How to Set and Manage your Election Goals

Every member organization knows that elections can be a massive undertaking. But when it comes to setting goals for your election, do you know where to start and how to effectively stay on track?

Your election goals

The goals for your election should be more than simply making it happen. When it comes to setting those goals it can be overwhelming.

To keep goal setting on track start by choosing three goals that are action-oriented and measurable. Step one is to identify what is critical to achieve during the election.

Here are some of the most common goals we see organizations set when seeking a successful election

• Increasing voter participation and satisfaction rates
• Recruiting multiple candidates for a contested election
• Implementing hybrid or online voting
• Improving engagement with younger members
• Reducing costs
• Administering a smooth election without roadblocks or errors

So many goals, how to choose?

Once you have identified which goals are important to your organization, it’s time to choose the three you feel are most critical to the success of the election and to as many of your members as possible.

When choosing goals, it’s vital to tie them to your organization’s overall mission. If, for example, part of your organization’s mission is to enhance communication among your members, then a clear election goal may be to increase the number of election reminders and engage younger members by providing multiple, convenient voting options.

Make sure you are striving for big goals, but also realistically achievable. Nothing is more discouraging than setting an unrealistic goal (for example, increase voter participation by 1,000 percent) then disappointing staff and members when that goal is, inevitably, not achieved.

One way to ensure your goal is achievable is to make sure it is measurable. A goal to clean up your mailing list is admirable, but a goal to clean up the mailing list and reduce the number of returns/bounce backs by 10 percent is more likely to be achieved because you can clearly measure progress.

 Goals chosen, now what?

Once you’ve chosen your three measurable goals, share those goals with staff, volunteers and members so you’re more widely accountable for progress on the goals. Break each goal into steps and work with your team to develop an action plan.

Identify any potential road blocks and add steps to the action plan that you can take to avoid those pitfalls. Working with a partner like SBS to administer your election can help you achieve your goals and prevent mistakes.

Set an election timeline stay on track.

Need help setting those election goals? Could you use some assistance coming up with an action plan? Contact SBS, we’re here to help!