Best Practices Flash Cards. DA Best Practices Flash Cards are a way to consolidate critical information points from the DA Handbook, Wiki, Website and.

BestPracticesFlashCards

DA Best Practices Flash Cards are a way to consolidate critical information points from the DA Handbook, Wiki, Website and Emails and get it into the hands of our CC’s in an easy to use format. These are designed to be printed front/back per

card (online version has card visible side to side for continuity) and either on paper to be laminated or cardstock in the current size and format. Each card is a5 (half of a4 size) which is still generous and can be read easily.

Additional cards can be updated or published as necessary as information is updated on the BP Wiki.

This output was a result of the BP committee in preparation for the International DCPA Meeting 2013.

Questions, feel free to contact Patti Shields, VC-Ireland, at [email protected]

New Member Outreach

Attracting New Members is critical for every chapter of DA! The dynamic movement of expats is always happening. As DA we also know that if members are involved with DA in one country, they are likely to engage

and participate in a new country as well.

Regular meeting times and locations and recurring events for all DA members provides a great sense of consistency and allows members to

invite newcomers to regular meetings.

It is also welcome to have meet ups at the start of an election year cycle. Ideas include posting information in local papers and using local social

media, holding convention/debate watching parties, meet ups in town at traditional US Hangouts, coffee bars or pubs. Tax seminars (held in the first six months of the year) are great events and historically have been well attended and supported by the expat community. Dual sponsorship (with Rep Abroad for example) often lends itself to cross promotion by non partisan entities like the US Embassy and other American Groups

(FAWCO, etc).

Short-term members – such as students – should be welcomed with information as part of a student outreach plan through local university International Student Offices. Approaching these offices with the non-

partisan VFA idea well before the fall semester is critical and often welcomed by the universities. Ask to set up a table as well during

registration to maximize visibility and impact.Don’t worry about whether students or short-term residents

become members – just get them to vote!

Got Ideas? Add to the wiki http://wiki.demsabroad.eu/display/BPvoteForum/New+Contributions

ATTRACT INDEPENDENT VOTERS

Use Internet advertising, e.g. Google AdWords, Facebook ads, … Effectively drive people to VFA and/or your independent website. Publicize your site(s) in your emails and in various social media. • Dave in Indonesia has a list of about 1,200 keywords that can be used (you

need to change the country from “Indonesia” to your country in some of these) with GoogleAdwords.

• On any pricing/bidding you do, Dave’s advice is to start low and try to get Google Analytics results to see how well your words are doing. Note that some keywords will get lots of clicks (so cost you money!) but do NOT result in getting voter action. For example, in this cycle, if you bid on “Obama” you’d get LOTS of clicks but almost no results in driving people to your site or the VFA site.

Use Photo Share to tag members and increase ‘Shares’ on Facebook There was a very simple but effective tactic of taking a good photo -- for example a simple phone camera shot of some of our VFA swag (VFA post cards, pins, luggage tags, etc). About once a week, we'd stick up on our DA Taiwan Facebook page one of these photos, "tag" all our ExCom, former ExCom members, and other good DA Taiwan active members and make a big plug for the www.votefromabroad.org website. Then we'd start a conversation about it -- what that meant is that we went way up in the feeds and folks would get an update ("John Doe made a comment on a photo of you."). We also rewarded people with swag when they jumped in to plug VFA.org, again using these tagged photos -- for example: "John Eastwood has some awesome buttons, shopping bags, luggage tags, fridge magnets, stickers, pins and T-shirts that he brought back from the DA Taiwan Global Convention! For as long as supplies hold out, John will send some awesome swag to fellow Americans in Taiwan if you make sure to... tell the world about www.votefromabroad.org by clicking 'share'!” We got a huge response to that -- and along the way we were able to get lots of Democratic Party stuff into the hands of our members prior to the election. People who were very active with their "share" clicks on Facebook got a little packet in the mail with some extras.

CREDIT: DA INDONESIA , TAIWAN, BRAZIL, HUNGARY, CANADA, IRELAND

http://wiki.demsabroad.eu/display/BPvoteForum/New+Contributions


http://www.votefromabroad.org/

http://vfa.org/

http://www.votefromabroad.org/

Onsite VoterRegistration

New contacts and exposure to VoteFromAbroad are at the heart of Onsite Registration. Public Registration Events make voters aware of their right to vote. Many citizens are unaware of their right to vote or think it is complicated and difficult. They don’t

know that the MOVE Act of 2009 eliminates the need for Notary signatures and complicated paperwork, but does require a ballot

request each election cycle.

It is our job to get the word out and have them spread the word about how easy it is to Vote From Abroad!

PUBLIC VOTER REG EVENTS ARE EASY TO ORGANIZE:Co-op with a local English language bookstore, Embassy,

University, International School, American hangout to register voters. City Centre locations during weekends are also great!

Regular and recurring events, especially in a build up to an election, are useful as they build momentum and provide a

regular resource for any follow up and referrals. Post times and places on social media, in-venue and through your DA

communication. Invite volunteers to take shifts to manage registration/information. Co-sponsor with Republicans Abroad

and have the Embassy send out notice of non-partisan registration using VoteFromAbroad.org

Show volunteers that it is not hard or intimidating to manage voter registration with the VFA information

provided through the Co-Op and the DA site!


Tools of the Trade:The Voter Registration

Checklist

Voter Registration Table Checklist:

Find a secure, central and legal location. Make sure local authorities are aware of your plans if you are going to be in a public space and

make sure you are not obstructing pedestrian or vehicle traffic

Proudly display VFA signage and/or DA signage. Make it visible and secured – Don’t let it blow away outdoors! – USE THE CO-OP!

Hi-viz vests often are great for catching the eye of a passerby!Clipboards with pertinent information – Postcards, Bookmarks,

Reference Materials – these should all be at the ready

Reference Materials Include: Registration/Ballot Deadlines, Voter Eligibility Requirements, Handouts to potential voters (who want to

register later); VFA website information and website

Mobile Devices or laptops with spare batteries is essential for on the spot registration; a portable printer with paper is ideal and might be

worth your Country Committee’s investment.

Have people ready to walk and talk and sit behind a table.

Pens, Pencils, Paper and ENERGY!

CREDIT: DA HUNGARY, GERMANY, IRELAND


Global Outreach and Activism

TRUE DA ACTIVISM:CLOSE ELECTIONS AND SENSE OF

URGENCY

Email:

There are a few pre-conditions to sending individual members targeted district-specific Tight-Race email messages: - Have a clean and accurate member database with the member’s voting address - Be able to geographically identify candidate districts, e.g. which Dem Congress Rep is running in the member’s district, who for Senate, etc.(This district info is not straightforward to get, but DA has coded this into the database where there is sufficient data.) - Have a good source of what constitutes a “tight race”. Websites including www.RealClearPolitics.com is a good source for ‘tight race’ statistics.

Note that in 2012, about 40% of DA members were involved in one or more tight races, and thus did receive an email. Also note that DPCA IT and Voter Reg sent global messages centrally, as was done this past cycle. For your tailored message you should use the DA website email program (CiviMail) to send the email to your members.

Phonebanking:

Follows the same general conditions for emails.Important to communicate deadlines to voters and accurately record who has registered, who has not, and who is voting by FWAB. Follow up calls can be made to those who have note voted in a second round.

It is important to convey the importance of our votes in close elections. And how VoteFromAbroad.org makes the difference.In 2008, Senators Mark Begich of Alaska and Al Franken of Minnesota won their races by margins of less than 500 votes – fewer than the number of overseas ballots received.

CREDIT: DA INDONESIA, VOTEFROMABROAD.ORG

DA represents the interests and issues of members worldwide. A great way to engage new and existing members is to have your CC focus on issues of special interest and use your communications/outreach to feature updates,

news and more.

Look through the 2012 DA Platform for issues that are central to our organization. Find a link to the platform at

https://www.democratsabroad.org/handbook

Examples:

Members Abroad Issues: Legislation and policies that affect taxes, citizenship, immigration, voting rights, etc. are of particular concern to most members

Domestic Issues with Worldwide Reach: Be it Gun Control, Food Labelling, Women’s Equal Pay, etc. – all of these issues on the domestic agenda are often connection points for members overseas who want to advocate for issues back home

Caucus/Special Interest Groups: LGBT, Minority Outreach, etc. often have local representation connected with a DA International Caucus, Platform or other CC’s

Close Elections: Nothing like a hotly contested election to engage voters abroad. Our votes have decided some historic and close elections – vetting your database and engaging voters abroad to make a difference is Democracy in Action!


http://www.realclearpolitics.com/



DA Handbook Events in a Box

The DA Handbook is published athttps://www.democratsabroad.org/handbook

For Committees in-formation, this should be your first stop for getting your group up and running. For existing Country Committees, this handbook

should be an excellent resource to provide to new board members (and to review occasionally yourself). For those wanting to get more involved, this should provide insight into the workings of DA and the different areas you

can participate in.

By sharing our best practices we intend to ensure we are all in synch - in compliance - and energized! (Table of Contents from 2012 Handbook)


Events-in-a-Box is your one stop shop for help on Best Practices for regular events. Look for a link at:


GOTV/VR/VFA.ORG - Promoting VoteFromAbroad.org and with setting up & running a voter registration and/or get out the vote event

INAUGURATION EVENT– Planning and executing an event for your CC

STUDY ABROAD – Letters, Flyers, strategies for recruiting students to GOTV

PHONEBANKING – sample scripts as well as outlines of current/previous scripts and information (close races, etc)

Don’t Forget the Co Op! Your catalog for finding great items to promote DA in your own CC at great prices! Promote DA and VFA with these professional

grade cards, banners, flyers, postcards and MORE!

Email: [email protected]

CREDIT: DA WEBSITE WWW.DEMOCRATSABROAD.ORG





https://www.votefromabroad.org/

mailto:[email protected]

Membership and Data Lists

Membership List Clean Up Steps

Membership and Data Lists are the key to every CC’s purpose. Regular management and data scrubbing are

essential to keep lists relevant and correct. Time and energy can be wasted if contact information is out of date and incorrect – and the transitive nature of expats makes this even more challenging. Each CC is responsible for

making sure their list is managed accurately.

Those who manage the Membership and Data lists on behalf of DA are required to sign and file a statement of confidentiality. These lists are only to be used to contact DA members on official DA business and messages that are sanctioned by DA. Please contact the International

Secretary if you have any questions regarding your ability to access data, or if you need to sign a statement of

confidentiality.

Other Data and Lists may become available to CCs from time to time from the International ExCom and/or the

Data/Membership committee and should be treated with the same level of confidentiality and diligence as a CC’s

own list.


The first priority is to clean up the members with missing data – without a local address or local phone number. These records are generally easy to correct because many are people who recently moved to your country and signed up before they had their final address. Some countries may have members whose address does not match the membership country. These members are marked with * in the list. This can be the case for: 1. Members who have now moved from your country but whose record still needs to be moved to their new place of residence. You should contact them to see where they are and if they are no longer in your country, do NOT delete them or unsubscribe them from your country, but send their names to the Global Membership Team. 2. Special situations where the member's address is just across the border so they belong to the country they feel closer to (ex: France, Switzerland, Mexico). In this case the member must be tagged "Valid cross-border member". 3. Some countries have several members who split their time between the US and more balmy climates. These people have the right to remain on your list as long as they are still part-time residents. The next category to check is the duplicate members. Only one will be included in the membership count. If by any chance you have two people with the same first and last name, tag them both as "Valid same name - same country”. There is another category of members who will be counted, but whom you are obliged to contact. These are the people "on-hold" i.e. after a certain number of bounces, their email address is no longer included in the recipient list for mailings (CiviMail). Members without an email address should be reached by postal mail at least once annually. Members who have moved back to the United States can be offered the option to be added to the "United States alumni" group where they will receive the international mailings. In this case, instead of deleting their membership, tag the member "Valid US alumni" and inform the Global Membership Team so they can move their membership.

Contact the Global Membership Teamat [email protected]

CREDIT: GLOBAL IT EMAIL 1/2013


StudentOutreach

Student OutreachStep By Step

Outreach to Study Abroad Students

There are 270,000 of them.Check this link to see how many are in your country: http://bit.ly/11TSLeh

They are half as likely to vote (unless you help)and they are twice as likely to vote Democratic.

1. Appoint a Study Abroad coordinator – for your country and every chapter.

2. Compile a list of Study Abroad programs in your country/chapter. Check on Studyabroad.com; check your membership for leads – program directors, teachers, students; leverage relations with programs in other countries

3. Get the name of the program and the contact person and details as a start: Number of students; date of arrival and orientation; student organization contacts

4. Start writing down a plan for reaching these students, with active onsite VR events; info on VR in orientation packets; flyers posted onsite; social media (e.g. Facebook); and a calendar for yourself to keep track of events

5) Plan in advance for the materials and volunteer resources

6) Follow-up with college administrators to maintain the relationships

Make sure they know about FWABMake sure they send in their ballots

If you’re already doing Study Abroad, what’s next? Begin outreach stateside and establish multi-country programs

Reaching students will be more important than ever!

CREDIT: DA HUNGARY, SERBIA, BRAZIL AND IRELAND

Students arriving at schools Internationally are often unaware of the early deadlines required for overseas voting. It is

important that they are contacted early enough so that they can begin the process of requesting a ballot to return it in time for

the election.

Many schools do not want to seem partisan, so approaching them with non-partisan VFA is essential. Most schools will

allow you to place printed materials (see VFA Coop Postcards and flyers) in their student welcome packets.

For general elections, schools and universities should be contacted in the spring semester, as many go on summer

break. Often the materials must be submitted by mid-August for the student welcome packets which they receive on arrival.

Following up with an on site registration table during student welcome/registration week is also helpful. In some cases,

International Students are asked to come a week or so prior to regular registration. For large cities/universities this is a great opportunity to gain exposure, answer questions, and touch a large part of the population who may miss their opportunity to

participate if they wait too long to register and request their ballots.



PhonebankingSample Election Year

Phonebanking Timeline andWhat to Bring

April: Announced Fall Phonebanking in CC newsletter (and at all meetings)

Recruited/selected Phonebanking Coordinator and collected volunteer namesReviewed phonebanking materials from prior campaigns to plan for September

Emailed former and new phonebanking volunteers Volunteers completed and retuned confidentiality agreements

Summer: Announced Phonebanking in newsletter

Survey to CC members to opt out of phonebanking and provide contact info via web

August:Finalized materials, script, instructions, list of battleground states and reg deadlines

Provided info support – e.g. list of Dem policies & accomplishmentsDatabase Manager divided DA database into individual Phonebanking lists

Sent Phonebanking opt out survey to entire CC Membership

September:Deleted names of Opt Out participants from the phonebanking lists

Database Coordinator followed up as necessary with Opt OutsSent individual phone lists and materials to volunteers

Two weeks designated for Phonebanking: Mid SeptemberPhonebankers made calls on own phones/services

Lists collected & data entered

OctoberLast list returned and thanked volunteers in Newsletter & calls from chair

November & DecemberAnnounced Voter Registration stats (percentages) in Newsletter

Hosted Post Election Volunteer Pizza Party with prizes for 6 top callersThanked all and recognized 6 top callers in CC Newsletter

What you should bring: Make sure you bring to the phone banking session:

● Multiple copies of the calling script (bring twice as many as you think you’ll need).● Print-outs of the member database, broken into chunks of 50 names and numbers.

● Two lists of Voter Registration deadlines, one by State and one by date.● Lots of pens.

● Multiple copies of the Confidentiality Form – all volunteers MUST sign and return these forms to you BEFORE they begin calling.

● Your own phone and laptop computer.● A contact list of all the volunteers who agreed to call on that day.

CREDIT – DA EVENT IN A BOX, DA AUSTRIA, DA AUSTRALIA

In 2014, every Democrats Abroad country committee should commit to a dedicated phone banking campaign to contact each and every registered member on their lists. Although much of our campaign efforts are directed at finding and registering new voters, this shouldn’t distract us from the importance of securing 100% confirmation of the registration and eventual ballot casting of all our members – those Americans who are most easily within our reach.

Data: Democrats Abroad needs to be careful never to violate any of the data protection rules of the countries in which we operate. However, we are free to make political statements to our members directly and to contact them directly by phone, e-mail and post to provide both political and voting information. A “leader” from Democrats Abroad should be at the voting center each night to ensure that the data is handled appropriately. The person responsible for the data should collect the sheets each night and ensure that any amendments to the member information is uploaded to the database.

Location: Some country committees conduct a “virtual phone bank” by supplying people with a list and asking them to call and report back, although leaders must be especially vigilant for data protection problems. It is extremely powerful to conduct the phoning in a group environment where any voter questions can be resolved immediately and where callers can be trained on site and can encourage each other. The location can be almost anywhere – the only requirement is that it should be relatively quiet, and should have good cell phone reception. If available, wifi/internet access means that volunteers can use a laptop computer to talk voters through the VoteFromAbroad registration process.

Phones: Do not try to find a location that will allow you to use their own multiple phone lines – in most cases, such locations will be businesses, and this can potentially get us into legal difficulty. Instead, simply ask your members to use their own cell phones to make the calls. Yes, this does provide a small additional burden on the volunteers, but if you ask nicely we find that most people are willing to do this for us.



Play by the Rules:DA Basic Rules

Play by the Rules:DA Basic Rules

continuedThe best reference is the current version of the DA Handbook

available at https://www.democratsabroad.org/

The DPCA is a subordinate committee of the Democratic National Committee. As such it is subject to the same legal restrictions that govern the DNC. Anyone purporting to act for Democrats Abroad (the common name of the DPCA and the Country Committees) must abide by these restrictions. This card describes some of the more important rules, but in order to ensure that an activity is not prohibited it is important to consult regularly with the country committee counsel, International Counsel, and the Executive Committee. This summary is not intended to provide detailed guidance on any specific activity that a Country Committee may consider.

1.No contributions or donations from non-US nationals. No one acting on behalf of Democrats Abroad may solicit or accept anything of value from a non-US citizen. This prohibition applies to in-kind donations including discounted food or rental space not available to the general public. Even reimbursed personal spending by a non-US national is prohibited. Any contribution from an US citizen with a non-US spouse must come from the funds of the US citizen.

2. Volunteer activity by non-US nationals. A non-US citizen may volunteer his or her uncompensated services (for example, stuffing envelopes) to a Country Committee. If the services result in the production of an item of value for example, a piece of art, the Country Committee may not accept that item.

3. No corporate or labor union contributions. No one acting on behalf of Democrats Abroad may solicit or accept anything of value from a corporation or labor union regardless of where the organization is domiciled or incorporated. (“American” brands are not okay!)

4. No public communications promoting a Federal candidate. Only the DPCA may pay for public communications that promote, support, attack, or oppose a Federal candidate or political party. Country committees may not purchase public political advertising that mentions a Federal candidate or promotes the Democratic Party. One very limited exception would be advertising directed exclusively at the recruitment of new members.

5. E-mail and free postings on the Internet are not public communications. Individuals and groups, including Country Committees, may freely use the Internet (provided the service is free) and e-mail to organize and to promote Federal candidates. Posts to Facebook groups are allowed – but purchasing ads for partisan purposes on Facebook is not.


6 & 7. Country Committees may freely communicate to their members and distribute literature at Country Committee meetings.There is no restriction on Country Committees communicating to their own members. The communication must be restricted to members and may include telephone calls, newsletters, mail, and e-mail, to advertise a candidate, party or a political organization’s event.

8.Non-partisan voter registration and absentee ballot campaigns. Country committees are free to engage in non-partisan voter registration and absentee ballot campaigns. The committee must provide these services without regard to the party or candidate preference of the person who is being assisted. The committee can pay the costs of such activities without incurring any FEC reporting obligation. The committee may conduct these activities with other organizations but should pay for its own expenses related to the joint program. For example, the Country Committee may be reimbursed by another organization for a share of the costs.

9. No contributions to Federal candidates. Country committees may not contribute directly to Federal candidates, political party committees or any other political committee. The Country Committee may collect contributions for a Federal candidate provided that the contributions are promptly (within ten days) forwarded to the candidate with the requisite information including the name, address, occupation, and employer of the contributor. Some candidates prefer or require anyone accepting contributions on their behalf to receive authorization from their committee to do so. State and local campaigns are subject to state law and must be considered on a state-by-state basis. (On this one, be sure to talk with Intl Counsel.)

10. Registration with the Federal Election Commission. Country Committees are absolutely prohibited by the DNC from engaging in activities that would require registration and reporting to the FEC. To avoid having to report, a Country Committee must not violate Rules 4 and 9 on this card.

11. No Transfers. Country committees may not transfer funds to the DPCA

The penalty for a knowing and willful violation offederal campaign finance law is up to

five years imprisonment for each violation.

CREDIT: DA HANDBOOK


Voter Marketing and Demographics

Example Strategies Per Segment:

What is your Strategy?

Knowing how to message and communicate with your members is key to keeping them engaged and bringing new potential members into your CC. Make sure you are clearly communicating and empowering your voters to participate in DA!

Create a Clear, Urgent Message: Act Now! Make your members respond with word or actionsBe consistent and use the same message in multiple outreaches

Establish your Local DA BrandEstablish Awareness, Value, TrustReach out to Embassies, Democratic Friendly community leaders. Network to build credibility and trust for introductions and new opportunities for outreach

Understand your Communication OptionsUse multichannel to reach a wide audienceKnow what works best in your marketOverlaps of consistent messaging creates brand awareness

Know your Market and SegmentsKnow size and demographics of segmentation: Students, Teachers, Corporate, RetiredPrioritize most important segments to get the best resultsAnalyze top segments to determine your best outreach plan


Strategy per Segment: STUDY ABROAD STUDENTSLocation: Capital city (Prague) & other larger cities (Brno); Tied to known academic programsMotivators: New experiences, Peer pressure, Free foodObstacles: Partisan politics. Paper work. Dealing with the CZ postal systemWho do they trust? Their program directors; Their peers, or slightly older 20+ year oldsTiming for initial communication: Ask directors to mention registration in orientation, then follow up with a registration drive in the week after students arrive, midweek to avoid travel overlaps.Communication channels (2012):Program communications (emails, FB messaging etc); FB ads targeted to age groupWorking Points: Contact study abroad directors from around the country;Suggest in house program activities. Keep the message free from politics. Emphasize experience. Make the message feel targeted to them. Help the students with the paper work. Offer free food. Eliminate any need for the students to go to the post office. Strategy per Segment: INTEGRATED AMERICAN ENTREPRENEURSLocation: Capital city (Prague), but often in suburbs; Larger cities (Brno, Plzen, Olomouc, etc., VillagesMotivators: Introducing their bilingual children to other English speakers, Talking US politics, US Citizens Abroad legislation (tax issues, citizenship issues for children + spouses)Obstacles: Having to hire a babysitter in order to participate in meetings, eventsHaving to travel distances to get to meetings, other events; Getting spammed by marketing materialWho do they trust? Their peers, The embassy, Certain media sourcesTiming for initial communication: Get started in early 2013 establishing relationships with this segmentCommunication Channels: Recommendations from friends (via email, phone, social media channels); Articles published in English language media around the Country; The embassy, if at all possible; Groups they participate in (IWAP, ministries, FB groups, etc; Online advertisement (FB ads, Google Adwords)Working Points: Establish groups within DA which reflect their interests ,(concert goers, kids programs, political conversations; Establish hub members in larger cities

USE THESE THIS TEMPLATE TO DEFINE YOUR OWN STRATEGIESWHAT IS THE RIGHT STRATEGY FOR EACH SEGMENT IN YOUR CC?

CREDIT: DA CZECH REPUBLIC


Embassy and Consulate Support

State Department Contacts

Support from your Embassy/Consulate can be critical to DA Committees of all sizes. Always remain positive and

friendly. A change in staffing can alter relationships overnight, so don’t push. Because of perceived partisan

sensitivities we must always approach in a non-partisan manner.

Establish Personal Contact with Senior Embassy staff. Be aware of rotation cycles. Anticipate change.

Find out who is the designated post VAO (Voting Assistance Officer).

Source and contact your local Republicans Abroad; Approach the Embassy with events co-sponsored and in a

non-partisan way.

Let members/media know of any Embassy support or promotion. Reference the Embassy in press releases and

member announcements where possible.

Always be courteous and appreciative. Send Thank You notes and attend Embassy functions if invited!


Key Information:Website – www.state.gov

US Embassies and other Posts:http://www.usembassy.gov

Phone directory of Key Foreign Service Personnel 2013:http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/111812.pdf

Travel Advisories and Information:http://travel.state.gov

PLEASE USE THIS SPACE TO ENTER YOUR CC’S EMBASSY/CONSOLATE CONTACT INFORMATION:

CREDIT: DA HUNGARY, US DEPT OF STATE WWW.STATE.GOV


http://www.state.gov/

http://www.usembassy.gov/

http://www.usembassy.gov/

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/111812.pdf

http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/111812.pdf

http://travel.state.gov/



Social Media YOUR FACE TO THE PUBLIC:YOUR LOCAL DA WEBSITE

If you haven’t already, make sure you have created a local website for your CC or chapter!

Democrats who arrive looking for connections in their new country often look for your local group on the global website. Please make sure you welcome:New members appropriately with a link or chart of regular information (regular meeting dates and locations)Existing members with ‘new news’ on a regular basis, including current issues/events (to increase and encourage regular visits)

Feature:Calendar of Upcoming EventsPhotos/Info on Recent EventsNews/Updates on Topics of InterestLinks to appropriate websites to assist new members (i.e. US Embassy, Travel.Gov updates to nearby areas)Special Interest and/or Caucus Groups

Regularly update and refresh your page with new photos and visuals so that it does not become outdated.

MAXIMIZE SOCIAL MEDIA MESSAGING!Use your link to your DA homepage when posting on

facebook/twitter and link to your facebook page!

CREDIT: DA HANDBOOK, DA BRAZIL, FRANCE, INDONESIA

THE NEW FRONTIER:

And often the best way to engage targeted audiences that are interested in DA issues, membership and/or voting from abroad.

Regular management is essential. Tweeting once a year will not build a following, for example.

Integrate Facebook/Twitter messaging when possible. Whether automated or manual, consistent messaging is very effective to a target audience.

Know Your Audience: is there a social issue trending where DA has a voice? Tag or Link to get all of your DA followers in sync on the issue of the day!

Cross Posting: Use DA International or other CC Pages/Caucus Pages to feature your local perspective on a DA International Issue

Promote VFA.org: use social media to promote VoteFromAbroad.org on DA pages. It is a non partisan way to share the importance of voter registration. Motivate your members to share the link as well. Communicate deadlines and the ease of use to friends and followers.

Social Media Strategy: During critical points in election timelines make sure you preplan a calendar of social media activity and coordinate it with emails and other information distribution and site updating. Plan at least two weeks at a time.

Facebook ads: Locally a great way to get exposure to a targeted audience at minimal expense to promote VoteFromAbroad.org and/or new members. See ‘rules’ to determine what you can pay for from CC funds.

Look for regular updates on the wiki for Best Practices from CC’s worldwide.



Fundraising 2012 Fundraising for DAGreat Ideas for DPCA Fundraisers

What do these 2012 Democrats Abroad events have in common?Young Professional Network Cocktail - London, JanMike Honda Event with DA Taiwan - Taipei, MarchRaise Your Voices concert - Paris, JuneSwingin' for Obama jazz concert - Vienna, SeptComedy Night - London, SeptMaya Soetoro-Ng call-in to DA Australia - Sydney, SeptOktoberfest - Munich, Oct

Besides being fun, building local DA community and unity, raising money for local DA (if tee shirts, buttons, etc. sold), jazzing up members to register and/or vote, motivating volunteers, garnering free press (as much or more in Vienna than for DA election night and inauguration parties), connecting us to surrogates?

They were all Fundraisers for the DPCA put on by country committees. Together $36,331 was raised for the DPCA at these events!

Because proceeds go to the DPCA, per FEC rules, associated costs must also be paid by the DPCA, unless donated by individuals. Three of these events had no costs charged to the DPCA. For the other four events, we spent $9419 for either a venue or concert tix or refreshments. So, net to the DPCA: $26,912. + FUN!

Future events can include “revenue-sharing” with Country Committees and the Fundraising Committee is happy to work with your great ideas.

The DPCA needs support from the country committees and events like these are a great way to do your share!

CREDIT: DA HANDBOOK, DA AUSTRIA

Fundraising at the local level

Country Committees may raise as much money as they want (and as they can), as long as all the rules described in the DA Handbook are followed. They may not say, for instance, “Give us money to Beat Romney”, but they may say “Give Democrats Abroad money to help us grow.” References to progressive politics, platform issues, etc. are allowed.

Fundraising for DPCAThe country committees of Democrats Abroad may also do fundraising for the DPCA, which is extremely important because the DPCA (which is registered with the FEC, unlike most country committees) is allowed to promote the election and defeat of particular candidates. The funds are used for things like newspaper ads, databases to keep track of members and their voting states, and other things decided by the DPCA. The DPCA also uses funds to provide services to the country committees of Democrats Abroad. The DPCA is not allowed to take any money from a country committee, so members must donate directly to DPCA. Democrats Abroad country committees may, however, collect the donations and forward them to the DPCA.

Joint EventsYou may hold joint events with other groups, but country committees may not accept money from non-US citizens, donate to another group, or pay for materials that promote particular candidates. For example, in 2004, Democrats Abroad held joint events with a group called Americans Overseas for Kerry (“AOK”). There had to be at least one representative from each group at each event (though particular people could have been members of both groups), and, although materials promoting Kerry were permitted at the events, the country committees could not pay for any of these materials. It is acceptable, though, to collect donations from American Citizens at such events. Country committees must pay their share of any costs related to such events.



Best Practices Flash Cards. DA Best Practices Flash Cards are a way to consolidate critical information points from the DA Handbook, Wiki, Website and.

Documents

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da best practices flash