Running a Successful Student Government Campaign

In the dog eat dog world of high school, only a few things are certain: a) that you’re going to be socially awkward all the time, and b) that your peers and classmates will be easily swayed. If you’re interested in pursuing a role in your school’s student government, that second idea is going to be very helpful. There are a multitude of reasons why you should consider joining student government, from looking great on college applications, to providing good practice in organizational leadership for your future. But regardless of the reason why you want to join, the fact remains that you need to be elected to get there. So if you need some guidance on how to run a successful student government campaign, look no further.

We’ve got you covered with this helpful guide:

Branding and Image Crafting

The first thing you should take care of when you’re planning to run for office is to nail down your brand and image. While high school involves a fair amount of image crafting regardless of whether or not you’re running for student body president, planning a campaign means you’ll need to more clearly, and more publicly outline your personality, your skills, and your aspirations.

While student government doesn’t really give you much authority in terms of making substantial changes to curriculum, you can serve as a valuable link between students and faculty, creating a more democratic environment in which everyone’s concerns are voiced. Try to find one area of change that you’d like to see and use that to begin building your campaign. Make sure you’re going with something reasonable like implementing a new honor code, and not something over the top that’ll never come to fruition.

Let Them Eat Cake

In terms of your actual campaigning, there is obviously the classic standard of making posters to place around your school to raise awareness of your candidacy. But just printing out a few posters isn’t going to get you very far. Announce your intentions to run over social media, and create a Facebook event with information about voting and your goals to achieve if elected. You can invite anyone you want, and they’ll have a quick point of reference to get to know you and your intentions.

If you want to go above and beyond to really get people on your side, try ordering your own custom t-shirts online from a site like RushOrderTees.com. You can customize the text and print you use to fit your image, and they’re inexpensive to order. Giving out branded t-shirts is a guaranteed way to win people over, and you’ll create a support base that visibly endorses you whenever they wear their new apparel.

Keep It Classy

One of the most important things you should remember when you’re running for student government is that you shouldn’t let your competitive streak get the best of you. While the temptation to denigrate your rival candidates might be high, you’re not going to benefit from appearing unfriendly or sporting a less than collegial attitude. In the end, it’s just a school election, you’re not going to the White House. At least not at this stage in your life. So try to remember to keep things light and make an effort, but don’t go overboard and create unnecessary drama where there needn’t be any.

If you follow these steps, you shouldn’t have any trouble getting the position you want in student government. Winning an election really is all about personal branding and having a few marketing tricks up your sleeve. Just like politics in the real world, the most important thing to tackle is getting people to like you. And you can do that easily by showing them your sensible goals, giving them a free t-shirt, and playing nice. If in the off chance, you don’t win your election, stay upbeat and look for other ways to volunteer, because there’s always something you can do to contribute.