Anatomy of an Open Space Referendum Triumph
Many thought a $75 million referendum for open space in conservative DuPage County had no chance. But the so-called "miraculous" happened on November 4, 1997.
BY KAAREN SABEY OLDFIELD,
BROOK MCDONALD AND
WILLIAM WEIDNER

It has been several months since the landmark referendum victory to purchase $75 million of open space for the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. In a county of nearly 1 million people, only 66,000 votes were cast in the November 4, 1997, election: 38,000 for open space, 28,000 against. While few votes were cast, the campaign committee "Neighbors for Open Space" won by 10,000 votes.

This was considered close to miraculous by many who thought the referendum would fail in such a conservative county like DuPage. The committee never doubted it would pass if it could communicate the referendum's "value" to the voters. This meant creating a meaningful message and delivering that message through a cost-effective, well-executed strategic plan.

While each referendum campaign and geographic area are different, some basic principles should be applied to all campaigns.

1. Organize the Campaign Committee
Chose your key people (advertising agency, mail list expert, campaign manager, finance chairman, endorsers, etc.) early. For the forest preserve's referendum, the Conservation Foundation took the leadership role in organizing the campaign. The Conservation Foundation, a private, not-for-profit organization based in Wheaton, created the campaign committee (Neighbors for Open Space), helped coordinate research, lined up endorsers and provided major financial support for the campaign. This all takes time and leg work.

The campaign was fortunate to have additional consultation from The Trust for Public Land, OpenLands Project and The Nature Conservancy. The Trust for Public Land helped pay for and coordinate the poll survey on which the entire campaign strategy was based.

2. Find Your "Yes" Voters
First and foremost, start with a survey of the market you will be trying to persuade to vote "yes." What are the voters concerned about and how will the passage of a referendum affect them? Once you have those results, tabulate them in order of priority and then create the campaign message. This was the foundation of the Neighbors for Open Space campaign.

Based on the survey, identify the people most and least likely to vote for your referendum. From this, create your target group. Our group included, but was not limited to, people who usually vote in school board elections, people with children in school and women. "No" voters were also identified and eliminated from mailings.

Make sure your survey is done well in advance and update it depending on changes in the targeted area. Our survey was done in July, four months before the November election.

3. Determine a Budget
While you can communicate to this target group in many ways (e.g., radio, television, newspapers and direct mail), the size of the group will depend on the amount of money available. This is why a budget is so important. The availability of money is directly related to the success of the campaign, especially in a heavily populated area.

Thus, fund-raising is important, and should be done early to guarantee money for direct mail and whatever other support advertising is used. One-to-one asking appears to be the best method of fund-

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raising. People who have an interest in the issue are the best resources, both for asking and giving. Our campaign raised and spent more than $60,000.

4. Stay "On Message"
Keep the message of the campaign simple, and make sure that everyone working with the campaign is staying "on message." For DuPage, this was accomplished by creating a list of "talking points" so that campaign committee members could refer to them often. We met weekly to discuss these points, news articles, comments and concerns and to maintain enthusiasm about the mission and importance of the referendum campaign.

Quality of life was a major concern of our target group. We focused on that and the fact that people in DuPage County have demonstrated a willingness to pay for that quality of life if they are getting value for their money (the benefit).

The surveyed audience indicated that taxes were a main concern. The referendum would obviously raise taxes. We didn't focus on that issue, but we didn't ignore it either. Our message was that by spending a little now for this property, we could save a lot later when the property would be developed and require services such as schools, fire and police. This was the "ultimate tax cap."

The audience also indicated a high level of trust in the forest preserve district regarding how their money was spent in past decisions. We emphasized that in our message.

5. Use Direct Mail
Direct mail was invaluable in getting the message across. It should be considered the key to the success of any campaign. Getting the message directly into

Photo Left Top: Campaign literature repeated the referendum message. Photo Left s Bottom: Students from Hinsdale South High School display their signs created at their school's environmental club work day for the open space campaign.

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SPECIAL FOCUS

Forge ahead with your plan, stay focused and on- track, and your referendum will be a winner.

the home is important because the voter faces an onslaught of messages daily.

6. Advertising Helps In the End
Newspaper advertising was used in the last week to support mailings. Ads were replicas of the brochure. Once again, continuous repetition of the same message was a key strategy. They included the endorsements of a congressman, state senator and state representative, all respected public servants who are noted for being fiscally conservative. A different approach might be necessary in a more liberal area, but you get the picture!

7. Be Open and Available to Media
While we never divulged our strategy to the press or our opponents, we always answered questions and appeared for interviews. We also scheduled editorial boards with area newspapers. We had several spokes people who handled most of the interviews and speaking engagements. We answered questions, but avoided any arguments with the "not persuadable" voter. We concentrated on getting the "yes" vote out. Once again, everyone had the same message, developed from the results of the survey.

8. Believers Make Great Volunteers
A particularly effective technique is involving volunteers who are already involved in conservation in some way. They are the "coals closest to the fire" and the most effective workers for the campaign (e.g., members of trails' projects, Audubon clubs, environmental groups, volunteers for the forest preserve district, etc.). For DuPage's referendum, it was important to communicate to volunteers that the campaign message must appeal to a broad group of people and not just special interest groups. We would be talking about traffic congestion and flooding, inconveniences that are experienced by everyone and not just about improving trails, rivers, forest preserves and wildlife habitat. By passing the referendum, all would benefit in some way.

One particularly valuable volunteer worked at the local access cable station and volunteered to produce a 30-minute promotional video. He secured interviews with key elected officials who supported the referendum and ordinary citizens who gave testimonies on why it was important to support it. He successfully obtained numerous time slots on cable stations throughout DuPage County starting two weeks before the vote.

9. Get Out the Vote Via Phone
For the phone campaign, the phone list was taken from the mailing list and was used to qualify the "yes" vote. It was another way to remind the people

whom we thought would be voting "yes" to do just that. Those people received the most reinforcement of our message. While the phone campaign wouldn't work alone, it was a positive force and its impact couldn't be measured by the opposition. It was also a chance to encourage the "yes" voters to help "get out the vote" by talking to their friends and neighbors. Word-of-mouth is still the best advertising.

10. Directly Involve the Public Agency
Cooperation from the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County was key to the success of the referendum. As referendum sponsor, the district was challenged to communicate its value to voters in a clear, concise and factual manner. As a tax-supported agency, it would be scrutinized by concerned citizens and a press eager to report controversy.

The districts legal counsel advised that it would be improper for staff to promote the open space bond referendum while at work or on duty. Spending taxpayer money to develop promotional literature and advertisements supporting such a partisan effort is also prohibited. However, the agency is not prohibited from spending public funds to disseminate factual information relative to the referendum.

With a total budget of $5,500, the district printed an informational brochure with attractive color photos of woods, waters and people enjoying natural areas and trails. The brochure echoed talking points of the campaign and focused on quality of life issues in a factual way. Printing and distribution of the factual brochure was timed to coincide with the mailing of the district's quarterly newsletter to 30,000 households and was included as an insert at no additional postage costs. We surmised that the subscribers to this publication were supporters of the district and, thus, the referendum. The brochure was also distributed at speaking engagements, special events and on brochure racks at district administrative offices, educational facilities and golf courses.

Once you get your campaign organized and you have your time line (at least six months ahead), get started, stay positive, and don't be deterred by setbacks or negatives. Forge ahead with your plan, stay focused and on-track, and your referendum will be a winner. 

KAAREN SABEY OLDFIELD
was the campaign director for Neighbors for Open Space and is president, Oldfield & Associates, Inc., 2021 Midwest Rd., Oak Brook, II 60523, 630. 495.3377.

BROOK MCDONALD
is executive director for The Conservation Foundation, 703 Warrenville Road, Wheaton, IL 60187, 630.682.3505 [after May 1, 1998, 630.428.4500].

WILLIAM WEIDNER
is public affairs director of the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County, P.O. Box 2339, Glen Ellyn, II 60138, 630.942.6051.

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