Ballot Questions

Running a Referendum Campaign: School or Park Funding Plan

A school or park funding referendum on the April 6, 2027 ballot is decided by two groups of voters: the undecided ones you persuade and the supportive ones you get to the polls. A winning plan works backward from the dates that are fixed. The board must adopt its resolution placing the question by January 19, 2027, the question is certified by January 28, early voting opens February 25 (or March 12 where a February primary ran), and the election is April 6. Between now and then, a citizen committee forms, raises money within the campaign finance rules, builds a supporter list, and spends February and March at the doors.

The most important structural point comes first: the school board or park board can put the question on the ballot, but it cannot campaign for it with public money. Public funds may not be used to urge a vote for or against a question, though the public body may share factual information. Advocacy comes from a separate citizen committee. The rules for what a public body, its staff and its resources may do are specific, so ask your attorney about the rules for public bodies before anyone on the district side is involved.

This plan is for that citizen committee. It is organized by month through January and by week from February to Election Day. For the wider set of ballot question topics, see our guide to Illinois ballot questions.

October to November 2026: form the committee

Goals: a small leadership team, a clear message, and a decision about money.

• Recruit a core team of four to six people. You need a chair, a treasurer, a volunteer coordinator, a field lead and someone who writes well. Parents, coaches, park users and retirees with time are the usual core.
• Learn the question. If the board has not adopted its resolution yet, follow the board meetings. Know exactly what the question will ask, what it costs a typical homeowner according to the district's factual materials, and what the district says happens if it fails.
• Draft a one-paragraph case. What the money does, what it costs, what happens without it. Every script, flyer and text will grow from this paragraph.
• Decide how you will handle money. Under Illinois law, groups or individuals who raise or spend more than $5,000 in any 12-month period in support of or in opposition to a public question generally must file a Statement of Organization (Form D-1) with the State Board of Elections and become a political committee (10 ILCS 5/9-3). The D-1 is due within 10 business days of crossing $5,000, or within 2 business days if it happens in the 30 days before an election. In-kind contributions count toward the threshold.
• Know what registering means. A group may register before it reaches $5,000, but once registered it must file every required report until it files a final report, whether or not it ever reaches $5,000. Quarterly reports are due on the 15th of the month after each quarter, and contributions of $1,000 or more are reported on a Schedule A-1 within 5 business days (2 business days in the 30 days before an election). Your treasurer should read the State Board of Elections disclosure guide, and talking with an attorney or an experienced treasurer is worth the time.

December 2026: build the list and the plan

Goals: a map of your district, a list of known supporters, and a volunteer pipeline.

• Get your district's voter list and put it on a map. Split it into turfs that a pair of volunteers can walk in a two- to three-hour shift.
• Start your supporter list. Parent groups, booster clubs, sports leagues and park program families are natural places to start. Ask people to sign up in writing. If you want to text them later, the sign-up sheet must say plainly that they agree to receive texts, and record the date.
• Set your vote goal. Ask your county clerk or election authority for turnout in past April elections in your district, then estimate how many yes votes you need. Example only: if 6,000 people voted in your district's last comparable April election, a winning target might be 3,200 yes votes, with a margin.
• Plan the field calendar for February and March: how many shifts, how many volunteers per shift, and which turfs come first.

January 2027: the ballot is set

Key dates: board resolution by January 19; certification by January 28. If a citizen petition is involved, it was due January 4 and objections January 11.

• Confirm the final wording. Once the question is certified, the wording is fixed. Write your materials to it.
• Watch the three-question limit. Illinois allows no more than three public questions per political subdivision at one election, with exceptions (10 ILCS 5/28-1). If several groups are pushing questions for the same unit, know whether yours made the ballot.
• Recruit and train volunteers. Hold two training sessions: one on the message, one on the canvassing tool and door etiquette.
• First quarterly report. If your committee is registered, the report for the last quarter of 2026 is due January 15.
• Print your materials. A door piece that states the question, the cost in plain terms and the date. Keep it factual and specific.

February 2027: persuasion

From February the plan goes week by week.

Week of February 1. Start knocking. Begin with turfs where you expect the most undecided voters. Each conversation records whether the voter supports the question, opposes it or is undecided.

Week of February 8. Second persuasion round. Revisit "not home" and "come back later" doors from week one. Hold a volunteer check-in to share what voters are asking about and refine the script.

Week of February 15. Third round. Send your most experienced volunteers back to the undecided voters from earlier weeks with answers to the questions they asked.

Week of February 22. Early voting opens February 25 (or March 12 where a February primary ran; confirm with your election authority). Shift the message for supporters to "you can vote now," and keep persuading the undecided.

Our post on canvassing for a referendum covers how to split persuasion doors from turnout doors.

March 2027: from persuasion to turnout

Week of March 1. Begin turnout work. Revisit supporters identified in February and ask how they plan to vote: early, by mail or on April 6.

Week of March 8. If a February primary ran in your area, early voting opens around March 12. Keep persuasion going in turfs you have not finished.

Week of March 15. Persuasion winds down. Your doors are now mostly supporters and leaners. Reminders to vote early.

Week of March 22. Volunteer push: add shifts, especially weekends. The 30-day window before the election means faster campaign finance reporting for large contributions; your treasurer should be watching.

Week of March 29. Last full week. Every supporter who has not voted gets a door knock or a reminder.

Election week: April 1 to 6, 2027

• April 1 to 5: final reminders to supporters, final shifts on turfs with the most supporters not yet contacted.
• April 6: Election Day. Volunteers knock on supporter doors through the afternoon. Keep the coordinator's view of the turfs open so you can send people where they are needed.
• After: thank every volunteer, keep your records, and if your committee is registered, keep filing until your final report.

Running the field side

The plan above is mostly field work, and field work lives or dies on the list.

Build, route and track your canvass in one place. In Beacon, import your district's voter list from a CSV file (name, address, precinct and party columns map automatically), see the voters on a map as walk lists, and assign each territory to a specific canvasser, so two volunteers never knock the same street. If a volunteer drops out, reassign their turf. Route optimization orders each shift's doors. Use the survey builder to ask the question that matters: "Supports the question: yes / no / undecided," plus anything else you want to know, such as "Plans to vote early: yes / no." At each door, volunteers record contacted, not home, refused, moved, come back later or left literature, with a 1 to 5 rating and notes. Real-time tracking shows the field lead which turfs are active, and per-territory counts show how many contacts each turf has and how many have been reached. Export survey responses to CSV each week to count your supporters and build the next pass. The app works offline and syncs later, which helps in neighborhoods with patchy signal. Every plan includes unlimited canvassers, so a referendum with 40 volunteers costs the same as one with 4. For a district up to 2,500 contacts, Starter is $59 a month ($47 billed annually); Growth covers 10,000 contacts for $129 a month and adds live GPS and geofencing.

When it is time to text the supporters who opted in, CampaignCNX+ handles that, and our post on texting for a referendum committee covers how. Our post on building a precinct walk list has more on keeping a list accurate over time.

Common mistakes

• Letting the district campaign. Public resources cannot be used to urge a yes vote. Keep the committee separate and get advice on the rules.
• Starting doors too late. If the first knock is in March, there is no time for a second pass on the undecided.
• Treating every door the same. Persuasion doors and turnout doors need different scripts and different timing.
• Losing track of money. Crossing $5,000 starts a 10-business-day clock for the D-1. Keep a running total from day one.
• Texting people who never opted in. A sign-up or petition does not count as consent unless it says so plainly and the date is recorded.

Start the map now

Every week you start earlier is another pass through the undecided voters. Start a 14-day Beacon trial, put your district on the map, and give your first volunteers a routed turf. See how Beacon supports local campaigns and questions.