Preparing Now for Election Outcomes: A Quick Guide & Checklist
The countdown is on—we’re now less than two months away from the 2024 election. No matter the outcome, your organization needs to be prepared! Instead of being caught off guard, we have the opportunity to plan ahead thoughtfully.
We developed this quick guide—and accompanying checklist—to ensure you’re prepared for any outcome.
Taking these proactive steps now allows us to remain grounded in our values and boldly advance our visions, no matter what happens on November 6th and beyond.
Let’s get started.
1. Map Your Scenarios
Scenario planning is an effective tool to help you see the future, or at least imagine what’s coming so you can plan for various possible futures.
Think through all the various possible outcomes that might affect your organization’s ability to achieve your mission. That might include the outcome of the federal elections, and/or key state or local ballot measures. It might also include the outcomes of key state and local races for Governor, Mayor, School Board, or Library Commission. For nonprofits, there are many players who have power over the policy and funding environments that determine our ability to succeed. Take note of them all.
2. Craft Your Conditional Statements, Driven by Unconditional Values
With all the scenarios laid out in front of you, you can begin to draft your responses to the full range of possible outcomes.
As with all messaging, your statement should be grounded in the deeply held values that guide your mission. Lean into the bold, principled statement of values that guide your mission every day–and will continue to do so regardless of who wins elected office.
Draw on your “no matter whats.” Clearly name the values, principles and policies you will always reinforce no matter what. Name and elevate the people you work for every day, no matter what. Outline the policy demands you will advance in the first 100 days no matter who wins.
You should have those responses drafted well before Election Day, with full knowledge that you will very likely need to alter and adapt in real time. Prepare now, and plan for adaptation and updates as outcomes become clear.
3. Align Your Choir
Many of our organizations work in formation with allies, partners and networks–formal and informal alike. Who should be counted among the choir of aligned voices to carry your message? Start thinking now about how to inform and align them. Consider hosting a briefing on your policy positions and your message playbook. Hold time on people’s calendars now.
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4. Monitor for Misinformation and Disinformation
Part of the work of advancing your message is also of course countering misformation and disinformation, which is predicted to run rampant in this election cycle. Monitor your news feeds, your social media feeds, and even water-cooler musings among your volunteers for accurate information. Step in to supply it when it’s lacking; aggressively interrupt it when it’s false. Our colleagues at ReFrame offer Six Action Steps Nonprofits Can Take to Defang Disinformation.
5. Be Prepared to Be Surprised
As we learned the hard way in 2016, surprises happen. We may not know the outcomes when the polls close on Election Day– it could take days or weeks to call certain federal, state or local outcomes. So stay tuned to the news, practice patience, and remain flexible in your plans but steadfast in your values until the moment is right to advance your message. Consider crafting values-driven holding statements that your organization and your allies can rely on until outcomes are clear.
It’s also a very real possibility that we may face not just uncertain outcomes, but some ugly surprises as well. There may be violence in hotly-contested precincts during early voting or on Election Day. If you’re working on get-out-the-vote efforts in such precincts, have a plan: both for the security of your staff and volunteers, and for the veracity and ferocity of your message.
Indeed it’s also possible that we see disruption or violence at the national scale, just as at the Trump rally earlier this month. Research Collaborative and ASO Communications offer smart, durable messaging suggestions to speak out against political violence. And The National Task Force on Election Crises is a sound source of information on such events and offers useful guidance and talking points on the topic of free, fair and safe elections and the peaceful transfer or continuation of power.
6. Develop Your Agenda for the Transition + First 100 Days
You might be so focused on get-out-the-vote efforts now through November that you’re not even thinking about the transition period. But folks like Project 2025 sure are. According to Wikipedia, since 2022 they’ve been building a collection of policy proposals to fundamentally reshape the U.S. federal government in the event of a Republican victory in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. These proposed policies will have real consequences for the communities we care about; read them now and understand the threats they pose to your mission-driven work. And plan like hell to be prepared to fight them.
Even before the winners are sworn into their official duties, national, state, and local policy agendas are formed; early legislation and executive actions are queued up on deck. How will those early policy moves affect your people, your mission, and your funding?
Anticipate now what might be required of your organization in the earliest days following the election. Our suggestion for the transition period and the first 100 days is to Go Big for Your Boldest Vision.
Further Resources:
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