Strengthening Our Foundation
for the Next Election
“Build to Win. Build to Last.”
March, 2015
Dear DFL Leader,
Wherever I go, people comment on the strength of our DFL party and the quality of our
elected officials who stay true to their progressive beliefs. When I thank people for their
kind words, I know that I am accepting their praise on your behalf.
DFL Chair Ken Martin
Without your deep commitment to the party and your hard work we would not have
been as successful as we were these past two election cycles. Our party is strong and
our elected officials are able to govern with the goal of opportunity for all because of
you. Your willingness to continue Minnesota’s long-standing grassroots tradition of civic
engagement makes our party a model for other state parties around the nation.
With the 2014 election in our rear-view mirror, it is now important to turn our attention
to the upcoming election and how we build the party in the coming months towards
victory in 2016. In fact, the day after last November’s election the DFL started preparing
for the 2016 campaign.
To that end, our priority as a party must be on building long-term political infrastructure
which helps us maintain the Senate Majority, reclaim the House Majority and keep
Minnesota blue for our Democratic Presidential nominee. One eye must be squarely
focused on winning these battles in 2016 and the other eye focused on the long-term
strategy – a belief encapsulated in our motto “Build to Win, Build to Last.”
In 2013 we implemented an innovative plan to use the off-year to build infrastructure
throughout the state. With a goal of energizing our volunteers and preparing for the 2014
election, we spent the year focusing on building up local party units, communication
and fundraising. By turning on the off year we were able to buck the national trend that
saw Democrats lose up and down the ballot this past election. Thanks to your help,
Minnesota was noted nationally for remaining blue in a sea of red.
To accomplish our goals, we need to continue to build the infrastructure this off-year.
We need your help in 2015 to be prepared for the 2016 elections. Attached is the
2015 10-Point Plan which we ask each of you to help implement in your organizing
unit. For some party units, the plan laid out will be very doable and for others seem
very ambitious. Whatever pieces of this plan you can commit to will help us build our
party for the future.
Thank you in advance for your work on behalf of our DFL party and our candidates. I
look forward to our work together to build our party.
All my best,
Ken Martin
DFL Party Chair
The 2015 Ten Point Plan
 Identify 10% of unknown/no data voters in the Voter File.
We have a robust Voter File here in Minnesota, but we need to constantly add to our information
to make sure that the information is fresh, accurate, and useful. Your work to identify voters will
make door knocking and phoning more efficient and save valuable resources in an election year.
Knowing our target audiences will assure that we are reaching base and persuadable voters open
to our DFL message of progress.
 Appoint a Candidate Development and Recruitment Coordinator.
While it takes special skills to be a candidate, behind every successful candidate is a team who
believed in her from the beginning. We need every unit to appoint a Candidate Development
& Recruitment Coordinator who will work on identifying and developing candidates to run for
offices throughout their organizing unit, including often overlooked local government positions.
This person will work directly with the PROJECT LEAD (Leadership, Education and Development)
steering committee to identify short-term, intermediate, and long-term candidate prospects.
 Appoint a Communication Coordinator.
The Communication Coordinator leads each local unit’s communication efforts, both internally
and externally. Communication Coordinators keep on top of what our DFL leaders are doing
to improve the economy, create jobs and invest in education, and operate at the hub of
communication activity. Communication Coordinators receive daily and weekly emails from the DFL
Communication Director to be shared with their local units and to be used for letters to the editor
and social media posts. Communication Coordinators are responsible for getting out messages
from our elected officials, candidates, and the party through various communications channels.
 Send at least one person to the DFL Training Summit or Regional
Training Programs.
DFL party leaders, activists, campaign staff and candidates gather in odd-number years for the DFL
Training Summit to hear from nationally-recognized speakers and political experts. The keynote
presentation and breakout session provide both practical and motivational training to prepare us to
be powered up and ready to win! By having representation from every local unit, we can be assured
that the valuable training & tools are shared with activists in every part of the state.
 Conduct at least one targeted absentee ballot registration canvass.
Minnesota now offers No Excuse Absentee voting. For the first time ever, voters do not have to
provide an excuse for voting by mail or in person prior to Election Day. To help the DFL reach
voters who would most benefit from voting absentee, each unit should hold an absentee ballot
registration canvass. We had tremendous success in 2014 in getting hard-to-reach voters to
participate in the election through No Excuse Absentee voting. The easier it is to vote, the more
people will vote. And the more people who vote, the more DFLers will win.
 Establish and maintain an active local unit website, Facebook
and Twitter presence.
Websites, Facebook pages and Twitter accounts for local units are no longer “nice to haves,” they
are “have to haves.” More and more people are using online resources to not only get information
but also finding ways to take action. It is critical that we have all of our organizing units establish
and maintain website, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. The DFL Party has invested in a website
platform that allows our local units to set up a modern website that includes up-to-date tools,
including a secure contribution page, all free of charge to the local unit. In addition we provide
trainings to local units on social media and digital organizing techniques which help keep units
up to date on how to best use Twitter, Facebook and other online resources.
 Establish and hold an annual fundraising event.
Local fundraisers such as house parties, picnics, and other events are vital to any campaign or
political organization. Fundraising events not only help raise money to support local candidates
and build the party but also provide fun activities to galvanize participation. Having an annual
fundraiser with a specific theme (summer barbeque or fall picnic are great examples) each year will
create a sense of community and fill your coffers so that you are prepared for the upcoming election.
 Conduct a Local Day of Action with the DFL Day of Action Toolkit.
Part of the focus of this plan is to keep local volunteers who were active in the past election year
engaged in meaningful work in the off-year. We have discovered that we lose volunteers by not
keeping them engaged early and often in the cycle. We need to find ways to keep the energy
created in the past election going year round. One of the ways we can keep an active and engaged
volunteer base is to participate in Days of Actions. The DFL will develop a toolkit to help you plan
for a successful Day of Action which might include activities like hosting a house party, canvassing
persuadable voters, community service, etc.
 Participate in monthly Train to Win DFL Conference Calls.
As part of our continued commitment to equipping our party leaders with the tools necessary
to build the party and win elections the State DFL will be conducting monthly trainings via
Conference Call and Webinars on a variety of different subject matters. These trainings – “Train
to Win” will kick off this summer and will provide opportunities for people throughout the state
to participate in our in-depth training programs. By participating in these Train to Win calls, local
DFL leaders will get the information and guidance they need to make them more confident and
effective leaders as we prepare for another important election year.
 Complete the DFL 2015 Organizing Unit Survey.
In an effort to have strong organizing units across the state, the 2015 Organizing Unit Survey
will help the DFL identify the strength and weaknesses of our party infrastructure throughout
the state. This information will be used to provide the resources necessary to help local units be
successful. We have to look at our party infrastructure with a critical eye to make sure that we have
high functioning organizing units in all parts of the state. The DFL has a long-standing tradition of
grassroots involvement and our future success depends on strengthening our local units now.
Prepared and paid for by the Minnesota DFL, Ken Martin, Chair. www.DFL.org. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.