The political campaign system right now is ineffective, according to techie whiz and Microsoft engineer Tim Brookins.

“Right now, campaigns buy ads and TV commercials, and they push them at people,” he said. “The thing is, it’s not very effective…people tune them out.”

There is a way, however, that works better than others, he said: the grassroots method. This is when a passion for something or someone is organically spread from the most enthusiastic supporters to other supporters.

“That’s the magic. But there is no real service or system that can make it happen,” Brookins said. “Well, we want to make it happen.”

This was the inspiration behind Brookins latest project, an app and e-commerce venture under the umbrella of his startup ProudCrowd. As the creator of the successful app the Bison Tracker, which has had over 20,000 downloads, Brookins wanted to take the social engagement model he used in the sports world to a new audience.

Politics, he decided, is an area ripe for improvement.

He partnered with DeAnn Bjornson, an experienced political campaign manager, to launch ProudCrowd’s latest venture. Together they are offering a service to political campaigns to fuel support through peer-to-peer engagement.

The key ingredient, however, is not the app. It’s something called a challenge coin.

“What we’re going to do is use a pay-it-forward model,” Brookins said. “We want to have something physical that they [core supporters] can give to their friends.”

A pay-it-forward political campaign

Back up a bit, to the beginning of World War I when the challenge coin made its first real appearance. The story goes that a lieutenant ordered medallions for his unit, struck in solid bronze and bearing the symbol of their squadron. The coins became a treasure and even, story has it, saved the life of a young pilot.

The challenge aspect comes into play at the bar. Those carrying a challenge coin “challenged” their peers by pulling it out in a bar and tapping on the table. If the person challenged wasn’t carrying their coin, they had to buy the challenger a drink. If they were, the challenger bought the drink.

To this day, challenge coins are a well-respected token. Starting with Bill Clinton, every president has had his own challenge coin and, since Dick Cheney, the vice president has had one, too. They are passed on in many ways, even by secret handshake.

“It’s a sign that you met this person,” Brookins said. He first heard of the challenge coin idea from Dean Bresciani, who made a challenge coin for NDSU.

As part of ProudCrowd’s new venture, they are offering a service to political campaigns that would send out customized challenge coins to the key supporters. From there, the supporters are “challenged” to send at least three more to friends and family.

You’ve been challenged.

Step 1: First 50 supporters

To begin the process, the campaign will send the ProudCrowd team a list of 50 of their key supporters. Those supporters will receive an envelope in the mail with the coin tucked inside.

“You’ve been challenged,” the packet will read.

Step 2: Challenge others

The recipients can then download the free ProudCrowd app for that campaign, and pay to have coins sent to three more of their friends.

The price of the challenge coin is set by the campaign, Brookins said. The lowest fee is $12 which covers the cost of making the coin and the shipping. There is no maximum to the amount charged, although many challenge coins are sold for upwards of $50, Brookins said.

Step 3: ProudCrowd does the rest

After paying for the coins and submitting your friends’ addresses, ProudCrowd does the rest of the work in sending out the coins. Meanwhile, the campaign collects new e-mails and addresses of their supporters.

“It makes it easier for them [supporters] to reach out to their friends. That’s why the pay-it-forward is very important,” Brookins said. “They’re not asking their friend to donate, they’re sending something to their friend.”

The coins are custom designed by ProudCrowd and the campaign, Brookins said. They’re about 1.5 to 2 inches in diameter, about 1/10-inch thick, and generally made of pewter, copper, or nickel, sometimes plated in gold.

Step 4: Track your coins in the app

Through the app, which Brookins created from scratch, challenge coin holders can see where the challenge coins are being sent on a map. They join the team of whoever sent them the app, and can also see other teams and how many coins they have sent.

“So there’s a competitive aspect involved,” Brookins explains. “We’re turning this into a game.”

Even if a challenge coin is sent to someone who does not support that particular candidate, it still opens the door to the social engagement idea that Brookins emphasizes. It’s a conversation starter, he said.

Testing, testing.

Now, Brookins is in the process of seeing if the idea works.

He already has his first customer. The first challenge coins are being manufactured right now for Team Burgum, former Microsoft exec Doug Burgum’s campaign for Governor of North Dakota. The coins will be ready and sent off to their largest supporters in the next two weeks, Brookins said.

Brookins sees huge potential for the scalability of the concept. Imagine a coin for any of the current presidential candidates, he said.

For now, their main target market is any election where 50,000 to 100,000 people will vote, Brookins said. The Burgum campaign will be the beta testers.

“Everybody wants to see, does it work,” he said. “We definitely will be trying to pick up more campaigns if it goes well.”

Photos courtesy of Emerging Prairie.