the kenney group

Political Consulting & Campaign Management

Preschool Matters

The Kenney Group was enlisted to provide strategic consulting and campaign management for "Preschool Matters," a November 2006 Denver ballot referendum that asked voters to approve a sales tax increase to create "tuition credits" to send their 4-year-olds to the early childhood education program of their choice. The dollar amount for each child would be determined on a sliding scale depending on family income and the quality of the program. The challenge: other variations of preschool public funding initiatives had failed at the polls twice in the prior five years—election results that were relatively fresh in the minds of voters.

Taking lessons-learned from the prior unsuccessful proposals and campaigns, The Kenney Group crafted a wide-ranging campaign plan, including:

• Polling and focus group research
• Message development on the economic, educational and social benefits of preschool
• Coalition-building with a broad network of interests, including business, civic and neighborhood groups as well as education advocates
• Voter targeting
• Earned media
• Direct mail
• Television media
• Comprehensive field campaign throughout Denver's neighborhoods.

The Kenney Group's campaign strategy and management resulted in a victory for "Preschool Matters - Vote Yes on 1A" among Denver voters.