Best Practices

What Are The Best Practices of Local Political Party Committees (LPPC’s)?

What are “best practices”? – those that serve to involve an increasing number and increasingly diverse set of people in the political process; i.e., those that serve to build your committee and make it increasingly, politically effective with respect to both elections and political issues.

BEST PRACTICES (as reported in a now dated, 1999 survey. Take our new survey in the “Polls and Surveys” section, to report the best practices of your committee and help update the set. You’ll then qualify to (1) get feedback on the best practices reported by your peers, and (2) be considered for our annual award recognizing best practices, superior committee leadership and best committee nationwide.)

• Each committee person a committee of one, exercising leadership and responsibility for all committee activities in his or her own ward, precinct or election district.
• Monthly breakfast meetings.
• Coordination, cooperation and/or collaboration with voluntary groups and community-based organization, party affiliates or not.
• Making each member serve on at least one ACTIVE committee.
• Letters to editors: At least two a month.
• Fund raising auctions, down home and via e-Bay.
• Appointment of non-members to LPPC working committees, especially those on issues.
• GOTV notices in local newspapers that focus on “how your vote counts.”
• Build a sound, comprehensive data and information base reflecting not only voter registration but voting behavior in primaries as well as general elections, with detailed demographic breakdowns.
• Provide honors and awards at an annual awards dinner that honors 1-2 committee people.
• Ensure that at least one committee member is attending and monitoring the meetings of each important local governing board or committee.
• Ensure that some committee member serves as a liaison to each community group that is important in the Committee’s locality.
• Conduct focus groups on major issues.
• Annual survey: Conduct a survey door-to-door to ascertain people’s interest in and attitudes toward various issues, also to invite the interested to join.
• Take strong stands on local issues.
• Make political events social events.
• Recruit volunteers for candidates’ campaigns to join the committee; get them into the party structure.
• Present an outstanding speaker at each meeting; feature speakers as headliners in public announcements of meetings.
• Get Committee members to attend local activities that promote issue awareness.
• Help unemployed party members find jobs.
• Go door-to-door for voter registration and GOTV during each election season.
• Conduct a strategic planning workshop for the Committee each year so that the Committee will start each new year with specific goals and objectives and some plan as to how to achieve them.
• Enlarge Committee membership by allowing, encouraging and inviting ex-officio members to join.
• Sponsor an annual “retreat” to advance and regroup.
• Sponsor a quarterly event “Soup (and sandwich?) with your political officeholders.”
• Have annual picnic.
• Prepare and distribute a good newsletter at least quarterly.
• Focus on local issues.
• Promote better civics education in the schools, including class projects and bringing legislators into classes.
• Try to offer a college scholarship, even if it amounts to only a few hundred dollars.
• Participate in community “Pride” days, events or walks to raise money for good causes, including the Committee.
• Hold public hearings on major issues.
• Establish a Committee website that provides Internet forums on issues, volunteer sign-ups, interaction, links, resources, access to campaigns, e-mail and other features.