I am Alex White, a progressive campaign strategist, writer, social marketer and policy activist.
Commentary and advice on all types of campaigns, whether digital or traditional.
The Californian-based Alliance for Climate Education has a fantastic story about how it used its data to measure who amongst its supporters were turning into activists and leaders. I think it’s a really good example of how progressive non-profit organisations can use their CRM to achieve their mission (they’ve reached over 1 million students) and [...]
Because unions are democratic organisations, accountable to members and with a leadership elected by members, as organisations they face considerable challenges in messaging. Add to this the fact that many unions have a diverse membership covering distinct and structurally different industries. It’s no wonder that many unions struggle to develop strong, consistent messaging. The key to [...]
Activists, delegates and volunteers are the lifeblood of campaigning organisations like unions. Effective campaigning means keeping a track of your activists and delegates, and to do that, you need a proper database. There are myriad databases out there, some purpose built for membership organisations and others built for campaigns with beginnings and ends. Selecting the right [...]
In 2012, I spent over two and a half months working full-time as an Organizing Fellow with the Obama for America campaign. Based in Boston Massachusetts, the campaign’s focus was winning the next-door battleground state of New Hampshire. Working full-time on the campaign gave me an incredible opportunity to experience first-hand how the famed Obama [...]
Read any number of journalist or blogger commentaries over the last several years and you will have seen the infiltration of marketing terms like “brand”, “positioning”, public relations, image management and more. Obama is the most recognisable example of this “political brand” phenomenon, but we’ve seen it elsewhere: New Labour under Tony Blair (Gordon Brown [...]