Obtain a secure server (SSL) certificate for the https://www.lpmo.org/
website to be used for secure online transactions like the monthly
pledge and the membership applications.

Secure online transaction so monthly pledgers can easily manager their
own pledges.

Activists and volunteers can get a great deal done, but they are less effective if they get bogged down in routine administrative tasks. Routine tasks may fall through the cracks and not get done for long periods of time.

Our activists and volunteers can be more effective if we setup an office with a part-time administrative assistant who makes sure the routine administrative activities of the party get done.

Office Manager

The office manager will be responsible for the day to day office tasks necessary to keep the party organized and responsive. This position is non-political. The ideal candidate for this position would be an older, experienced office worker who would like to work part-time. It would be best if this person were not active politically.

State party officers delegate to the office manager routine duties and responsibilities and can assign special tasks. The office manager reports to the state party officers.

Duties and Responsibilities

Pick up mail.

Deposit checks, record in accounting software, record contributions in membership database.

Pay bills when authorized to do so and record in accounting software.

Record online contributions in accounting software and membership database.

Generate monthly financial reports for Executive Committee.

Send out prospect information packets. Add prospects to membership database.

Maintain events calendar on website.

Maintain media organization contact database.

Maintain inventory of office supplies, envelopes, letterhead, and literature.

Develop and maintain relationship with local printer for any printing needs.

Develop and maintain relationship with local bulk mailer. Perform bulk postal mailings as requested.

Document office procedures.

Make arrangements for monthly Executive Committee meeting location. Clean up Executive Committee agenda from Chair and send out. Write up Executive Committee meeting minutes from recording of meeting and send out for review. Post meeting minutes to the Executive Committee Meeting Agendas and Minutes page when approved.

Annually make the hotel/conference arrangements for the MOLP convention as directed by the State Convention Committee.

Send out membership cards.

If we decide to have an online store, fill and ship orders for products purchased online.

Office Location

The office should be centrally located in Missouri to minimize as much as possible the commute time for members to get to the office and so that it is close to the state capitol. Jefferson City and Columbia would work well.

Jefferson City works well for political activities, but we don't have any activists in Cole County.

Columbia is close to Jefferson City and has an active county party. Other things that could affect the selection are the cost of office space and cost and availability of other support services, such as printing and bulk mailing. 

Open a PO Box in Jefferson City and obtain a Business Reply Mail permit.

Candidates

The Missouri LP Officers and Executive Committee should not be seen as favoring one candidate over another in a contested race. As individuals, they can support a candidate, though this may not be a good idea for party officers.

That doesn't mean that the party can't try and recruit good candidates and promote all of our candidates equally. The harder we work to recruit good candidates and promote all of our candidates, the fewer problems we will have with people who are not very libertarian but want to use our ballot access or with candidates who may poorly represent the party. 

Building local/county libertarian party organizations

One method of finding local Libertarian or libertarian-leaning individuals is to view the records that national sends us in their monthly database dump. This will help identify people who have donated to the national LP in the past or have requested information from the party.

There are several ways to spread the Libertarian message in your local area without too much effort. Letters to the editor of local newspapers, especially on local efforts, can help you preach a different viewpoint than most people are hearing. Additionally, many newspapers are now offering online message forums, which offer a more immediate method to talk libertarianism with local citizens. Running a blog, especially on local issues, is another way to attract attention from those who are interested in your message. These methods can be used to find people interested in starting a county committee.

Obtain event insurance which can be used by both the State LP and Affiliates when we have a booth at an event which requires insurance. 

Build relationships with single issue organizations

Building relationships with single issue organizations and assisting them can help the party in the following ways:

* Show that Libertarians are working hard on issues of concern to Missourians.
* Provides opportunities to lead single issue activists to libertarianism and our party.
* Increase the pool of possible Libertarian candidates for office.
* Increase our vote totals on election day. 

Form a candidate recruitment committee six months prior to the date candidate filing starts. This would be in September of odd numbered years. The committee should have one member from each Congressional District.

The goal of the committee is to research possible candidates and recruit one or more candidates to run for each of the state-wide offices and federal offices up for election the coming year.

Here is a list of all the possible offices up for election:

* Governor
* Lt. Governor
* State Attorney General
* Secretary of State
* State Treasurer
* State Auditor
* U.S. Senate
* U.S. Representative (Nine Districts) 

Possible candidates include previous candidates and those who have expressed an interest in running for office. Candidates must meet the minimum qualifications listed on the Missouri Secretary of State website.

The candidate fees can add up to several thousand dollars. These fees should be targeted towards promoting all of our candidates.

Early April, after candidate filing has closed, schedule 2-5 candidate forums across the state:

* At a minimum, candidate forums in St. Louis and Kansas City.
* Schedule the candidate forums for May and early June.
* Mid to late April, send out information about the forums to all our candidates encouraging them to attend.
* Mid to late April, send out a letter to all known libertarians announcing the forums and encouraging attendance.
* Promote each individual candidate forum:
o Place on our lpmo.org event calendar.
o Place on local media event calendars where candidate forum will be held.
o Send out reminders to local and statewide libertarian e-mail lists.
o Send out press alert several days before candidate forum to local media. 
* During each candidate forum:
o Allow each candidate to speak for a short time.
o Hold debates for any contested races.
o Have a separate room for candidates to do a video interview for YouTube.
o Allow candidates to have a table with their campaign materials.
o Have volunteers take video and photos of the event. 
* After the forums have been concluded:
o Update our website with pictures, videos, and interviews of all our candidates.
o Publish a special printed edition of the Show Me Freedom Newsletter promoting all our candidates. Send to all known libertarians.
o Send out an e-mail announcement in mid-July and the end of July regarding the upcoming primary and where to find information about our candidates.
o Send out an e-mail announcement the day before the primary to encourage voters to turn out for the primary. 

Two candidate forums were held in July. One in St. Louis the other in Columbia during a visit to Missouri by Libertarian Party VP nominee
Wayne Allyn Root.

15,000 full color trifold candidate brochures printed.

Per Missouri State Statutes the Missouri Libertarian elects precinct committee members during the August primary. After the primary
contact County Clerk's to identify elected committee members and
help them, if needed, to form a county committee.

It has been three years since we have done a mass postal mailing to all our
members and recent prospects in our database, over 2000 people.

The purpose of this mailing is to:

1. Remove bad postal addresses and updated changed ones in our database prior to starting up the printed Show Me Freedom newsletter again.

2. Ask members to update their contact information on our website.

3. Ask members to start monthly pledges to support this strategic plan.

4. Determine effectiveness of mailing by tracking our website traffic.

5. Inform members of the 2008 Heartland Libertarian Conference and State Convention.

6. Summarize the Strategic Plan and our recent successes to encourage people to start monthly pledges.

Obtained estimate from Mail N More in Columbia.

They base their production costs on the printing and materials required for
an 8.5 x 11 letter size stock. Card stock with printing on one side costs  
0.18, on color stock 0.20. Card stock with printing on both sides costs
0.27, on color stock 0.30. Each one can be split into either four 5.5x4.25
or two 8.5x5.5 post cards. Consensus was to use the 8.5x5.5 so we can
communicate more information and print on both sides of color stock.

Postage costs are a max of 0.26 for first class postcard but Greg Tlapek
said we may be able to use a bulk rate with per address correction fees
to reduce costs.

The maximum cost would be 0.15 per 8.5x5.5 color postcard with 0.26 postage
for a total of 0.41 each plus handling costs.

Estimated size of mailing is 2500 pieces with total costs of $1000 - $1500.

Each year the Party mans a booth at the Missouri State Fair where we give
the worlds smallest political quiz, hand out literature and try to recruit
new members. During election years we promote our candidates.

Call 314 Missouri Libertarians who have contributed to the National LP in the last two years. Use the call script from the LPMO Wiki Strategic Plan.
Glenn Nielsen and Greg Tlapek will be making the calls.

Encourage active members on our members announce e-mail list to start monthly pledges.

Send out a postcard mailing to 2500 addresses in our database informing
them of upcoming events and this strategic plan. Encourage them to
start a monthly pledge.

If the Missouri LP wants to grow the party, spread the message of liberty, impact state and local issues, recruit better candidates and have more success at the ballot box, we must improve our communications to the media, the public, and our members.

More frequent and effective communications with the media may increase the coverage they provide on the Missouri LP, our stance on issues, and our candidates.

More frequent communications to the public and our members about what the party is doing can help create a buzz that things are happening. This can result in more people signing up to be members and more members getting active.

The Communications Plan documents what we should be communicating to the media, the public, and members. It identifies the what, who, when, and how we communicate.
Communication Methods

   1. Press releases
* Sent via e-mail/fax to appropriate media outlets for release
* Published to the http://lpmo.org website
* Sent out to announce@lpmo.org e-mail list
* Added to RSS news feed 
2. Media alert press releases
3. Website articles: http://lpmo.org and http://showmefreedom.org
* Normally sent out to public e-mail announcement list
* Normally added to RSS news feed 
4. Weblog posts: http://showmeblog.org
* Blog has RSS news feeds
* Quality blog posts may be added to the lpmo.org RSS news feed 
5. Public e-mail announcements: announce@lpmo.org
6. Member e-mail announcements: members-announce@lpmo.org
7. Website RSS news feed
8. Website events calendar
9. Fund-raising direct mail
10. New prospect letters
11. Show Me Freedom newsletter (printed and mailed), articles will come from
* Press releases
* Events calendar
* Website articles
* Quality weblog entries 
12. TV, radio and print media interviews
13. TV, radio and print media advertising
14. Public Speaking
15. County affiliates
16. Phone calls
17. Youtube videos
18. Audio podcasts 

Postage using the printers commercial permit to mail just over 3000
copies was $1,112.07. Printing was $561.06 with Gallatin Printing.

Information on obtaining a USPS Bulk Mail Permit:

http://www.usps.com/send/postagepermitimprintsandmeters/howtoapplyforapermittouseapostagemeterforbulkmailings.htmThe fee has to be paid annually when you do your first mailing.

There are separate $175 fees for First Class Mail and Bulk Mail.

Mailed to just over 3000 Missourians.