If you are considering a run for local or state office, you may not know where to start. From planning your campaign to getting out the vote, there is a lot to learn.
There is more help than ever available for political candidates and potential candidates. If you are new to politics, as a candidate or staffer, you are probably overwhelmed with questions. So, it’s a good idea to become educated about the election process, what it takes to win, and how to effectively lead.
With the help of online training programs, political candidates and professionals can educate themselves on all aspects of running for office. The courses listed below focus on the skills needed in order to run a successful campaign and public speaking.
Some courses are offered through organizations like EMILY’s List, which provides information specifically for female candidates. Other organizations offer courses geared toward other types of candidates. While most candidate training has a non-partisan curriculum, some programs are only for Republican or Democratic candidates. They may also be geared toward conservatives or progressives. Some even offer certificates of completion.
Most of these training courses for candidates are free. A few require payment. Check the requirements before you register.
Please note that we do not endorse any of the material or organizations. This campaigning training list is provided for informational purposes.
Political Training Programs and Courses
American Majority: Non-partisan, nonprofit that continually trains, organizes, mobilizes, and equips new grassroots conservative leaders. Offers in person and online.
Arena: Provides training to aspiring campaign staff, with a focus on recruiting and supporting women, people of color, and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Offers Arena Academies, a five-day intensive web program.
Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies (APAICS): A national non-partisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting Asian Pacific American participation and representation at all levels of the political process, from community service to elected office. Focus is on developing leadership, building public policy knowledge, and filling the political pipeline for Asian Pacific Americans to pursue public office at the local, state, and federal levels.
Blue Institute: Focusing on the South and Southwest, the Blue Institute works to bring more young people of color to become leaders, strategists, and key staff members of progressive electoral campaigns and organizations.
Collective PAC: Mission is to build Black political power through educating and equipping voters, donors and candidates with instruction, technical assistance, advertising and fundraising. Working to fix the challenge of under-representation of the Black community in elected seats of power throughout the nation.
Dare to Run: Offers women candidates the chance to participate in a one-year certificate program in pursuit of a career path in public service. Dare to Run gives women the opportunity to be a voice for their communities by committing to run campaigns in search of elected office within two years of graduation.
Democracy for America (DFA): Building and empowering a broad coalition of grassroots organizers to elect the New American Majority – people of color and white progressives – to fight for inclusive populism at all levels of government in all 50 states. Offers online and in-person coaching. Founded by Howard Dean in 2004.
Elevate: Campaign Training for People with Disabilities: Helps people with disabilities learn how they can run for to represent their community. Offers a series of webinars that teach core campaigning skills.
Emerge America: Recruits, instructs and provides a powerful network to Democratic women who want to run for office. Offers a number of boot camp and longer educational opportunities.
Emily’s List: Helps train Democratic women. The Ignite Change Fellowship is an eight-week virtual instruction initiative designed for community leaders, organizers, and advocates to develop their political skills and confidence.
Federal Election Commission: Each year, the FEC hosts two-day regional conferences where Commissioners and staff conduct a variety of technical workshops on the law. Discussion topics include fundraising, reporting and communications. Workshops are for those seeking an introduction to the basic provisions of the law as well as for those more experienced in campaign finance law. Paid.
Higher Heights for America: National organization providing Black women with a political home exclusively dedicated to harnessing their power to expand Black women’s elected representation and voting participation, and advance progressive policies.
IGNITE: Launched in 2010 to address the lack of women in elected positions. Hosts online events and schooling to accelerate young women’s path to political power.
National Democratic Training Committee: Free, in-depth training for Democrats who want to run, work, or volunteer on campaigns.
National Women’s Political Caucus: Supports pro-choice women running for elected and appointed office. Chapters include audio modules along with downloadable materials and worksheets. Fee required for non-members.
Online Candidate Resources – Provides an article series, resources and tools focusing on digital campaigning. Non-partisan, free access for Online Candidate website clients.
Ready to Run: A national network of non-partisan programs to encourage women to run for elective office, position themselves for appointive office, work on a campaign, or get involved in public life in other ways. The national network of Ready to Run® programs includes partners in more than 20 states around the country.
Re:Power: Originally Wellstone Action. Provides coaching, facilitation, campaigning, and capacity building. Offers long-term technology skills building, support, and guidance around digital organizing, engineering, digital security, and data and analytics for campaigns and grassroots movements. Applicants must be approved.
Running Start: Nonpartisan nonprofit that trains young women to run for government. With over 100 programs across the country, they’ve trained over 20,000 women. For high school and college-level students.
She Should Run: Road to Run is a virtual event series that provides women a starting place for considering and exploring a future run as well as a baseline knowledge of what goes into campaigning.
Women’s Public Leadership Network: With an online network of state-based partners, their mission is to educate, organize, and inspire women to seek public office.
The Campaign School at Yale: Mission is to increase the number and influence of women in elected and appointed office in the United States and around the globe. Provides a nonpartisan, issue-neutral political campaign-training courses. Tuition required for live online session.
Resources for teachers: Selected articles for educators.
The future of political campaigns involves more than just door-to-door campaigning. With the rise of social media, it has become easier for campaigns to generate publicity and connect with potential voters. This has led many campaigns to focus on different aspects of the candidate’s personality, like charisma or intelligence, in order to make them seem more likable or trustworthy.
We hope this list of campaign training resources useful. Online opportunities are not the only way to get political training. There are many other opportunities for candidates to get this type of education in-person or through more intensive programs that focus on just one aspect of campaigning.
Related: What Are Easiest Political Offices To Run For?
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