Having activated the community and selected a values aligned independent candidate, the next step is launching your candidate and organising their election campaign. As for each step along the journey, reach out to others who have run successful campaigns in the past. CIP will be running masterclasses for campaign leaders and will continue to provide a platform for networking across campaigns.
Some considerations for when to launch your candidate include:
timing of the election
whether your candidate already has a public profile or needs time to build one
what’s going on in the news cycle
other candidates launching.
In 2019 there weren’t a lot of people with experience in running community independent campaigns. Now there are many more with practical experience and knowledge, and the independent movement is turbo-charging the sharing and generosity that resulted in so many community independents being elected in 2022.
The teams of 2022 and 2025 are paying it forward to the teams of 2028 and beyond. This means:
working together in a non-hierarchical way
learning from each other
networking and open source sharing
empowering others, encouraging new leaders
building and nurturing networks of trust.
Useful resources
An innovative session with Cathy McGowan to turbo charge your networking. Cathy shares her vast skills and expertise in networking with intent. She covers how to network to get a community group going, as well as how to expand your group and contacts to further your political cause.
Kerry O’Brien leads this riveting and inspiring conversation with Kate Chaney, Kylea Tink and Cathy McGowan.
Zali Steggall and Ed Coper discuss what disinformation is, how it threatens our democracy and how communities can defuse and combat disinformation.
by Cathy McGowan
When politics relates to the local community, the community responds and the power of that community is unleashed. That’s what this book, this story, is about: what a politically active community can do.
In northeast Victoria, we call it the Indi way.
Katerina Gaita the Field Organiser and Volunteer Coordinator for Zoe Daniel’s campaign in Goldstein.
Experts discuss the key support pillars for community politics and campaigns including fundraising, strategy, messaging and tech tools.
Speakers share their experiences starting ‘Voices of’ and other activitst community groups to help others getting started.
The Commons Social Change Library exists to make activism smarter and stronger. We gather the collective wisdom of people engaged in social change in one accessible online place. All of our materials are free, digital, and directly available.