Vocabulary

• • Budget: an estimate of cash flow and expenditures for the cycle of the campaign. 

  • Bundler/Raiser: Person who raises money for the campaign in a volunteer capacity.

  • Call Time: Dedicated time where candidate calls potential prospects or current donors with staff present.

  • Candidate Vision: what imagined policy changes does the candidate want to achieve in his or her district. 

  • Committee: a legal entity that receives campaign contributions and pays for expenditures. 

  • Compliance: Department that makes sure your campaign is following the rules and laws.

  • Deadlines: When you have to disclose donations to the entity who oversees your election.

  • Digital: deepens the connection with supporters in the online space, creating opportunities for people to take part in a campaign. 

  • Direct Mail: When you mail donors to solicit them.

  • District: an electoral subdivision to elect members to a legislative body.

  • Donor: Person who has given you money.

  • Fundraising: individual contributors who support and fund a campaign.

  • Finance Committee: Group of bundlers or raisers who want to be engaged throughout the campaign.

  • Grassroots Donors: Donors who are under a threshold (ex. Under 200) and give in smaller amounts.

  • Grassroots Organizing: a  grassroots structure that fosters team-building activities to recruit, train, and deploy supporters on behalf of the campaign.

  • High-Dollar Donors: The big check writers!

  • Limits: How much a person can donate to your campaign legally.

  • Max: A donation that reaches the limit.

  • Media: the main means of mass communication (broadcasting, publishing, and the internet) regarded collectively  

  • Messaging: is all about communicating what the candidate will do once they are elected to office.

  • Political Endorsement: is a public declaration of one’s personal or group’s support of a candidate or elected official 

  • Political Outreach:  building relationships with activists, community leaders, and elected officials 

  • Precincts: county, city, or towns that are divided by addresses to assign polling places and collect votes.

  • Prospect: Person you are asking for money.

  • Re-Solicit: Asking someone who has already given to give more.

  • Solicit: Asking a prospect for money.

  • Surrogate: Someone who has endorsed your campaign and is willing to speak on its behalf.

  • Telemarketing: When you hire outside company to call donors on behalf of the campaign.

  • Vetting: Process of making sure there are no legal or ethical issues with taking a donation

  • Voter Database: a voter database contains information on individual voters in a district.