Thank You Letters After Election

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Americans from all walks of life volunteer in this election.

Before coins called money over-turned traditional ways, all societies had ways of saying thank you. In Africa, the basket or container that brought you a gift: yams, okra, corn, pumpkin or mango had to go back to the owner. You did not return it empty. It went back with something: wild blue berries, sweet potatoes (bhatata), banana, hot corn bread or papaya.

Fast forward to the 5 November presidential election. Campaign offices in all 50 U.S. are still busy helping voters online, knocking on doors, on the phone and welcoming visitors to the campaign office. Early voting took off like rocket but 5 November, the big day is nine days away.

However, campaign offices are being pro-active. They are thinking about after the election. How will they thank volunteers and businesses they worked with during the campaign? By business we mean people who supplied the air conditioning, milk, rented furniture, rented cars, tents, water, food, furniture and everything the campaign office used. Guess what?  We don’t know whether they are Democrat or Republic. It doesn't matter. It was business and that is the beauty of America. Business is business. Campaign offices are good for the town economy.

Thank You Letters

The Harris/Walz campaign has standard signage that is used in posters, T-shirts, lawn signs everything, but it will be campaign offices that will decide how they would thank volunteers. A thank you letter, sent by group e-mail is fine I guess but it is impersonal. It doesn’t make the individual volunteer feel special. Will it be T-shirts or coffee mugs? Will campaign offices set up a formal photo shoot with a professional photographer, in one of the rooms or the garden? The volunteer’s photo with ‘2024’ burnt in, will be framed so that he/she could put it on the mantel or desk.

Co-chairs of the national campaign will have their own ‘thank you’ strategies, but local campaign offices will be the best, because they will incorporate their little city, little county. Creativity is the key in crafting ‘thank you’ strategies.

Nonqaba waka Msimang

Blogger Without Borders

 

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