Posts on Governing.
School board members, small-town council members, part-time officials, many elected officials have no staff at all. Text is the one communication channel a solo official can actually run alone.
Most offices don't have a communications department. A practical guide to running a real constituent text program with one or two people and not much time.
The official who texts constituents for a full term arrives at the next campaign with a relationship the opponent can't buy. The compounding payoff of year-round constituent texting.
Most state legislators are part-time and out of the capital for much of the year. Text is how they stay present with constituents between sessions, without a full-time office.
Your official constituent list and your campaign list have to be separate. Here's how to build a real opted-in list of the people you serve, the right way.
A constituent text program should be measured on whether it's serving people, not on vanity numbers. The handful of metrics that tell an official if it's working.
Governing texts follow different rules than campaign texts. The official/campaign separation, public records, TCPA, and election-window limits, what elected officials have to get right.
The fastest way to ruin a constituent text program is to overuse it. Knowing when not to text is what keeps the channel trusted, and keeps people subscribed.
A Tuesday-night meeting reaches the handful who can show up. A text survey reaches the whole district. How elected officials use texting to actually hear from constituents.
You represent everyone in the district, including the constituents other channels leave out. Why text is the most accessible way to reach seniors, non-English speakers, and the digitally excluded.
A boil-water notice, a road closure, a shelter location. This is where text's read-in-minutes speed does the most good. How officials use texting for public-safety communication.
An event only works if people show up. Text is the highest-attendance invitation an official has. How to fill office hours, town halls, and community events.