Behind the Scenes of a Political Campaign

Internship Reflection

Fall 2023

By: Neena Mir

Interning for Ripple Effect Strategies as a campaign fundraising intern has been a beneficial learning experience for me. The four-month internship has given me a glimpse into the professional and political atmosphere. The internship was completely remote and the hours were very flexible. Ripple Effect Strategies is a finance-based organization created to help politicians across the nation raise money for their campaigns. Employees of the organization essentially put together a finance plan for political campaigns. They create fundraising events and manage host committees.

During my internship, I assisted Rob Lubin, running for the Democratic Party for the US House New York District 2 for the general election of 2024. Rob is a small business owner and entrepreneur with hopes to make New York an environment with easier economic opportunities. He strives to build a stronger economy for working individuals, end gun violence, tackle climate change, and lower healthcare costs. He is a native New Yorker who struggled growing up with the economic severities and healthcare system.

My daily tasks changed depending on what my supervisor, Carissa Kilbury needed that week. When I was first hired, I started by organizing files across different Google platforms with more than 2,000 contacts. I learned how to utilize different filters on Google Sheets to organize contact lists. In addition, I became proficient in how to organize information about campaign donors on an online software called CallTime.AI. 

CallTime.AI is a system the organization uses to keep track of campaign donors, which also includes information on donations they have given in the past. I was taught how to use different filters on the software to differentiate the contacts by occupation. Similarly, I organized and removed duplicate contacts on CallTime.AI, to help make the software easier to read.

One of my favorite aspects of the internship was fundraising by donor outreach calls. I was given a list at the beginning of the week of more than 200 prospective donors. I read off of a script and tried my best to connect with each donor. I took advantage of Google platforms such as Google Voice to call and message my contacts. 

Additionally, I was in charge of writing emails to send to donors. I wrote emails for special ocassioins like Giving Tuesday and end-of-the-month emails. I found resources online like Emily’s List, to write emails catered specifically to Rob’s audience. I was also in charge of writing texts, emails, and voicemail scripts to contribute to the campaign as well. I used different skills I have been taught in my journalism classes to successfully communicate with these donors. In addition, I was taught how to use Canva to better market Rob’s campaigning events which took place in New York City and the Long Island area.

Similarly, I was involved in call time with Rob, where I watched him communicate with his prospective donors. I was able to learn about him more, his values, and his motivations behind running for Congress. This was helpful for me while writing his emails because I was able to learn and observe the language style he uses, along with him as a person. My supervisor also asked me to participate in daily briefs. Daily briefs involved looking at three top news stories nationally, and then something from the district itself. I was able to take advantage of the news databases, provided by Stony Brook to write these briefs and report them to my supervisor and Rob Lubin.

Given the internship taught me numerous learning opportunities, I was presented with challenges as well. With my other commitments on campus, I often struggled with time management during the program. Throughout the semester, I found myself trying my best to balance my schoolwork, extracurriculars, and the internship. While handling different tasks and projects during the duration of the internship, I learned how important time management is to my professional and personal growth.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with Carissa and to be able to network with Rob Lubin along with the rest of the team. From the beginning, Carissa was very understanding and trained me on software, writing techniques, and programs we needed for the internship. I was able to improve my work with her feedback and I hope that I excelled in my role.

In terms of the future, my time at Ripple Effect helped me gain perspective on possible job opportunities within the industry. I was able to learn about positions within the company itself, that I am interested in. In addition, this was interesting to see how I can apply my passion for writing to my career moving forward.