The importance of fundraising for your political campaign cannot be overstated. Every campaign, no matter how small, needs to raise enough money to get its message out, build a grassroots organization, and turn out the vote on Election Day.
While every campaign is different and will use diverse strategies to reach its fundraising goals, there are four things every campaign can and should be doing to supercharge its fundraising efforts:
#1: Start Early
Building up a donor base for a campaign takes time. It’s not something that can be accomplished in a few short months. The best way to put your campaign in a position to win is to start the fundraising process as early as possible.
As soon as you (or your candidate) get serious about running for office, you should start reaching out to friends, business colleagues, family, neighbors and everyone else you can think of to let them know about your nascent campaign. Your campaign should also reach out to known donors to political candidates in your area to start a dialogue with them about your candidate.
Then, once you are able to start accepting donations, you’ll be ready to make calls and ask for checks. Start your fundraising as early as possible!
Need ideas to raise money for your political campaign? Check out this great series on political campaign fundraising from Campaign Now:
- SLIDE DECK: It's Expensive to Campaign: How much is enough for a political campaign?
- WHITEPAPER: Raise More Money- Leave no stone unturned
#2: Pick Up the Phone!
Direct mail, e-mail, and your campaign website are all great ways to ask for donations… but nothing is as effective as picking up the phone to dial for dollars. If you are running for office, you should be ready and willing to make fundraising calls for as much as 50% of the time that you spend on campaign work. Many of your staff members and advisors should be ready to make fundraising calls as well.
If you really want to raise the money you need to win, pick up the phone, call everyone you know, and ask them to make a donation.
#3: Put Together a Fundraising Team
While the candidate is the fundraiser-in-chief for your campaign, smart candidates know that when it comes to fundraising, they need all of the help they can get. That’s why every campaign – no matter how small or large – can and should be using a Finance Committee to help raise money.
A Finance Committee is a group of people who are committed to the campaign and who agree to reach into their own networks to help your campaign raise the money it needs. This means that committee members make fundraising calls and send e-mails to their friends, family and colleagues, as well as hold fundraising events in their homes and more…
A strong Finance Committee can help your campaign raise far more money, by expanding your fundraising universe and sharing the fundraising workload.
#4: Devote Sufficient Time and Resources to Fundraising
Very few candidates love to fundraise. In fact, most of the candidates I have worked with during my career would rather be doing anything than asking for money. That’s one reason why so many candidates spend less time raising money than they should. Similarly, many campaigns have huge budgets for communications, grassroots operations and get out the vote activities, but skimp when it comes to fundraising.
Without fundraising, your campaign won’t be able to do anything… no yard signs, no advertising, no staff… so nothing could be more important to your success than fundraising. In order to raise the money you need to win, your campaign will need to prioritize fundraising, and be willing to spend the money it takes to run a great fundraising operation. Likewise, your candidate must devote 50% of his time (or more) to raising money.
The good news is that fundraising doesn’t need to be overly stressful. I have seen dozens of first-time candidates apply the four strategies listed above and not only successfully raise the money they need to win, but also enjoy the process. You can too.
