The BISC Gold Standard is a three-pronged approach to run winning, equitable ballot measure campaigns. Through decades of campaign experience and deep partnership with state-based partners, BISC’s leaders understand what it takes to run winning campaigns. This point of view has been hard won. We have sharpened our skills and refined our tactics on such issue campaigns like reproductive rights, workers’ rights, and marriage equality, among others.
Because we know it matters how we win, BISC strongly believes in and is committed to three key components of our Gold Standard: the 360 Life Cycle of Ballot Measures, Declaration of Equity and Accountability, and the Expanded Definition of Winning.
360 Ballot Measure Lifecycle
Critical to BISC’s Gold Standard is the 360 Lifecycle Ballot Measure Framework where we work with our partners to create holistic, thoughtful, responsive ballot measure efforts that plan from inception through implementation. This paradigm is more important now than ever before, as extremist lawmakers work to block or even overturn popular voter-approved initiatives. For example, BISC’s partners with Stop the Ban in Missouri are building on their prior campaign work in order to defeat a legislative measure that’s attempting to repeal 2024’s Right to Reproductive Freedom Initiative.
Declaration of Equity & Accountability
To address the race, power, and privilege dynamics encountered during campaigns and coalition work, we created the Declaration of Equity and Accountability to help partners create a set of principles and values to shape their campaign work. This tool is an actionable guide to running equitable and winning ballot measure efforts that strengthen our movements for the road ahead. Partners have used our DoE toolkit to build capacity for grassroots groups in Nebraska, navigate campaign staffing changes in Montana, and more.
Expanded Definition of Winning
BISC’s Expanded Definition of Winning also goes beyond whether a measure passes or fails. Because we want to leave something behind after our victories, it defines success not only as a win at the ballot but also the people and organizations invested in, the narrative that it shaped, and the long-term community power built in the process. It also acknowledges that even if a measure is not successful at the ballot, we can win in other ways that allow the work to keep moving forward. For example, although misleading ballot language ultimately led to Ohio’s Citizens Not Politicians initiative falling short at the ballot box, the campaign assembled a powerful statewide coalition of organizations and businesses still committed to fighting for fair voter representation in their deeply gerrymandered state.
BISC and its partners win with principles, values, AND skill.
▶ We organize because it is the only way to build the world we envision and protect the progress we make through the ballot. Careening from campaign to campaign makes us vulnerable; investing in long-term strategy will get us free.
▶ We use research to understand voters, to understand the issues we work on, and to understand the places in which we work.
▶ We trust experts who share our values to help us craft messaging and tactics that meet voters where they are but don’t leave them there.
▶ We value coalitions in states and communities – on-the-ground leaders understand the base because they work with them day in and day out. A well-resourced coalition is a major advantage for a campaign and can make a real difference in voter outreach and engagement.
▶ We prepare practitioners for the ever-changing reality of running ballot measures in hostile political climates. Campaign staff need ongoing development and up-to-the-minute training and information to help them hold the line and win against unscrupulous opponents.
Learn more about how we work with our partners and our Ballot Measure Leader Training Program.
Explore our Declaration of Equity & Accountability toolkit, campaign examples, templates, and more in BISC’s Resource Library.