and volunteer/internship requests for FREE?

Sorry I tried to search this topic and didn’t see anything posted.

I am new into the field and I got offered a position as a FO. I noticed that there is no vacation time for the first 90 days. And there’s no weekends. I am nervous since my partner works a 9-5 and we had planned some summer trips or weekend camping. I’m starting to question whether I don’t really want to start this job due to the lack of coordination and the lack of information. I was originally told 35+ hours and now they’re telling me 55+. I probably wouldn’t have interviewed if they were more transparent. I’m starting to panic because I can’t seem to land a job especially in government right now. I would love any experiences or advice for what to do

Does anyone have recommendations for high quality voter file data for Georgia? One of our campaigns has the state voter file for the general but it’s missing cell phone numbers which is key. I already checked L2 and Aristotle, but I’m not sure if there are other vendors that have more competitive pricing and good customer service

Hey all. I'm doing some research to confirm a hypothesis about pain points when using third party community engagement firms. It would mean a lot if you would take five minutes to fill out this survey. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to send me a DM. Thanks!