Get Your Campaign Started

Decide how much you want to do.

Your Make the Difference ... Vote! campaign can be as simple as posting a sign on your bulletin board close to Election Day to encourage your employees to vote.  And, you should begin earlier, by reminding people to register to vote.

Decide whether you want to target just your employees or your customers and suppliers, too. If you have a number of branch plants, decide whether you will conduct a Make the Difference ...Vote! campaign at every location.

Plan a schedule.
Look at the  voter-registration deadlines on the state-by-state chart in this site. Then set a time frame for your company's activities. You may want to designate a Make the Difference ...Vote! Week or a Make the Difference ...Vote! Day. Or, you could distribute voter-education information on a more gradual basis throughout the entire election season.

Get other people involved.
Select Make the Difference ... Vote! coordinators to help you with your campaign. Ideally, these should be your top managers, or other individuals who have the respect of their fellow employees. If you have a number of branch plants, get your plant managers and operators to support Make the Difference ... Vote!

Review federal and state election laws.
It's important to conduct your Make the Difference ... Vote! campaign in a non-partisan manner. Do not encourage your employees to support specific candidates, parties or positions on issues, for example. See the summary of the  dos and don'ts of federal election law included in this site. State, city and county election laws vary and must be checked with your local board of elections or visit the Federal Election Commission at www.fec.gov.

Tell your employees about 'Make the Difference ... Vote!'
Once you decide what you want to do, let your employees know about it. Use one of your staff meetings, for example, to kick off your Make the Difference ... Vote! project. Emphasize how important the voting process is to you, to their families, to the company, to the country and to manufacturing.

Talk about the problem of voter apathy in the United States. Remind employees that in the 2000 presidential election, for example, the new president won by 309 votes.

Finally, stress that your Make the Difference ... Vote! campaign is totally non-partisan. Your goal is to encourage citizen involvement, not to promote a particular political philosophy.