Planning your campaign
Look at your manifesto, which students do you think will care most about those issues, think then about how will be best to reach them. Plan using SMART Goals – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time–Bound. A good campaign will be well thought out around key dates and activities, so make sure you do the prepatory work to make it the best it can be.
Your Brand
Part of your strategy may include creating a personal brand. Think about what your brand is and how this can be reflected in your campaign. Make it identifiable and clear and then stick to it, creating brand recognition with all your campaign material.
Campaign team
A crucial part of a successful campaign is a team that will help you spread the word. You can ask your housemates, friends from your course, or friends from student groups you are involved in. The more people who are supporting and promoting your campaign, the more students will know who you are and why they should vote for you. It is important that your campaign team are familiar with your manifesto and the rules as you will be accountable for their actions.
Your campaign team can help you with loads of things from in-person campaigning to design.
Physical Campaigning
Physical campaigning might seem daunting, but it is one of the most important parts of the election, you will want to think about how you are going to navigate this.
A good place to start is simply talking to students by going into some of the social areas on campus and politely asking if you can have a quick chat. Chat to your course mates, housemates, and the person you met that one time, and ask them to talk to their friends and get the word out.
Please bear in mind there will be campaign free and poster free zones, these will include the Library and vicinity of the polling stations, further areas may be defined by the Returning Officer.
Physical Campaigning
Candidates may not campaign in designated Campaign Free Zones, Campaign Free Zones shall include:
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The Library
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The vicinity of any polling stations
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Learning Lounge
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Prayer Spaces
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Further campaign free zones may be defined by the Returning Officer and shall be communicated with all candidates.
Design
Designing engaging material is now really easy with tools like Canva, if you’re not sure how to use it there are free courses on LinkedIn Learning. Make sure whatever you create matches your brand! Our recommendation is to:
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Keep the poster in line with your brand
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Don’t overcomplicate your design
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It should include your name, a photo, key policies and slogans
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Get someone to proof read it
Social Media
Using social media is a great way to promote yourself but use Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn or Snapchat. Think about which platforms would target the students you want to vote for you and where you would be most likely to get high engagement.
Consider if you will want to use the social media accounts you already have set up or if you will want to create election specific social media accounts. There are pros and cons to each; with new accounts you’ll need to build up followers in a relatively short time frame but also consider your privacy on existing personal accounts if you open them up to new followers and the student population. Also think about your digital footprint and what you’ve posted and been tagged in in the past!
Examples of how you could use social media:
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e-posters and other graphic design elements
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videos (including easy to do animation)
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websites, blogs and podcasts
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sponsored posts
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direct messaging
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hosting lives
Society and Sports Teams Endorsements
Clubs and Societies that are registered with SOAS SU are able to endorse a candidate or multiple candidates. This can help you secure additional votes, however you should me mindful of the rules surrouding endorsements.
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In order to endorse there must be a democratic decision. This decision can be made by a majority vote of the committee or of the club or society members. This process must happen prior to an endorsement being made. If a committee member is also a candidate they must abstain from voting in this process.
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Candidates must not start to seek endorsements until the commencement of the campaigning period and therefore no endorsement can be made prior to the campaigning period.
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Clubs and Societies that have not endorsed a candidate or set of candidates must ensure equal access to the Society/Sports Team at all times.
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Societies and Sports Teams that have endorsed a specific candidate or set of candidates must not use society budgets towards campaigning activity. All expenses must be allocated within the candidate's budget
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Societies and Sports Team may inform their members of their decision to endorse a candidate by creating a graphic using their society's branding on social media, however, this branding should not form part of the candidate's campaign material, nor should any physical material be produced.
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Societies and Sports Team may also notify their members of their endorsement via email and encourage students to vote in the elections, however, these emailing lists must not be used for broader campaigning activities on behalf of a specific candidate.
Candidates Budget
Candidates must not exceed their allotted budget. The budgets are as follows:
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Sabbatical Officer Candidates £20
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Preferenda Portfolio Officer £10
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NUS Conference Delegate roles £10
Where a candidate is contesting more than one role the candidate shall be entitled to the budget of the role that receives the highest budget amount.
Any products/services that candidates already own or are offered at a reduced price will be assigned a fair price to be deducted from the candidates' budget.
Candidates must submit their Expenses Declaration no later than the close of voting, including those who did not spend anything as a part of their campaign. The Expenses Declaration must include proof of expense of all campaign materials produced or primarily used in this election.
Candidates shall be reimbursed by SOAS SU following the approval of their Expenses Declaration.
Assignment of a Fair Price (nominal fees)
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A4 Black & White | Single sided: 3p
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A4 Black & White | Double sided: 5p
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A4 Colour | Single sided: 15p
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A4 Colour | Double sided: 25p
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A3 Black & White | Single sided: 6p
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A3 Colour | Single sided: 25p
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Bed sheet for decorating: £1
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Plain T-shirt for decorating: £1
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Art equipment (colouring pens, paints, etc.): £2
Items that you use for free, that could reasonably be used by other students will not receive a nominal fee, for example if you conducted a recycling audit, or found an old cardboard box.
If you have any questions about nominal fees please contact the Elections Clerk.
Candidate Expenses Tracker
Expenses Declaration Form