KESTRELFalco tinnunculus
Zero to presence
in 88 days.
A proposal for the digital side of a first-time city council run — website, social engine, and week-over-week management of both, built for a volunteer team on a grassroots budget. The campaign is yours; we keep its digital presence running.
City council races are won on name recognition — and right now the candidate has none. That's fixable, fast.
Local elections aren't decided by millions of dollars of TV. They're decided by a few thousand people who vote in every election, most of whom walk into the booth recognizing one or two names on the ballot. The entire job of the next 88 days is to make sure one of those names is the candidate's.
Starting from zero is usually framed as a weakness. It's also a blank canvas: the candidate gets to define themselves before anyone else does. No stale website to live down, no old posts to explain. Every voter's first impression is one we design.
No pro equipment. Volunteer staff. Limited experience. Good — that's the winning aesthetic in local politics.
A phone is the right camera
Voters scroll past polished ads and stop on a real person talking to them from a sidewalk in their own neighborhood. Vertical phone video is the native format of every platform we'll use. We'll supply a simple shooting kit-list and shot recipes — no gear budget required.
Volunteers are the message
A campaign visibly powered by neighbors is its own argument. We build the systems — content calendar, posting automation, sign-up pipeline — so volunteers do the human work (doors, events, conversations) and never have to be webmasters.
The playbook is the product
KESTREL's job is to make the digital side boring and repeatable: a weekly rhythm the team can run without thinking about it. Strategy lives with Ben; execution systems live with us; nobody has to improvise.
A campaign website live by Day 7 — built to convert a tap into a supporter.
Most campaign sites are online brochures. Ours is a conversion machine: nearly every visitor arrives from a social tap or a QR code on a flyer, on a phone, with about eight seconds of attention. The site's one job is to turn that attention into something the campaign keeps — an email address, a volunteer shift, a donation.
The email list matters more than any follower count. Followers are rented from a platform; the list is the campaign's own asset — it's how we reach supporters on election week without paying anyone or fighting an algorithm.
- Fast, mobile-first one-page site: story, priorities, events, press
- Email capture + volunteer sign-up wired to a simple pipeline the team can actually work
- Donation link integrated with the campaign's chosen processor
- Event calendar and an endorsements section that grows over the race
- QR codes for yard signs, palm cards, and door literature
- Required "Paid for by…" disclaimers implemented per the treasurer's direction
- Candidate-specific branding — colors, type, and voice derived from the candidate and the district in discovery, not from a template
Four platforms, one weekly filming session, zero daily scramble.
The engine runs on batching: one structured 90-minute phone-camera session with the candidate each week produces a full week of content. KESTREL handles the editing, captioning, scheduling, and cross-posting — the campaign never wakes up wondering what to post today.
Facebook + Instagram
Where the district's reliable voters actually are. Full account setup, weekly content calendar, scheduled posting via Meta's own tools, and community-response guidelines for volunteers. Short vertical video, event promotion, endorsement announcements, volunteer spotlights.
Nextdoor
The most under-used weapon in city council races. It can't be automated — neighbors smell astroturf instantly — so instead we script it: a personal-posting playbook for the candidate, issue-by-issue talking points, and reply guidance so every thread stays a win.
TikTok + YouTube Shorts
If the candidate is comfortable on camera, the same weekly vertical clips get recut here at near-zero marginal cost. Local content is under-supplied on these platforms, so modest effort can reach voters nobody else in the race is talking to.
X / Twitter
Not where voters are — where local press and endorsing organizations are. We mirror announcements and endorsements so reporters covering the race always find an active, credible presence.
Three phases plus a sprint — each with a single measurable job.
Exist, everywhere, at once
The job: when anyone in the district searches the candidate's name, they find a campaign that looks ready to win.
- Discovery session → candidate brand: palette, type, photography direction, voice
- Website live by Day 7; all social accounts claimed, branded, and posting
- Announcement content package: launch video, bio post, first press blurb
- First batch-filming session; weekly rhythm established
Become a familiar face
The job: reliable voters see the candidate's face and priorities several times a week, in their own feeds, about their own streets.
- 3–5 posts/week across core platforms; issue clips filmed in recognizable district locations
- Nextdoor playbook in the candidate's hands; first neighborhood threads
- Email list building: every event, every door hanger, every post points to sign-up
- Endorsements published as they land; volunteer spotlight series begins
Win the undecided
The job: convert familiarity into preference among the voters who haven't picked a name yet.
- Issue-contrast content: what the candidate will do, concretely, in the first year
- Testimonial clips from neighbors and endorsers — borrowed trust at scale
- Event push: forums, meet-and-greets, coffee hours promoted and recapped
- Weekly email to the list moves from introduction to ask
Get our people to vote
The job: every identified supporter actually casts a ballot. Persuasion is over; this is logistics.
- Vote-plan content: how, where, and when to vote, repeated relentlessly
- Countdown series across all platforms; election-day story coverage
- Email sequence to the full list: ballot reminders, polling info, final ask
- Rapid-response support for the final-week surprises every race has
Clear lanes: Ben runs the campaign. KESTREL runs the digital machine.
This engagement is designed to make Ben Manor more effective as the campaign's consultant, not to compete with him. Strategy, field, and compliance decisions stay exactly where they belong; KESTREL turns those decisions into pixels, posts, and pipelines — and reports back with numbers every week.
Ben owns
- Campaign strategy, message, and positioning
- Field program: doors, calls, events
- Compliance filings, treasurer coordination, final approval on all public content
KESTREL owns
- Website build, hosting, and updates
- Content production system: editing, scheduling, cross-posting
- Weekly analytics: list growth, reach, sign-ups — one page, no vanity metrics
The candidate owns
- One 90-minute filming session per week
- Personal Nextdoor presence, following our playbook
- Being the genuine article — we can't automate that, and we wouldn't want to
The whole arrangement runs on a weekly 30-minute sync with Ben: last week's numbers, this week's calendar, next decisions needed. Everything the campaign owns — accounts, domain, list, content — stays in the campaign's name from day one. If we part ways, you keep it all.
25 hours over 10 weeks. Priced for a grassroots race.
| Scope | Hours | Rate | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Website design & developmentDiscovery, candidate branding, one-page campaign site, email/volunteer capture, donation integration, QR assets, launch by Day 7 | 10 | $200 | $2,000 |
| Social media managementAccount setup and branding across Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor playbook, TikTok/Shorts, X; content calendar and scheduling automation | 5 | $200 | $1,000 |
| Ongoing digital management1 hour/week × 10 weeks: weekly sync with Ben, content editing and scheduling, analytics reporting, site updates, rapid response | 10 | $200 | $2,000 |
| Grassroots campaign discount (40%)KESTREL's contribution to a first-time, volunteer-powered local campaign | −$2,000 | ||
| Total engagement | 25 | $3,000 |
Terms
- Engagement runs 10 weeks from kickoff, aligned to the 88-day calendar; 50% due at signing, 50% at the midpoint (Week 5).
- All accounts, domains, content, and the supporter list are created in and owned by the campaign from day one.
- Campaign finance compliance (filings, disclaimers, contribution rules) is directed by the campaign's treasurer and Ben Manor; KESTREL implements required disclaimers as instructed. KESTREL's services are an expenditure of the campaign and will be invoiced to the campaign committee for its reporting.
- Ben Manor provides final approval on all public-facing content before it posts.
- Work beyond the scoped 25 hours (e.g., additional pages, paid-ads management, extra filming support) is available at $200/hr with prior written approval.
- Either party may end the engagement with 7 days' notice; unused prepaid hours are refunded pro-rata.
Small campaigns don't lose for lack of belief. They lose for lack of systems. We build the systems.
KESTREL is a design-and-engineering studio that builds fast, conversion-focused sites and automation for small organizations — teams with big goals, volunteer energy, and no time to waste. We work mobile-first, ship in days rather than months, and measure everything. An 88-day race is exactly the kind of deadline we like.
- A 45-minute discovery call with Ben and the candidate — story, priorities, district, and the brand direction that fits both.
- SOW signed and kickoff scheduled. The 88-day clock is already running; every week before launch is reach we don't get back.
- Website live and accounts posting within 7 days of kickoff.