BOOK REVIEW: Constituent Relationship Management: The New Little Black Book in Politics

Wow. What a difference a week makes. As you might recall, I spent last Wednesday's post reviewing MoveOn.org's 50 Ways to Love Your Country, a handbook designed for political laypeople and would-be weekend activists everywhere. This week, I present: the polar opposite.

While MoveOn's book was great for energized citizens looking to begin their life as political activists, it lacked teeth when it came to actual, on-the-ground political tech strategy. That's where the the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet comes in. In their series of free reports (available here, naturally), they cater to exactly the opposite audience that MoveOn's book is designed for. These documents are for people who are interested in the inner workings of political and activist organizations, especially when it comes to technological impact. In other words, they're not what you might describe as "light reading".

The insider approach works well for the task at hand, though. While I lack the required organizing experience needed to understand some of the finer points the report tries to get at, I'm familiar enough with the general "state of the state" to appreciate the arguments on a macro level.

When it comes down to it, it seems that organizations and campaigns have two choices when it comes to constituent relationship management (CRM). They can either treat their targeted audience/volunteers as piece of a business plan or broadcast model, or they can use the tools available to identify and build actual working relationships with the most dedicated volunteers. Clearly, the IPDI document favors the second option, and sets out to provide strategies and examples of how new software can be leveraged into campaign success.

The one conclusion that I found disheartening was the realiities of use and acceptance of online CRM systems. The report basically concludes that the vast majority of political campaigns or organizations have very little incentive to switch to newer, more innovative CRM means. That leaves underdogs and fringe candidates as the typical ideal adopters. While this still leaves developers with a fertile proving ground, it would be nice to see what kinds of advances might be made in an arena that was less disposed to change resistance.

In the end, I have a feeling that I'm going to get very familiar with IPDI's reports in the weeks to come. I have two more on tap for class, and am eyeing a third that looks like interesting... leisure reading.

Jesus, I really am a grad student, no?