Budget for Petition Drive

Budget for Petition Drive
Updated 3/16/2011

This budget is a work in progress. So far, it appears that we will need a little over $2 million.

1.    Paying circulators..................................................... $1,060,000

2.    Assembling packages........................................................ 3,136

3.    Initial circulator setup.......................................................... 800

4.    Processing payment forms.................................................... 800

5.    Processing petitions....................................................... 848,000

6.    Postage........................................................................ 14,136

7.    Printing petitions............................................................ 10,600

8.    Creating computer systems................................................ 4,000

9.    Payroll processing........................................................... 25,000

10. Office rent (8 months at $2000 per month)......................... 16,000

11. Computer rental, other office equipment and supplies............. 4,000

12. Banking services.............................................................. 3,000

13. Project management...................................................__100,000
                                                                           $2,089,472

Budget Notes:

1.

Paying circulators. Two of our 3 initiatives are amendments to the constitution, requiring 322,609 signatures - 10% of voters who voted for governor candidates in the 2010 general election. The other is a legislative initiative, requiring 258,088 signatures (8%). Assuming some invalid signatures will slip by our petition reviewers, we will shoot for 380,000 for each of the constitutional amendments and 300,000 for the legislative initiative. We will pay $1 per signature.

2.

Assembling packages. The package we send to circulators will contain 15 copies of each petition plus an instruction sheet, a circulator payment form for tax reporting and direct deposit, and a return envelope. Each petition has 15 signature lines; we’ll assume 10 valid signatures per petition, so 45 (3 x 15) petitions will get us 450 signatures. 1,060,000/450 = 2356 packages. 2356 x 5 minutes = 11,780/60 = 196 hours @ $16 per hour = $3136.

3.

Initial circulator setup. Number of circulators: 4 signers per hour = 12 signatures per hour. 15 hours per week (average) per circulator. 15 x 12 = 180 signatures per week per circulator. Six months x 4 weeks per month = 24 weeks. 24 weeks x 180 = 4320 signatures per circulator over 6 months. 1,060,000/4320 = 245 (we’ll say 300). Verifying to be registered voter, assigning circulator number, entering name and address into system, printing and affixing mailing label. 300 circulators x 10 minutes = 3000/60 = 50 hours @ $16 per hour = $800.

4.

Processing circulator payment information received with first returned petitions. Entering SSN and direct deposit info into system, scanning form and saving file with circulator number as filename, filing form. 300 circulators x 10 minutes = 3000/60 = 50 hours @ $16 per hour = $800.

5.

Processing petitions. Each petition has 15 signature lines. Assuming an average of 10 signatures per petition, 106,000 petitions would be needed to collect 1,060,000 signatures. Assigning petition number and putting that and the circulator number on each petition; checking for signature errors; verifying with QVF file that each of 10 signers is registered in the county, entering initiative code, petition number and date into QVF file; entering petition data into system (petition number, circulator number, county code, initiative code, invalid petition indicator, invalid petition reason code, number of good signatures, number of bad (removed) signatures, date signed by circulator, earliest signature date, date received); scanning petition and saving file with petition number as file name, filing petition. 106,000 petitions x 30 minutes = 3,180,000 minutes/60 = 53,000 hours @ $16 per hour = $848,000.

6.

Postage. We will send packages to our circulators that contain 15 copies of each petition form, which would be 45 8.5" x 14" single sheets. The package will also include an instruction sheet, a circulator payment form, and a return envelope. Estimated weight is 12 ounces. Figuring that each of the 45 returned petitions will give us 10 valid signatures, each returned package will give us 450 signatures. We need a total of 1,060,000 signatures. 1,060,000 divided by 450 is 2356, so we will send and receive 2356 packages. Postage each way is about $3, or $6 total. 24 times 2356 is $14,136.
Note: Weight limit for first class, large envelope, is 13 ounces. Postage for between 12 and 13 ounces is $2.92.

7.

Printing petitions. Each petition has 15 signature lines. Assuming an average of 10 signatures per petition, 106,000 petitions would be needed to collect 1,060,000 signatures. Estimating paper and printing cost at $.10 per sheet, the total is $10,600.

8.

Creating computer systems. Two systems would be required, one for keeping track of donations and expenses so they can be reported to the Secretary of State and another for managing the petition drive. At this time, we are using a computer program provided by the Secretary of State for reporting campaign donations and expenses, but we may need something more sophisticated to deal with a project this big. The other system is needed to verify that petition signers are registered and to keep track of the number of signatures gathered by each circulator so that paychecks can be written and overall progress can be monitored.

13.

Project management. One full time manager for 8 months.

Note: Our largest expenses above are for petition circulators and office staff, and our estimates are based on the pessimistic assumption that all of them will have to be paid. Actually, we expect that we will have plenty of volunteers, and that will cut our costs considerably.