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The staff of Political Campaigns are the people who get paid to formulate and implement the strategy needed to win an election. Many people have made careers out of working full-time for campaigns and groups that support them. Information on political consultants, people who do not work for the campaign full-time but still provide assistance in the form of advice and creative expertise, are discussed in the Political Consultants article. This article provides a generic description of a campaign's staff and organization. Different campaigns have different structures. STRUCTURE OF A CAMPAIGN Campaigns are usually overseen by a Campaign Manager . The campaign manager coordinates the campaign making sure that the rest of the staff and the campaign's consultants are focused effectively on winning the Election . In small local campaigns, the campaign manager will often be the only paid staff member and will be responsible for every aspect of the campaign that is not covered by the candidate or volunteers. In larger campaigns, such as a Presidential Campaign , hundreds of staff members will cover the required tasks. While campaign managers are often the lead strategists in local campaigns, larger campaigns hire consultants to serve as strategists and the campaign manager focuses mostly on coordinating the campaign staff. Campaign managers will often have deputies who oversee various aspects of the campaign at a closer level. Directly below the campaign manager on the organization chart are department directors who coordinate specific aspects of the campaign. These staff members often have deputies as well. Below the department level, campaigns vary widely in their structure. On larger campaigns, their will be various coordinators for certain functions within each department. For example, within the fundraising department, there might be a staff member who focuses only on Direct Mail fundraising. At the bottom of the totem pole are the interns and volunteers who perform the least glamorous tasks of the campaign. These can include addressing envelopes, entering data into Databases , and Canvassing voters on behalf of the campaign. DEPARTMENTS AND THEIR PURPOSE Field Department The field department focuses on the "on-the-ground" organizing that is required in order to personally contact voters through canvassing, phone calls, and other "field techniques." Field departments will often be organized by geography with a field director, regional field directors, and local field organizers working together to identify supporters and turn out the vote. In addition to voter persuasion, field staff will often provide information for the campaign headquarters as to what is going on in the communities they work in. Also, field staffers will often liaison between the campaign and local influentials such as interest group leaders and prominent community activists. Communications Department The communications department oversees both the press relations and advertising involved in promoting the campaign in the media. They are responsible for the campaign's message and image among the electorate. Press releases, advertisements, phone scripts, and other forms of communication must be approved by this department before they can be released to the public. The staffers within this office vary widely from campaign to campaign. However they generally include:
Finance Department The finance department coordinates the campaign's Fundraising operation and ensures that the campaign always has the money it needs to operate effectively. The techniques employed by this campaign vary based on the campaign's needs and size. Small campaigns often involve casual fundraising events and phone calls from the candidate to donors asking for money. Larger campaigns will include everything from high-priced sit-down dinners to e-mail messages to donors asking for money. Compliance and Legal Departments The compliance and legal departments makes sure that the campaign is consistent with the law and also makes sure that the campaign files the appropriate forms with government authorities such as the Federal Election Commission . This department will also be responsible for all financial tracking, including bank reconciliations, loans and backup for in-kind donations. They are generally required to keep both paper and electronic files. Small campaigns will often have one person (the committee treasurer) responsible for financial disclosure while larger campaigns will have dozens of lawyers and treasurers making sure that the campaign's activities are legal. After the election, the compliance and legal department must still respond to audit requests and, when required, debt retirement. Technology Department The technology department designs and maintains campaign technology such as Voter File and Websites . While small campaigns might have a volunteer or two who know how to use computers, large campaigns will have armies of computer professionals spread across the state or country handling everything from Websites to Blog s to Databases . Scheduling and Advance The scheduling and advance department makes sure that the candidate and campaign surrogates are effectively scheduled so as to maximize their impact on the voters. This department also oversees the advance people who arrive at events before the candidate to make sure everything is in order. Often, this department will be a part of the field department. Other staff members may exist as well. On small campaigns the scheduling coordinator may be responsible for developing and executing events. The scheduling coordinator typically: a) manages the candidate's personal and campaign schedule b) manages the field and advance team schedules c) gathers important information about all events the campaing and candidate will attend Candidates and other members of the campaign must bear in mind that only one person should oversee the details of scheduling. Fluid scheduling is one of the many keys to making a profound impact on voters. SEE ALSO SOURCES
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