CLP Campaign Co-ordinator

Across the country the aim for every Labour CLP should be to campaign for change in our local communities and to get our candidates elected. The Campaign Co-ordinator is an important role within a local Labour Party in achieving this aim; it requires someone who is committed, reliable, strategic and able to carry the respect of everyone working in the CLP.

Key Responsibilities and tasks

• Put together a campaign plan that should focus on the next set of elections but also look towards the one after as well
• Show leadership but also delegate, and develop and create a team
• Motivate members, supporters and volunteers and developing the capacity and organisational ability on the ground
• Support the use of Contact Creator, Connects and Organise and other campaign technology
• Identify talent in others, encouraging and supporting those who want to get involved.
• Identify training opportunities and requirements for volunteers and campaign leaders
• Work closely with candidates, elected representatives, CLP Officers, neighbouring CLPs and existing structures to ensure that an effective, co-ordinated campaign is delivered in the area
• Build upon existing relationships across the Labour movement including Trade Unions and affiliates, and their members

Activity

The role of CLP Campaign Co-ordinator is all about building an effective campaign team and motivating volunteers; you shouldn’t need to do everything yourself but oversee the delivery of the campaign. There are many strands that make up a successful campaign and you will work to build a team in order to achieve these goals.

As Campaign Co-ordinator, you’ll be the organiser and manager of all the component strands associated with your campaign. You’ll work with other CLP role holders, especially the Secretary and Vice Chair  to organise some parts of the campaigning directly, and you’ll have a strategic oversight of the other elements being delivered by other members of the team. You will work across the local party with all role holders such as the Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and Agent, in order to ensure that campaigns are effective, co-ordinated, affordable, legal and strategic.

These are just a few of the tasks and responsibilities that make up a successful campaign:

• Motivating and developing volunteers, members and supporters
• Leaflets and Print – writing and design
• Ward Organisers and Leaflet Delivery Co-ordinators
• Doorstep Canvassing Co-ordinator
• Direct Mail Co-ordinator
• Telephone Bank Co-ordinator
• Data Entry Team
• Voter Registration and Postal Vote Requests

Successful campaigns are not just executed within the last few weeks before polling day; they are the culmination of a long term plan with short, medium and long-term milestones. This role is varied and exciting, and you can make a real difference to your local party through this position. You can choose how to focus your role and what to make your priority depending on what sort of activities that local members want to see and what is in the constituency plan.

The ability to motivate and persuade is vital in this role – when elements of the campaign are falling behind schedule or in need of extra support, you will have to find ways to motivate volunteers, correct the strategy or find some other way to fix the problems.

Meetings

Local meetings will be a key way of building capacity and updating members on the campaign. At each CLP meeting, you should:

• Let members know about opportunities to get involved in the campaign and important tasks and deadlines coming up soon. You could think about doing a skills audit or survey to find out how members can help and what aspect of the campaign they’re interested in getting involved with
• Work with members to plan new and creative ways to increase participation in your campaigns
• Report back on the campaign; activity, progress, forthcoming plans and next steps, print, local issues etc.
• Share details of any campaign technology developments and training opportunities that members can get involved with
• Think about regular ways of incorporating campaigning into CLP meetings; hold a voter ID or member mobilisation phone bank after or before the meeting, or use part of the meeting as a campaign planning or training session

Working with branches

If your CLP has a branch structure, you should work with and offer support to branches to contribute to the campaign. Particularly in larger CLPs, delegating work to branches will make your job easier and lead to a more effective and cohesive CLP. You will need to devise an overall strategy with branches, taking into account where your target wards are and where activity should be concentrated.

• It is the responsibility of CLP officers to ensure branch officers are fully supported and confident in their roles. You should ensure that important information is cascaded down to branch level, and that any training opportunities are also offered to branch officers
• Organise meetings with officers, Councillors and candidates in each branch, to discuss the campaign and the role each branch will play
• You could establish a ‘twinning’ system so branches in non-target wards can help out in target wards
• Think about appointing branch captains or ward organisers who can act as a campaign co-ordinator at branch level

Campaign Technology

As Campaign Co-ordinator, you will need to have a good understanding of the campaign technology tools we use in the Labour Party to organise our campaigns. Lots of help, advice and resources are available on this through the Campaign Technology team and the Training team – you’ll find their contact details in the section below.

Contact Creator: Contact Creator is the Party’s online voter communication database. You’ll need access to Contact Creator print out voter ID sheets, input information on voters and other day to day campaign tasks. If you don’t already have access, your CLP Secretary will be able to give permission for us to set this up for you.
www.contactcreator.org.uk

Connects: You can download and purchase a host of customisable campaign materials via Connects, including out cards, direct mails and newsletters. To log in, you’ll just need your Labour Login details.
connects.labour.org.uk

Organise: Organise is the Party’s volunteer management system. Here you can see which members have volunteered for the campaign, who has a specialist skill, and who might need more information. You can manage campaign events and email members to let them know what’s happening.
organise.labour.org.uk

Useful links and contacts

There are many other contacts and resources to assist you in your role. Keep up to date with our latest campaigns, find out more about Campaign Technology, find resources for role holders and check our online training offer at www.labour.org.uk/resources. You can also purchase and download membership recruitment and campaign materials from the Campaign Shop.

For useful guides and resources on campaign technology, membership engagement and how to use Organise to full effect, visit http://help.labour.org.uk, and if you need support or advice, you can contact your national or regional office.

Training resources are available at https://achieve.labour.org.uk.