Introduction
This page is designed to equip staff and interns with information and guidance on creating and submitting ideas to Vote Smart. Some ideas may not require board approval. See the FAQ section to learn what needs to go to the board.Beginning the Development of an Idea
Ideas usually stem from a thought or a conversation. When you really think about it, though, ideas stem from the identification of a problem, however small or large, and the desire to develop and implement a solution.The best way to begin developing an idea is to first, before any deep thought or development, solicit feedback from your supervisor. The idea may be on their mind as well, it may have been proposed (and approved) previously, and/or they may be able to give you guidance and background information on how to develop this idea as well as help you fit the time to develop an idea into your other priorities.
Beyond soliciting feedback from your supervisor, you should ensure you look into the following:
- Ensure you know Vote Smart's Mission and Key Programs well.
- Look for your idea or similar ideas located in the "Public" drive
Additionally you should keep these in mind:
- The best way to make a change is to suggest an actionable solution.
- Ideas that will pay for themselves over time are almost no brainers, however this is not a requirement.
- You will need to consider how your idea fits in to the large picture and how it fits into current priorities.
Developing the Idea
How do you get off the ground floor with an idea? Start early! Ideas will take time to develop and you will want to give others enough time to give feedback. Additionally, you will likely never have a full week of nothing to develop an idea, which is why starting early, and developing your thoughts on paper over time is the best way to achieve your goal of getting an idea ready for submission.You will need to take enough time and consideration to answer the following:
- Is there a problem this idea is going to address?
- Are there any benchmarks, statistics, or outside research that can help identify and/or justify the problem?
- What hypothesis can you make about the potential success of this idea?
- Are there any benchmarks, statistics, or outside research that support your hypothesis?
- Who will need to be involved to implement this idea?
- What are the costs associated with implementing this idea?
- Can you develop a timeline for the implementation process, with consideration for competing priorities, that will give others a sense of when we could implement this?
- Does this idea need board approval?
Preparing an Idea for Submission
The final stage of developing the idea is to prepare it for submission. This includes careful consideration to who your audience is and to how best to frame this idea to them. You will want to include all the necessary information they will need to evaluate this idea in order to make a decision on whether to move forward. The following is advice on how to frame your argument:- Keep your proposal short (1-2 pages). You do not need to get into the nitty gritty details of your idea. You just need to make an argument. The longer your proposal is, the more likely it is that someone will miss key points in favor of minor details
- You are making an argument. Write your proposal in a way that is convincing and interesting. Be a champion for your idea!
- Be sure you have covered all of your bases before you submit. You must do all the research and work required, and cannot rely on others to fill in the blanks.
Once you feel you have done all you can, send your proposal to the appropriate person. This usually will either be the National Director or a board member, depending on if anyone is asking for ideas at the time.
Once Approved
Time for some ManagingProjects. Work with your supervisor on next steps and utilize project management techniques to ensure your project is implemented successfully.FAQ
When is the board involved?
At present, anything requiring an additional allocation of money or staff/intern resources or an exception to policy must be approved by the President or National Director. A board decision may be required if one or more of the following criteria is met:- Policy change
- Substantial change in procedure
- Elimination of a program
- Something that will require a budget allocation of greater than $5,000
Please note that in order for the board to consider a proposal, The National Director or a Board Member must determine it has enough merit to be considered (see below for how to establish merit). The majority of ideas proposed tend not to require board approval, and ideas may be tested on a smaller scale to establish merit.
How do I figure out the costs involved?
One of the most difficult questions to answer is how much the implementation of this idea will cost to start as well as maintain. Much of the cost will come in the form of staff time (including IT), but there are other possible costs. Below is a list of potential costs you should consider:- Staff time - you will need to estimate how much time this idea will need from staff to be developed. This may include, and usually does, include IT staff time. Because you won't know exactly how much each position makes, you can make this estimate in ratios rather than dollar amounts. Example: 2 IT Staff for 3 months and 1 Research Staff for half their time.
- Outside Contractors - will this idea take an outside contractor to develop. We will always try to do things in-house, however, there may be times where we will not be able to do so. In these situations we might consider using an outside contractor to complete the IT portion of the project. These costs are difficult to estimate, however, just saying we need an outside contractor will give an idea of how much it may costs.
- Additional server costs - will your idea add to the load on our servers, and require us to add additional resources? This usually can only be answered by IT.
- Software/Hardware costs - will we need to invest in a specific software, develop our own, or invest in new hardware?
- Other - any other costs you can forsee
The answer to this question is not necessarily comprehensive, but should give you a better sense of the costs associated with implementing new projects and programs.
