Government and civic life
📱 Digital Campaigning on a Small Budget
How a small Idaho campaign or advocacy group can run a lawful, effective digital effort on a tight budget: planning, email lists and consent, websites and donation pages, organic and paid social, platform political ad rules, disclaimers, texting and robocall law, cheap video, AI content and Idaho's synthetic media law, account security, measuring results and reporting digital spending.
- 1Planning a Small Digital CampaignHow to plan an Idaho digital campaign on $2,000, $10,000 or $25,000: one countable goal, the real size of the audience, the channel mix by cost, three sample budgets with the arithmetic, a calendar built backward from Idaho's statutory voting dates, free tools, and volunteer roles.17 min
- 2Email Lists and ConsentBuilding a campaign email list from sign-ups, events and petitions with consent you can prove; what CAN-SPAM does and does not reach for political and nonprofit email; the Gmail and Yahoo sender rules; using Idaho's voter list under Idaho Code 34-437 and 34-437A; list hygiene; and what email platforms' own policies allow, as of October 2026.18 min
- 3Websites and Donation PagesA one-page campaign site on a budget, owning the domain, the Idaho and federal disclaimer rules for websites, donation platforms and their fees as of October 2026, the contributor information Idaho and the FEC require, how online forms keep gifts inside the limits (including the Secretary of State's 2026 rule on donor-paid fees), refunds, recurring gifts, privacy notes and accessibility basics.19 min
- 4Organic Social on a BudgetUnpaid posting for an Idaho campaign: separating personal, campaign and official accounts; what Lindke v. Freed (2024) and O'Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier (2024) mean for officials who block or delete; Idaho's ban on public resources in campaigns (Idaho Code 74-604) and what it means for public employees and officials online; platform rules for political content as of October 2026; volunteers sharing content; and a posting plan a small team can keep.18 min
- 5Paid Social and Platform Ad RulesHow Meta, Google, X, TikTok, Snapchat and Nextdoor treat political and issue ads as of October 2026: authorization and verification, 'Paid for by' disclaimers, ad libraries, AI disclosure, the final-week ad freeze, Google's bar on Idaho local election ads, targeting limits, streaming basics and illustrative budget math.24 min
- 6Disclaimers and Digital Ad LawIdaho's attribution rule in Idaho Code 67-6614A applied to boosted posts, display and video ads, texts, emails and websites; electioneering communications online; the federal internet disclaimer rule in 11 CFR 110.11 effective March 1, 2023, including adapted disclaimers; what counts as a public communication online; and paid influencers under FTC, FEC, platform and Idaho rules, with how to report the payments.25 min
- 7Texting and Robocall RulesThe Telephone Consumer Protection Act and FCC rules as they apply to Idaho campaigns as of October 2026: consent for autodialed and prerecorded calls and texts to cell phones, peer-to-peer texting after Facebook v. Duguid, AI voices after the FCC's February 2024 ruling and the New Hampshire case, landline limits, identification and opt-out duties, Do Not Call, the 2025 consent revocation rules and the delayed 'revoke-all' piece, Idaho's own dialing law, and 10DLC registration with Campaign Verify.25 min
- 8Video on a BudgetHow a small Idaho campaign makes phone video that people watch and platforms accept: sound first, light and framing, vertical and horizontal formats and lengths as of October 2026, captions, free editing tools, music licensing and why borrowed songs get videos blocked and ads disapproved, filming in public places and the Idaho State Capitol, recording law, and consent from people on camera.24 min
- 9AI Content and Idaho's Synthetic Media LawHow small campaigns use AI for text, images, voice and video, what Idaho's 2024 Freedom From AI-Rigged (FAIR) Elections Act (Idaho Code 67-6628A) covers and does not, the exact disclosure that serves as a defense, federal rules from the FEC and FCC, platform AI disclosure rules at Meta, Google, YouTube, TikTok and X as of October 2026, Content Credentials, and a worked example of deciding whether a disclosure is needed.26 min
- 10Account Security, Measuring Results and Reporting Digital SpendingHow a small Idaho campaign keeps its accounts out of the wrong hands (passkeys and phishing-resistant two-step login, admin roles in Google Ads and Meta, SIM swap and phishing defenses, free help from Defending Digital Campaigns), what to do in the first hour after a hack, how to measure results with UTM tags, conversion counts and an honest dashboard, and how to report digital spending and donated digital work on Idaho Sunshine reports. Ends with national figures on political ad spending and where Americans get news.28 min