Up for the challenge

This spring, the federal NDP put together the Local Victories Challenge, encouraging its riding associations to build their own capacity with incentives for riding-level fund-raising. And the plan looks to have been enough of a success for the NDP to take the next step, with a summer incentive plan to reward ridings for recruiting new members:

While the other parties rely on big money to win campaigns, New Democrats get our strength from committed people on the ground.

That’s why we’re taking the Local Victories campaign to the next level – with the Local Victories: Membership Challenge.

Our challenge – to add tens of thousands of new members by the end of October, and build the base that will help you win your local campaign.

The plan will include both incentives for each membership sold, and extra rewards for the top-performing riding associations. And like the fund-raising challenge before it, the membership drive will be supported by efforts to facilitate idea-sharing among the NDP's riding associations to add to the obvious value in encouraging riding-level activity.

Which means that rather than planning its summer around a cross-country wild goose chase, the NDP is coming up with new ways to keep its grassroots growing. And the combination of strengthened fund-raising and a focus on new members should ensure that the NDP's constituency associations are ready for the next election campaign whenever it comes.