Getting students to vote for you

There is no right or wrong way to campaign, they come in all shapes and sizes. The main thing is to be creative and bold coming up with an interesting what that tells people who you are and why they should vote for you.

Here’s some effective campaigning tips to get you started:

• Submit a clear 50-word statement and manifesto as part of your nomination – this is the easiest way to get your key messages out to thousands of voters
• Use a consistent name and photo across your nomination and promotional materials, so it’s easy for students to recognise you
• Make a plan for your campaign – when and where will you campaign to reach as many students as possible?
• Ask your friends to help you – it’s much more fun to campaign if you have friends around to support you

Campaigning in person is a really good place to reach lots of students in a short time.

Let’s look at some top tips for a successful on-campus campaign:

• Be consistent with your elections design across different platforms – for example, you can select a specific colour or use the same fonts across all your materials (online and printed materials) to ensure students recognise your campaign.
• Have a mix of promotional materials. Many candidates spend some of their budget on posters, but you can also have leaflets, business cards, badges, stickers and other materials.
• Be where students are! Consider where your target group are going to be on campus. The Garrod building (at the Whitechapel Campus) and Library Square (at the Mile End campus) aregreat places to start your campaign, but don’t limit yourself to these areas.
• Be prepared to introduce yourself and your ideas very quickly. Students might not have a lot of time to listen to your pitch, so you may find it helpful to prepare a 10-second pitch that you can use if people are in a hurry. And don’t forget to mention your name and the role you are running for – otherwise students will not be able to find you on the elections system.
• Ask your lecturers for permission to do a lecture shout-out.
• Don’t take it personally if someone ignores you or doesn’t want to hear about your ideas.

Online campaigning allows you to reach students that may not see your on-campus campaign, so it’s a good idea to use a mix of online and on-campus campaigning.

Here are our top tips for online campaigning:

• Use different social media platforms to reach different students. Not all students use the same platforms, so don’t rely on one social media platform to get your message out.
• Create a coherent brand that is easy to recognise across different platforms. You can consider things like your font, colours, slogan etc. If your campaign has a clear brand, it will make you stand out, and students will recognise your campaign across different platforms.
• Give students an opportunity to interact with your campaign. Organise a virtual Q&A, create a virtual badge that people can show on their social media accounts to show their support or create content that supporters can reshare.

Ask your friends and campaigning team to reshare your social media content, so you can tap into their networks.

To help you with your campaign, we’ll invite all candidates to the Campaigning Kick-Off event, where there’ll be some freebies and campaigning advice (if you can’t make it, we can arrange that you can collect your freebies another time instead).

The Students’ Union will do lots of general promotion to raise awareness about the elections and encourage students to vote. We’ll also share information about the candidates, but when we do this, we always include all candidates for the same position (so for example, we may share a social media post that includes the names of all candidates for President). Students’ Union staff must remain neutral during the elections, so we’re not going to promote individual candidates or tell students to vote for specific candidates.

We’re also working with schools and teams within the University to get them to help with the promotion. You may also be contacted by Student Media. It is completely optional for you to engage with schools, Student Media and the Students’ Union’s promotion initiatives, but we encourage you to make the most of these opportunities.We also organise events and debates to make students aware of the elections. We’ll contact candidates directly with more information about the events and debates and how to get involved.

No – we always encourage you to have a team of friends around to support you! Having a support system in place can help you and your campaign. Friends can help spread the message about your campaign more widely, so you’re likely to have a bigger reach. They can also be an important source of emotional support and encouragement – if you’re feeling tired or stressed, a friendly smile and some encouraging words can make a big difference!

Your campaign team might include:

• Friends or housemates
• People you know from your course
• Friends from a student group or activity you’re involved in

Once you have put together a campaign team, it’s a good idea to coordinate with everyone to make sure they are on the same page. Some top tips are:

• Thank them! Your campaign team are offering their own time and effort in order to help you get elected, so it’s important to thank them for their support.
• Brief them on your manifesto, explaining what your key priorities and policies are and why students should vote for you.
• Check what support they can offer. Will they run your social media accounts? Proofread your manifesto? Can they record a video in support of you? It’s important to plan ahead, especially as they may have other commitments.
• Go through the election rules together. You are responsible for your supporters’ conduct as well as your own, so it can have consequences for you if a complaint is made about one of them.

Note on student group involvement in elections

Please note that affiliated student groups (including Students’ Union societies, clubs, volunteering groups and student media outlets) are not allowed to endorse candidates. If any of your supporters also have a role within a student group, you must make sure that it is clear they are endorsing you as an individual and not in the capacity of their role. They also must not use student group social media accounts or resources to help your campaign.

Running as a slate

You can choose to run in the elections as part of a ‘slate’ – this involves a group of candidates campaigning together under a common campaign name, which also appears on the ballot. If you are running as a slate, you will need to agree on a name with the other candidates and include this when submitting the nomination form. A slate cannot have more than one candidate for each position. If you are part of a slate, you may share publicity and campaign for each other, however, in the interest of fairness, the candidate budget is reduced for each additional person who is part of the slate (see 'Is there a budget available?’ below for details).

Yes! In the interest of fairness, there’s a candidate budget. This is the maximum amount that you are allowed to spend on your campaign – even if you are willing to spend more of your own money, you are not permitted to exceed the budget.

Candidates for the Executive Officer positions have a £100 campaigning budget each. If you are on a slate, your budget is reduced (two candidates have a total of £150, three candidates have a total of £175 and four or more candidates have an additional £25 per candidate).

Candidates for the Student Representative positions and Student Trustee positions have a £50 campaigning budget each. If you are on a slate, your budget is reduced (two candidates have a total of £75, three candidates have a total of £87.50 and four or more candidates have an additional £12.50 per candidate).

The Students' Union will normally reimburse 50% of your candidate budget (so for example, if your budget is £50 you can be reimbursed up to £25).

You must keep all your receipts and keep a log of all your expenditure. To be reimbursed, you will need to submit an Expense Claim Form with your bank details along with the receipts for any purchases you would like to be reimbursed for. Candidates who are elected will also be required to submit an Expenditure Form to show that they have not exceeded the maximum budget.

If you plan to use any items that you already own when campaigning, you will need to value them using a minimum value list available from su-elections@qmul.ac.uk. Items you already own cannot be reimbursed. If you purchased an item outside the UK, you will need to find a quote from a UK supplier showing what the value would be if it was purchased in the UK. If you are unsure of how to value an item, you can contact us at su-elections@qmul.ac.uk.