I cannot stress enough the importance of the Announcement Letter and executing it properly. This is the first official announcement of your campaign. You never want someone to say that they endorsed another candidate because they did not know you are running. An Announcement Letter is the best way to quickly deliver this message and it can also help clear the field. Your letter should be one page with four to five paragraphs.
Paragraph 1 – Your Announcement
Get right to the point. “This letter to officially announce my candidacy for the County Board of Education and to ask for your help. I am starting my campaign by reaching out to you, my friends, and the leaders of our community, to ask for your endorsement, financial support, and volunteer effort.”
Paragraph 2 – Endorsements
You don’t want to announce naked – you need to list your endorsements. It gives the campaign credibility from the beginning. The perfect line is something like, “Although my campaign is only days old I am proud to have earned the endorsements of…” You don’t need a long list – just make sure different interest groups are represented. Your goal is to communicate a broad coalition of diverse people and groups. Try and get one endorsement from someone in business, labor, neighborhood leader, elected official, nonprofit executive, and other groups important to your community.
Just make sure you get the endorsement in writing and that you can use their name publicly as a supporter. Just saying that they support you is not enough.
Paragraph 3 & 4
These paragraphs are a simplified version of your stump speech and elevator speech. Essentially, you should share why you are running, how you are qualified, and inspire confidence in your ability to win.
Ask for Money! “Despite running a lean and effective campaign with many key campaign services donated, I must raise a substantial sum to ensure that I can deliver my message to voters…”
Closing
You should, of course, conclude your letter by thanking them and providing your contact information. Below is an example of our standard letter template that gets results every time!
