Candidate Startup Checklist

(Last updated March 2024)

About You

You have been referred to or approached by the Her Term team, or you have sought us out because you are running for office in our targeted districts. We held an exploratory discussion with you about your candidacy, and you have decided to run a winning campaign. In receiving this document, you are once again acknowledged as a Her Term candidate to receive our support, from identification to inauguration. Thank you for running to change the landscape of politics in Georgia. 

Campaigning is hard and especially for you – our research shows that women leaders are still underrepresented in our political arena and have fewer networks, resources and role models. Your campaign will be challenged by many biases, shut doors and discouraging attitudes. But a strong campaign will help you emerge as the voter’s choice. And know that your candidacy and campaign is paving the way for more progressive women to be engaged and empowered in our political process.  

 About this Checklist

This start-up checklist is a guide to help you think about your campaign. We may review this checklist together and refer back to it from time to time in our future conversations. While this document is regularly updated, we urge you to exercise due diligence for possible errors or omissions. Feel free to provide us with comments and suggestions.  

Table of Contents

We encourage you to attend candidate and campaign management training offered by organizations in Georgia and around the nation, as this checklist is not a training material and does not substitute for training. 

About Her Term 

We strive towards creating a better government by putting progressive women in leadership positions, and focus on helping women overcome the barriers that hold them back from attaining political office. To achieve this, we target, recruit and support progressive women candidates running for elected office in Georgia. We use a data-driven approach to identify flippable seats, recruit progressive women to run in those seats, and support their campaigns by providing counsel and advice as well as the facilitation of access to networks and resources. Please note that we do not fundraise for candidates, nor do we provide training or endorsement. 

We are a 527-organization that was founded in 2017 by Jina Sanone (jina@herterm.org) and Representative Renitta Shannon, and is currently led by Han Pham (han@herterm.org) with collaboration of numerous partners and allies. 

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO RUN

  • Discuss your candidacy with close friends, colleagues and family. 

    • Think and discuss the impact (time, energy, money, personal dynamics, etc) of being a public servant will have on the people close to you. 

    • Ask people who know you well about what they think of your potential candidacy.  

    • Discuss what kind of help they can provide you should you run. 

  • Explore the reach of your network. 

    • A good practice is to create an excel spreadsheet that includes everyone you know - from childhood and family friends to relatives, friendly neighbors, colleagues from all your previous and current jobs, members of any professional associations or alumni groups you belong to, and so forth. List their addresses, phone numbers and other contact details. Have additional columns with sample headers such as “will they vote for me,” “will they donate to me,” and “how much can they donate to me”. This will form the basis of your “Rolodex”.

  •   Get your finances in order. 

    • Ensure that your taxes (personal and business) are in order. 

    • Be prepared to disclose your financial interest. 

    • Think about the impact an elected officer’s salary may have on your financial wellbeing. 

  • Review your online presence. 

    • Do an internet search of yourself to see what information is out there about you and consider how it can be beneficial or not to your candidacy. If the former, consider incorporating it into your messaging. If the latter, create talking points to address the issues and pivot to positive messaging.  

    • Look through your social media accounts and posts and make sure what is available to the public about you is professional and what you want to put forward as a candidate. 

  • Start thinking about how you want to tell your story. 

    • What is it about you in your personal and professional life that makes you a strong candidate? What is it about your life that makes you the right person for the job? Think through these questions and write down your biography. 

    • Think about how you’d answer the question “why you, now, this seat” - why are you running for office? Why should people donate to your campaign? Why should the voters choose you?

  • Talk to people involved in politics. 

    • Seek out and talk to the political players in/out of your district - these include current representatives, county officials related to the party, former candidates, activists and organizers, union members, elected officials, organizations like Her Term, etc.

  • Understand the demands of an elected officer’s working hours. 

  • If you are gainfully employed at the moment in the private and nonprofit sector, discuss and document any agreements you make with your employer about your candidacy and its impact on your current work.  

  • Know what you will be spending money on – staffing, physical appearance, high-resolution professional photos, travel, website, domain URLs, graphic design, direct mail, digital presence, door-knocking, vote-builder, training, etc. 

Paperwork to file before you launch your campaign

  • Register your declaration of intent (DOI). You must file this BEFORE you can start taking donations.

    • If you are filing a State/Federal election, register online via the Georgia Campaign Finance System (see instructions below). For local elections, the DOI (for local filers only) must be turned into the local elections officer.

  • Consider opening a P.O. Box where all official communications come through. (You will still need to use your home address for qualification, however.) Many people still send donation checks in the mail, so having a secure box, will be helpful.

  • Consider creating a separate business entity for your campaign, usually called a Candiate Campaign Committee. This is a good practice that provides a layer of protection between you and the campaign. You can call it something like [candidate name] for Georgia, Inc. or Friends of [candidate name], Inc.

  • Register your Candidate Campaign Committee on the Georgia Campaign Finance System. Click on “Register” (upper right corner), then “Campaign Finance”, then select Candidate or Candidate Campaign Committee (RC).

  • >>> Here’s a video walkthru.

  • Choosing Option of Separate Accounting (COOSA) - If you expect to have donors who want to give more than the campaign contribution limits, they can give in advance of a future election, and you’ll need to use the COOSA.

    • Donors can only give up to a certain amount ($3,300 for state) per election. That means a donor can give up to the limit for the primary, then again for a primary runoff, again for the general, and again if there’s a runoff for the general.

    • If you have a donor who wants to give beyond the limit for a single election, you can accept funds for the next election in a separate bank account for that election.

      • You cannot use those funds for an earlier election. So for example, if you have a primary account and a general account, general funds cannot be used during a primary.

      • However, if you have excess funds after the primary is over, you are okay to use them in the general.

      • If you do not make it to the general election, you must return all those funds to the donors.

  • Obtain an Employer Identification Number (EIN).

    >>> Here’s a video showing  you how to select “Political Organization” (hint: it is under “view additional types”).

  • File for tax exempt status with the IRS.

  • Open a campaign bank account.

    • Note that many smaller banks aren’t familiar with this process, so check before going to the bank. You’ll need to have your business registration and EIN established before you can create this account.

  • Open an account at ActBlue or NGP, these are the most common services for taking political donations.

    • They will have better functionality to help you report contributions for your disclosures and make sure that you collect the information that is legally required for a donation (employer and occupation).

    • ActBlue also allows you to connect your account with multiple campaigns, so if you're doing a fundraiser with another candidate or organization, you can share a donation page.

QUALIFYING PROCESS & POST-QUALIFYING REQUIREMENTS

Qualifying is the process you need to go through to have your name on the ballot. (Please notes that the hyperlinks go to government pages and may break or go stale if they update their site. Always double-check the GA Secretary of State’s site for the latest forms.)

  • It typically involves filling out the Declaration of Candidacy and Affidavit Form, showing your drivers license/state ID to the election authority to confirm eligibility to run for office, and paying the required fee.

  • When to qualify:

    • For state candidates, qualifying normally takes place in March of the election year, during the 1st full week of March, M-Th 9-5, and Friday from 9-12. No applications will be accepted after the Friday deadline. 

    • Local candidates should check with their county.

  • Where to go:

    • US Congressional, State Representative and Senate candidates must file in person at the State Capitol, usually in room 230. Check the GA SOS Candidate Services page for the official instructions on time and place.

      • It is suggested that candidates file in person, in the event they need to make any corrections before having their forms notarized. There are usually notaries available in the room where you qualify.

  • All candidates must pay a qualifying fee when submitting their Candidacy forms.

    • Fees range from $400 (for state senate and rep) to $5,268 (3% of the office’s annual salary), depending on the office you’re seeking.

    • Fees must be paid by personal check, cashier’s check, or money order made payable to the Democratic Party of Georgia.

AFTER YOU HAVE QUALIFIED

  • Complete your Ballotpedia Candidate Survey. Ballotpedia is one of the main places voters find information about candidates, so make sure that your profile is filled out with a picture.

  • Within 15 days (7 days for statewide candidates), you must electronically file your Personal Financial Disclosure Statement (PDFS). see these instructions from the state ethics commission. Only one PFDS is required per calendar year. Please also note that if you do not want to share your home address for privacy reasons, you can list the parcel number of your property with the city and zipcode.

    • WHO FILES A FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE STATEMENT:

      • Each public officer holding office in Georgia, and each person who qualifies as a candidate for election as a public officer for one of the offices listed below, and all others on the following list.

        • (A) Every constitutional officer;

        • (B) Every elected state official;

        • (C) The executive head of every state department or agency, whether elected or appointed;

        • (D) Each member of the General Assembly;

        • (E) Every elected county official, every elected county or area school superintendent, and every elected member of a county or area board of education; and

        • (F) Every elected municipal officer.

    • WHERE TO FILE A FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE STATEMENT:

      • State /Statewide Office: Georgia Government Transparency & Campaign Finance Commission

        • Be sure to use the same email address and password you used for the campaign finance reporting system; also, be sure click ‘ADD REASON FOR FILING’ or the system will not accept the registration!

      • County: County Election Superintendent

      • Municipality: City Clerk or Chief Executive Officer

  • The commission has also created these youtube videos to help with filing your Campaign Contribution Disclosure Reports (CCDR), which are due on a specific schedule, be sure to note whether you are in an election year or non-election year for your appropriate dates.

Organizing your campaign

Things to think through

  • Think about how to make your campaign and candidacy a winning one. Best practices include (but are not limited to):

    • Establishing a baseline of what a minimum fundraising requirement per quarter would look like.

    • Hiring qualified staff who have experience working on winning campaigns. You can ask for referrals by those involved in campaigns, or looking at resume banks of political organizations. 

    • Exploring your messaging and branding to show that you are a serious candidate that gives donors and voters confidence in their choice of you. 

    • Attending training. We recommend our partners:

  • Perform a factual and comparative research on yourself, your district, the key stakeholders in the community, the cost of win (in terms of time, money and number of votes needed), and on the current incumbent and primary challengers if existing.

  •  Consider your personal narrative and think about how to craft it to showcase who you are – your personal story, core values and beliefs, issues you are passionate about and your platform.

  •  Consider how to develop your visual representation, such as professional political photos, headshots, and campaign logos. 

  • Think about creating your digital presence by purchasing and preparing campaign URLs, social media accounts, emails, listservs, etc.

  •  Start thinking about what you will be spending money on – staffing, photos, website, graphic design, direct mail, digital presence, door-knocking, vote-builder, training, etc. 

Logistics

  • Creating a logo and campaign colors. You can do this yourself or hire others. The key thing to make sure your logo matches what will appear on the ballot. Don’t campaign using a nickname and have your formal name on the ballot, you’ll lost all that brand recognition.

    • DIY - Canva is a limited free use license and offers logo designs that you can customize; just make sure that your logo will work in a variety of formats, as a small logo square, in a long form for a banner, as a rectangle beside other logos. Have transparent, black and white, reverse color options for the variety of formats you’ll be using your logo in

    • Hiring - Here are some sources that can help you develop your logo and more

      • State house candidates: please contact the GHDC for their list of approved providers

      • Design firms:

        • Kim Nguyen Design - designs full branding packages (logo, color palette, and typography selections), websites, walk cards, postcards, mailers, yard signs, stickers, buttons, email banners, and business cards. Has worked with Bee Nguyen, Sam Park, Kirkland Carden, and more. hello@kimnguyen.win

        • kirpop is a full-service marketing & communications agency. They enjoy doing purpose-driven work, and as such work with a number of nonprofits. They help with marketing strategy, website development, collateral design, social media ad campaigns, display ads, radio ads, or any other marketing related needs. kirstin@kirpop.com (404-550-3445)

      • Mail firms: General mail firms help you with sending out the flyers for your campaigns, but most of them want to engage with you early in your process and can help with campaign strategy and overall communications. They don’t charge for this early advice and usually only charge for items when you need to produce the mailers, walkcards, etc.

  • Creating a website. Keep in mind that searchability (SEO) is important - people need to be able find you with a simple google search. And not all browsers work the same way, and cookies on your computer will make your page show up for you, but not others. So check in private browsing mode.

    • State house candidates: please contact the GHDC, they have a program to develop websites for you.

    • Whether you do it yourself or your hire someone, here is a template developed for Her Term for a general campaign website that was designed with best practices for web development.

      • This template was developed by ShiftWeb for Her Term candidates, if you’d like to use this template for your campaign, they can create it for you in WordPress and sub in your information and customized with your campaign colors. The fee for this is $750, which includes the $420/year hosting fee. Please reach out to sinoun@shiftweb.com

      • Winnable is a website builder for progressive campaigns: their target audience is marginalized folk running for local elections - particularly women and BIPOC folk. Plans start at $50/month em@winnable.app

  • Don’t be afraid to ask questions. There are a lot of stakeholders who want you to succeed, so lean onto them and ask for help. 

Resources

Georgia State Ethics Commission provides information on filing, disclosure, enforcement and compliance. Georgia election codes and campaign finance laws are accessible online. To look up current candidates or elected officials, visit the new Georgia Campaign Finance System website. Anything before January 2021 can be found here. 

Georgia Constitution can be found online at the Secretary of State’s website (link here) or you can obtain a copy in-person or through mail from the office of the Secretary of State.