Your Campaign Success Roadmap Freebie

Ready to Run? Follow These 12 Actionable Steps to a Winning Campaign

Running for office is an exciting and challenging journey—but success doesn’t happen by accident.

To win, you need a clear strategy, a strong message, and a well-organized campaign. That’s why we created Your Campaign Success Roadmap—a step-by-step list that will help you navigate your campaign with confidence.

This free PDF resource outlines 12 essential steps every candidate must take to build a winning campaign. Whether you’re running for municipal council, school board trustee, or any other elected position, this guide will set you on the right path.

This product is for you if …

• First-time candidates who need a clear roadmap for success.

• Campaign teams looking to streamline their strategy.

• Community leaders preparing for future elections.

• Anyone who wants to run an organized and effective campaign.

If you like this resource, don’t forget to check out our others:

Campaign Email Templates Freebie

Send Impactful Campaign Emails Without the Stress

Crafting engaging, effective campaign emails takes time—but we’ve done the work for you! Our Campaign Email Templates give you a head start with pre-written emails designed to connect with voters, recruit volunteers, and boost your fundraising efforts.

This free Google Doc includes multiple email templates covering:
📩 Fundraising – Persuasive emails to encourage donations and build financial support.
📩 Volunteer Recruitment – Messages that inspire people to take action and join your team.
📩 Get Out the Vote (GOTV) – Strategic reminders to mobilize voters when it matters most.

No more wondering what to say or how to phrase it—just copy, personalize, and send! Plus, this document is regularly updated, so you’ll always have fresh, effective email templates at your fingertips.

This product is for you if …

• You want a structured, no-fuss system to keep track of your donor outreach

• You need an easy-to-use tool to organize potential donors and follow-ups

• You struggle to remember who you've contacted and when to follow up

• You want to maximize your fundraising potential without missing key opportunities

• You appreciate a clean, effective system that lets you focus on building support

Why You Need To Fundraise For Your Campaign

You Need To Fundraise For Your Campaign

Yes, fundraising during a municipal campaign can be done. We’re going to show you how.

Let’s be real here – you may be looking at the spending threshold and thinking, “That’s nothing. I can get there myself.”

You might be tempted to self-fund most of your campaign.

Stop right there.

Fundraising can be intimidating. Asking the people that you know for money can be heavy. But don’t go into debt to run for office. While the spending limit can look intimidating, remember: just because that’s the limit doesn’t mean that’s what you have to spend.

Fundraising Ideas

• A donation page on your website
• Crowdfunding
• Silent auctions
• Phone calls or text giving
• BBQ
• Meet the Candidate event
• Wine & Cheese
• Follow-up phone calls from in-person vote canvasses
• Beer tasting night at a local taphouse
• E-mail marketing campaign
• Social media campaigns
• Virtual viewing party

So sit down and make a list of what you will need to run this campaign. Know that the list will be different depending on which office you’re running for (obviously, you won’t need to spend the same on gas to cover canvassing ground if you’re a mayor vs. if you’re running for council). Understand that your must-have list for what you need to run for office may be different than someone else’s (two candidates may disagree on whether or not they need lawn signs, for example). Consider how long the campaign period is and what your goals are. Also, ensure that you look into the municipal election rebates that may be available to you, depending on where you live, so that you can access those funds and don’t need to worry about fundraising.

And then start crunching numbers.

That is what you’ll want to aim for in fundraising. And there are plenty of ways that you can get there.

A mix of a couple of these events will help you reach your goal more quickly. Remember when deciding on your event fundraising goals that you’ll need to be realistic about what each can bring.

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— looking for more campaign advice ? —

The Rules of Fundraising For Political Campaigns In Ontario

Follow the Fundraising Rules

Your campaign needs to keep track of all of your financials. Here is how that works with fundraising.

The easiest thing we can do to ease ourselves into this is to ensure that we understand the rules surrounding fundraising and campaigns.

In the 2022 Candidates' Guide - Ontario municipal council and school board elections, there is a whole section about Campaign Financing (which we recommend you go through and absorb). 

Still, today, we're only going to look specifically at the fundraising rules. 

So here is the long and short of it:

• A fundraising activity is an event or activity held by you or on your behalf that primarily aims to raise money for your campaign.

• Candidates can only hold fundraisers during the campaign period (which we're in the thick of now, so go for it!)

• There are specific guidelines for selling goods or offering services in exchange for campaign donations.

  • The total ticket price is considered a contribution if you sell tickets to an event. If the ticket is higher than $25, it cannot be paid for with cash. You must issue receipts to each person who purchases a ticket.

  • If you sell goods or services for more than the fair market value (i.e. you sell a coffee mug for $50, with the proceeds of the sale going towards your campaign), then the difference between the market value of the good or service you sold and the amount paid is what is considered the donation. Anything sold for under $25 or less does not count as a contribution.

• According to the Candidates' Guide, the donation buttons on websites or a sentence on campaign brochures that advises people on how they can donate do not count as fundraising.

Contribution limits ($1200 for individuals other than yourself and your spouse) still apply. All contributions over $25 must be made by cheque, money order or by a method that shows where the funds came from (debit, credit, e-transfer, etc.) You also need to issue contribution receipts and keep records accordion to the Campaign finance section of the Candidates' Guide.

The spending limit for your campaign is calculated based on the number of electors who are eligible to vote for the office that you're running for:

For head of council: $7,500 + $0.85 per eligible elector

For council members or trustee: $5,000 + $0.85 per eligible elector

So let's do a few examples:

You live in Sudbury. You’re running for mayor. In 2018, there were 115,784 eligible voters in Greater Sudbury. Your initial budget is $7,000 + $98,416.40 for a total of $105,416.40.

You live in Sault Ste Marie. You’re running for mayor. In 2018, there were 55,261 eligible voters in Sault Ste Marie. Your initial budget is $7,000 + $46,971.85 for a total of $53,971.85.

You live in Sudbury. You’re running for councillor of Ward 1. In 2018, there were 9,055 eligible voters in your ward. Your initial budget is $5,000 + $7,696.75 for a total of $12,696.75

Knowing your budget will allow you to know what you need to fundraise and start building a plan to get you there.

Time To Fundraise

Let's be real here – you may be looking at the spending threshold and thinking, "That's nothing. I can get there myself."

You might be tempted to self-fund most of your campaign. Our biggest piece of advice is this:

Don’t do it!

Fundraising can be intimidating. Asking the people you know for money can be heavy. But don't go into debt to run for office. While the spending limit can look intimidating, remember: just because that's the limit doesn't mean that's what you have to spend.

So sit down and list what you will need to run this campaign. This list will differ depending on which office you're running for. For example, you won't need to spend the same on gas to cover canvassing ground if you're running for mayor vs. council. Your must-have list for what you need to run for office may be different than someone else's. Two candidates may disagree on whether or not they need lawn signs, for example. Consider how long the campaign period is and what your goals are. Also, ensure that you look into the municipal election rebates that may be available to you, depending on where you live, so that you can access those funds and don't need to worry about fundraising.

And then start crunching numbers.

That is what you'll want to aim for in fundraising. And there are plenty of ways that you can get there.

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— looking for more campaign advice? —