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Preface and Acknowledgements
The audience for this handbook is managers of public associations in the Russian Federation. It addresses strategic planning for, and implementation and promotion of, democratic education materials. It defines voter information dissemination activities as «marketing a product or service».
This is not a revolutionary book. Public associations may learn much from the marketing methods of efficient private sector companies. While democracy and freedom are values - not consumer products - voter information needs to compete in the same media as commercial enterprises for the voter's brief attention span.
Like private sector companies, public associations also need to become self reliant. Commercial enterprises have spent millions of (any number of currencies) learning innovative ways to market information and generate financial profits. We are not promoting financial profits - we are promoting sustainability, thoughtful planning and effective implementation of democratic education programs. We are encouraging cooperation in this effort, not competition.
The handbook is meant to provide tools for management to devise its own plans; it includes worksheets and should be read with a pencil. Some sections may contain pedagogical suggestions but this is not in any way meant to dictate what you «should» do. You need to decide that.
In our research, focus groups were held to learn about the needs and priorities of local public associations. New Perspectives Foundation members from throughout the Russian Federation participated, providing excellent information and ideas. Useful resource materials are listed at the end of the book for further information. We would like to acknowledge the work of the many authors listed in there. Their invaluable research kept us from «reinventing the wheel». We would also like to thank NBC News Moscow Bureau and other journalists who provided editing assistance and insights.
Informational materials of not-for-profit, voter education and civic advocacy organizations throughout the world were reviewed when preparing this document. Some of their best ideas are distilled and presented for consideration by Russian public associations.
We would like to thank the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) for its funding support which made this handbook and other International Foundation for Electoral System (IFES) projects possible.
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