Build a strong, effective campaign team can feel daunting if you’ve never run for office, or if you’re making a bid to step into the next level of political leadership. Like so many aspects of political life, campaign team building requires a good deal of strategy. Succeeding at it is critical to winning office, so let’s take a look at what you’ll need to know and consider.

Your team is the human foundation and infrastructure of your campaign. You want to hire diverse staff and/or engage diverse volunteers who will help you: 

• Reach more people faster 
• Be efficient and strategic with your time, money and people resources 
• Start and finish in compliance with the laws governing your race and election 
• Make sure your voice and your values are meeting your voters in a persuadable place 
• Get an early start on meeting and positioning yourself with stakeholders like Higher Heights or key local organizations that can help you connect with voters and supporters and sharpen your process.

Time is your most important resource in the campaign world, and unlike money and volunteers, you can’t replenish time. You’ll bring a strategic advantage and positive energy to your campaign when you invest time and intention on the front end to engage expertise and the kind of support that helps you get a smart, healthy start as a candidate.

Before launching your campaign, compile a list of the types of people who can best inform the kind of budget you’ll need to run a successful race and the kind of staff (paid and volunteer) you’ll need working with you. These people generally fall into two buckets: those who are familiar with the kind of race you’ll be running and those who know your strengths, challenges and work style.

(1) Those who know the race you’re running can help you design a profile of the kind of campaign you’ll likely to need to build. You’ll get the best results if you share key considerations that this advisor will need take into account. For example, are you new to politics or new to your community? Are you known by a good number of your potential voters? Are you known by leaders who can open doors? Do you have a good baseline of potential financial supporters for the kind of budget you’ll need to raise?

(2) Those who know you can help inform the kinds of personalities and work styles that will complement yours and best advance your goals? What are your strengths and what are your challenges that others can help to balance? Where do you hit your stride and where do you need to be pushed? You want to surround yourself with people who will help you to be your best, especially under the often-tough circumstances of competitive campaigns.

Once you’ve held these conversations, build an early set of guiding statements that will help you build your dream team. They may go something like:

The size of staff I need to win this race is likely XX people.

• The jobs I need filled are likely XX.
• These are likely to be my paid positions: XX.
• These are likely po that we start off with filling with awesome volunteers: XX.
• I will need to bring in a consultant team early on to do XX in this race.

Bring in one or two people at the very beginning to help you search for the team you need. Again, these individuals should be someone who knows the race you’re running and someone who knows you. If you can find that in one person, golden, as it will help you streamline the scheduling process involved in putting together your team. But if you can’t find both characteristics in one person, expand your launch team to two people: It’s worth it.

This early stage of strategy is where an organization like Higher Heights can be helpful. While we have a process for endorsement, helping Black women to get the healthiest start possible in their campaigns is a part of what we are here to do. We have seasoned campaign experts in-house, and we have spent a lot of collective years working with campaign vendors. We can connect you with other political partners who do as well. And, we can listen carefully to your particular needs and take them into account when making our recommendations—which is why it’s important to articulate them honestly and clearly.

Running for office is competitive, and you’re building a small business quickly. The process requires a lot of time no matter the size of your race. So again, the first and most important investment of your time is in your early analyses. Here are a few things to ask yourself during this analysis:

• Why are you running?
• What do you offer to voters in this race?
• What is your profile?
• What is your likely budget?
• What will you need to run successfully?
• How should that inform your selection of staff and volunteers?
• Who can you talk with to help inform these answers?
• Who should you bring with you?
• Are you ready to articulate what helps you to fly?

If you do this preparation, you’ll put yourself in a much better position to build a team that will be with you from start to finish, and that will help you fly as a candidate.