Campaigning in Winter - How to Engage People and Organizations Who Don't Want to Stop for You

Recently, I started working on a new campaign that I was very excited about. It was one of those rare campaigns that was going to offer a win-win for the people it targeted and the organization looking to recruit them. Plus, I had a personal connection to the campaign and could share a story about how great results were for me.

However, there were definitely some challenges to this campaign. First, success was being measured by recruitment numbers. Since the campaign was focused on young adults, recruitment took place on college campuses. Finally, the campaign started during the middle of November.

In Chicago.

Outside.

Suffice to say getting college kids to stop and talk to you when they are trying to get to class on campus is difficult, but getting college kids to stop and talk to you in the middle of the Chicago winter is a Herculean task.

However, through years of organizing and campaigning, I have picked up a couple of techniques that are useful to get almost anyone to at least engaged in an initial conversation with you. Several of these techniques also increase the likelihood that the individual will take action. Most of these techniques are also applicable beyond individual engagement. Organizations are made up of individuals, so scaling up these techniques increases your likelihood of success when you are trying to reach out to different groups to form partnerships or coalitions.

1. Humans love mimicry. We are actually programmed to love having someone mirror our actions or to mirror the actions of others. One of the best ways do immediately help someone feel at ease about talking to you is to either mimic their body language or give them a body language behavior to mimic. Things like waving or standing with your legs crossed can encourage mimicry and make people feel more at ease about talking to you. Similarly, when you're engaging organizations, take the time to learn about how the organization uses language and then try to mimic that vocabulary. Organizations are more likely to be interested in working with groups that they feel they have common ground with.
   

2. Exchange compliments and mean it. Human beings again are by nature transactional. Giving someone a compliment opens a transaction with another person, and makes them feel inclined to give you something in return. When you are trying to get someone to engage with you, it is easy to open a conversation by sharing a compliment about something you like about them. However, make sure the compliment is genuine. Human beings can also tell when they are being flattered, a behavior that is sure to put someone off of continuing the conversation. Similarly, take the time to research the work an organization does, and then be ready to talk about and complement their success. Organizations will be more inclined to enter into a relationship with you if you show you've already spent time understanding how they achieve success. By already giving of your own time to learn about the organization, they will feel better about giving up their time to learn about you.
   

3. Accept that some people really don't want to talk to you. If you have done the research, mentioned the things you admire about a person or organization, and they're still not interested in engaging with you, then it's time to move on. Just like in busking, there are finite hours in the day, and forcing engagement from those that aren't interested is a waste of your time and energy. Never take this kind of rejection personally. Both people and organizations have multiple unknown motives, and a choice not to engage with you or your campaign can have little to do with you and everything to do with what is driving them at that particular moment.

Ultimately, using the above techniques helped me have one of the best recruitment rates for any of the campaign workers in my area. By employing them when doing one-on-one or organizational recruitment, you can help increase your likelihood of success.

The minimum clothing required for campaigning outside in Chicago winters.