Getting involved early and building relationships are key to landing a seat in office. We have created a list of campaign ideas for you to win your SGA election of your school or university.
Running for your Student Government Association (SGA) can be an extremely rewarding experience. It will help your communication skills for your future which is priceless. If you want to run for political office in the future, this may be where you want to start.
Most students join their SGA to advance their cause, whether it's healthier lunch options or an informal dress code – some even join to impact their community beyond the classroom.
But no matter what your goals are, to be a member of your student government association takes careful planning and a whole lot of initiative on your part.
To run a successful student government campaign, you have to be prepared for serious commitment. Campaigning doesn't just start the week you hand out flyers, the road to office can be surprisingly long and tedious. But with a little creativity and determination, you can put together a plan that will give the process more clarity.
Most student government elections are held in the Spring for the following academic year which gives you ample time to prepare both academically and socially. There are clear regulations on what you need to be eligible to run for office from a 3.0 minimum GPA to no disciplinary probation on your school record. Make sure you meet all the qualifiers and try to surpass them.
Try these strategies to help put your best foot forward and ace your election:
Defining key issues and how you plan on solving them is the first step in setting up your campaign strategy. To do that, you will need to do the following:
This may be something that you think you already know, and you may, but the best way to narrow down on what matters most to your fellow students, you will need to ask them. What may be the main reason for your candidacy, may not be at all important to your student body, and they may have concerns that you may not have noticed.
Gather this information through conducting informal surveys, or even having conversations with others outside of your immediate group.
Based on the feedback you have collected through engaging with other students or through data collected in your survey, create clear and actionable goals.
Some examples may include improving lunch options or school facilities, enhancing the communication between faculty and the student body. You want to ensure that you have a solution for the problems that you will be addressing, and that may be suggestions you gathered in your survey.
To create a campaign plan, you need to be realistic about what you need and how much time each requires. We have split this into two sections:
Outline a timeline for your campaign activities, and be generous to ensure you have ample time for each phase of your plan. This part should be agile, as you may make changes throughout the campaign if you see something producing better results.
The budget you need is mainly for your campaign materials. These include banners, posters, flyers, and in some cases, promotional items such as ribbons, pins, t-shirts, etc.
Every campaign needs a selling point. This includes a great slogan by a candidate that instills trust. Think of this part as marketing a 101 of why do you gravitate towards a brand or a product?
What sets you apart from others? Why should people pick you over the other candidates? What do you offer that they don’t?
Your differentiator could be anything from your experience to a simple personality trade. Think of your accomplishments and why you were successful. Was it because you are responsible, dedicated, or simply because you have the ability to bring people together and encourage collaboration? All of these are positives that you should mention about yourself and leverage it to the max.
Crafting a memorable and catchy slogan may just be the reason you get elected. You want to encapsulate what you stand for and your campaign's main message. Be creative, but keep it relevant.
Some examples may be "Your voice, Your Choice", or "Together for a Better School". Keep it simple so people remember it, and remember you when casting their vote.
Some tops on picking your slogan:
It has never been easier to get your message out to the entire student body as it is today. You want to get creative and utilize all the tools available to you. You know what traditional materials have proven to be effective, and you can also include some newer methods to get your message out.
In order to stand out and also to have an effective campaign, branding is going to play a major part in your election. Your brand will be how people will recognize your material. You want to be consistent across all platforms whether traditional or digital.
It is important to be visible and raise awareness of your candidacy. In order to do that, you want your face and message on everything and around every corner for everyone to see. To do this, you need flyers and posters. It is easy to overlook one, but you can't avoid it when it is everywhere.
Design eye-catching flyers and posters using your colors and logo to ensure you stand out and place it anywhere you are allowed to do so.
We know everyone likes to promote and announce their favorite sports team, University, favorite candidate or candidates and just about anything they stand for. These are apparent on their jerseys, bumper stickers, laptop or tablet stickers, phone cases, and so much more. Don't miss the opportunity to turn each person that believes in your mission into an advocate for your campaign.
Before this, look through your SGA bylaws and review election rules to ensure promotional items are allowed and see if there are limitations on what you are allowed to hand out.
Ensure you have more items than you think you need, so look at your budget and make your choice wisely. For example, if you have 87 students in your class whose votes determine your election results, have at least 100 items to handout.
Create social media accounts specific to your campaign, and if you have a lot of followers on your personal accounts, you can always share your campaign posts on your personal accounts as well.
Using platforms like TikTo or Instagram with unique posts can help you expand your reach and you can start to gain a following that may give you an idea of how you're doing within the election process.
Get even more creative and start a Youtube channel or a podcast to talk about the problems you would like to address, or bring on international students to have an open conversation around differences they see between their home country and now in the US. This can also be shared or done on your social media.
Once you have your campaign material in order, you can start to strategize on how to use your time wisely to engage with all those whose vote you want. We have listed a few ways to engage with your voters below:
Coordinate with faculty for permission to speak briefly in different classes to introduce yourself and your platform. This helps you get in front of more students who you are looking to serve in the upcoming year.
Attend and participate in school events and activities to increase visibility and build connections with more students. These could be sports games, dances, other school activities, showing up at different group meetings to get to know them, and at times events that are held by students off campus like parties, or car washes.
As mentioned above, get creative with the content you share on Social. Hold Q&A sessions to engage every student and gather their input. Ask for User Generated Content from your classmates and hold a contest. Nothing works better than word of mouth and user generated content serves as word of mouth in the digital space.
Every election involves a team that supports each of the candidates, and an SGA election is no different. You want to build a team and foster collaboration to create great content and reach for your campaign.
Recruit your friends and supporters to help with tasks such as distributing flyers, managing your social media, or gathering feedback. As much as you want to be able to do it all yourself, you have to realize that you need others to do some of the work so you can have the time to engage with students.
Enlist volunteers to help you with campaign events, and spread the word about your candidacy and platform. These are your advocates so you want to ensure they are included in the process.
Many schools will already have these events in place, but in case yours doesn't, make sure you and your team are on top of it. Here are some suggested types of events to hold.
Host fun events like pizza parties, or themed dress up days to create a positive and memorable impression. Promote it through your social media and your team.
Host informal meet and greets during breakfast, lunch or after school for students to get to know you better.
Participate in debates with all other candidates and if your school doesn't hold debates, challenge your opponent to join you for a friendly debate. The intent here is to showcase your ideas and respond to any questions others may have.
Actions speak louder than words, and it is important for students to know that they are choosing the right president or vice president. It is much easier to gain trust when people know that your record reflects the words you are speaking and it's not just a speech to win the election, but rather lead by example. Here are some ways to show your commitment and leadership skills.
Be involved in school activities which show your commitment to your end goal through actions. Create a group that advocates for some of the issues you have stated in your platform. Help other students through tutoring, mentoring and helping with their academics or any other issues they may be facing.
Focus on positive messaging and avoid negative campaigning or criticizing other candidates. It is crucial that you show integrity and gain their trust and vote, instead of being their choice because they don't want the other candidate.
Engage in community service projects to show your dedication to making a positive impact. You can even set up some of these events as part of your campaign. Create a signup sheet for volunteers to help you in a soup kitchen, cleaning the park, walking local dogs for the elderly. The possibilities are endless when you want to help the community.
Student engagement is crucial to any election process and it is important for you to encourage all students to vote throughout your entire campaign. Here are some tips on how to get students to the ballots on election day. Although these days it will most likely be an online voting platform, which can make the process even easier.
Be active and advocate for education on the election process. It is important that you represent democracy and you create a conversation around it. You want to be associated with the act of voting and that you are continuously encouraging every student enrolled in your school to vote.
On the days leading up to election day as well as on the day itself, you want to be extra active on your social media reminding every student to vote. You can run a campaign around the subject with a countdown.
If budget allows, create new posters, flyers and any other campaign material that has the day and time to serve as reminder and place it up the week of election.
Create a contact list throughout your campaigning process. This will help you send text, or email reminders on election day with direct links to the voting platform. This method increases engagement since you are doing all the work for them and all they have to do is choose their candidates.
Most SGA Election processes include a debate as well as a chance for you to state your platform in front of the entire class. Be sure you are prepared for this by following some simple steps listed below, but more importantly, make sure you have a winning candidate statement ready to be placed on the ballot so that those that miss any events, have a good idea of what you stand for.
All of the campaigning you’ve done so far has led up to this day.
Whether you’re running against other candidates or unopposed, you should still have a great speech to inspire confidence in both students and faculty.
How you structure your speech is entirely up to you, but the main components of your SGA election speech should include:
Remember to keep your speech short and direct, and always be respectful of your fellow candidates. Write your speech down on notecards to ensure you say everything you need to, and don’t forget to rehearse!
At eBallot, we are dedicated to the education of our future voters when it comes to democracy, and the voting process, which is why we have made the most unique and intuitive voting platform for k-12 schools as well as universities.
Our platform offers secured voting with certified results as well as insight into the trends and voter turnout. Your ballots will include space for you to put a candidate bio or statement along with a picture of the candidate to make things easier on the voters. The platform also includes ranked choice voting, anonymous voting, and many other options so we can fit the needs of students throughout the school year and not just for SGA elections.
P.S. If you’re looking for an easy way to tally up student votes, check out our easy to use eBallot Essential platform.
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