Have a Website
Your website is your virtual campaign office. Visitors should be offered the same opportunities online they'd have if they walked into your campaign headquarters.
The low-cost of maintaining a website makes it accessible to candidates at all levels. As an example, DLCCweb by Wired for Change offers a $40/month package to any Democratic state legislative candidate, complete a website, online contribution system with ActBlue, blast email and reporting tools, and database tools, among other things.
Add content
There are a lot of different models out there, from the very simple to the complex.
Websites aren't t a "one size fits all" deal, so make sure you have content on there that speaks to supporters and undecided voters alike.
Make your "call to action" buttons stand out from the page and from each other.
Let visitors decide how they want to participate in your campaign, and most importantly, don't take away any opportunities.
Here are some options that should always be on a campaign's website:
- Email list opt-in
- Candidate biography, list of accomplishments
- Issue positions (with an option to provide feedback - an opportunity to engage voters)
- Voting information (date of the election, absentee voting rules, poll hours, etc.)
- Contact information (if you list an email address, someone had better be checking it regularly and responding to questions)
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Volunteer sign-up form
- Photos/videos
Remember, the goal of your online presence is to get voters to the polls, and that's very much an offline goal. You can make it easier for a voter to register to vote using online tools, but it's going to take multiple contacts to ensure they get to the polls.
For example, the Obama campaign sent people who printed out a voter registration form on VoteForChange.com a follow-up emailing asking if they'd sent the form in, but, for the most part, these voters were still included in "Vote Today!" emails and GOTV phone calls.
Set up an online fundraising page
You're website should be about giving people opportunities-to learn more, to sign up to volunteer, and, yes, to contribute to your campaign.
As with any other form of giving, the people most likely to give money are those who are invested in the campaign and believe in your message. Online fundraising isn't a magic bullet, and it's hard to get activists to cross over and become donors. Use fundraising asks (emails, blog posts, etc.) as a messaging opportunity, with an eye to getting them to make that bigger commitment.
If you're not using a package, which includes a fundraising module (such as NGP's Capmaign Office), ActBlue offers a low-cost way of accepting online contributions.