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Winning Campaigns Online
What Campaigns Need to Avoid ...
Critical Fundraising Mistakes
By Holly Robichaud
The number one reason why campaigns fail is lack of resources, i.e. money. During this recession fundraising is going to be an even greater challenge, requiring much more effort over the next 12 months. The overall success in raising money depends upon the ability to build an orderly program that asks the right people for specific dollar amounts. Just as every campaign needs a written plan, your fundraising approach must be even more planned and detail oriented. To maximize your results and profits, here are some common mistakes that campaigns and candidates must avoid.
Too little time devoted to dialing for dollars.
An overwhelming majority of candidates dislike calling for money and try to avoid it as if it were the plague. Hence, a top responsibility of a manager and finance director is to ensure that the candidate is constantly working the phones. Candidates must spend a minimum of 50% of their campaign time dedicated to calling hundreds of prospects for money. It should be scheduled not unlike an appointment and listed on the candidate’s calendar. A Congressional candidate, who only calls 30 names per week, can not be considered serious unless he or she is planning on self-funding the campaign.
Refusing to ask friends and family for money.
Campaigns cannot rely on just party donors. You need to have base support from friends and family before known party donors will even consider contributing to your campaign. A candidate should have a minimum of 100 friends and family on their Christmas card list and be willing to ask them for a contribution. If a candidate cannot produce a personal list of 100, then he or she should think seriously about making friends, not running for office.
Never leave a voicemail message on the initial attempt.
The hardest part of dialing for dollars is getting the prospect on the phone. In frustration many candidates resort to leaving messages. Potential donors rarely willingly call back to contribute. In fact, voicemail messages can often serve as a warning to avoid your call. Before leaving a message, call a prospect at least 5 times.
Never rely on a follow up letter to make the sale.
All too often candidates get nervous about asking for money. Instead of requesting a specific dollar amount, nervous candidates ask for support. “Support” does not mean money. Sometimes, support can be a friendly pat on the back. To get money, you must ask for a specific dollar figure.
Never rely on one method of fundraising.
Twenty years ago the typical fundraising plan was a group of wealthy businessmen who raised most of the money in large sums through personal solicitation. Nowadays campaign fundraising is a complex undertaking involving a coordinated plan of events, finance committees, personal solicitation, phones, the Internet, and direct mail. There are many types of donors. For example, direct mail contributors don’t attend events. On the other hand, some who like to attend events will not respond unless confronted with personal solicitation. Don’t limit your opportunity by narrowing your methodology and leaving money on the table.
Free events result in free-loaders.
Hope is never a good fundraising tool, but that is the method people employ when organizing meet & greet events. If you don’t ask, people will not contribute. All successful fundraising events ask attendees to contribute a specific amount.
Avoid events with high overhead.
Compared to all the other fundraising methods, events can be the riskiest venture due to their high overhead expense. For a fundraiser you not only have to pay for mail and postage, but you also have to cover the costs of food and hall rental among other expenses. If you do not plan and budget carefully, your expenses will consume all of your contributions and leave you with no profit. You need to make sure that money is not wasted on extras such as centerpieces and decoration and always avoid open bars and other luxuries that will surely drain your opportunity to profit.
Believing that guest speakers guarantee success.
A famous speaker can generate interest in an event, but they don’t sell tickets. Even if you secure the President of the United States as the main attraction, you still need people willing to sell tickets. Overall, a guest speaker is just the excuse for holding the event. So don’t wait too long for confirmation of a speaker, because you will lose valuable time for soliciting and selling event tickets.
Large rooms make larger disasters.
There is nothing worse for a campaign’s momentum than to have a large empty room. Even if you get 100 people to attend at $1000 per head and the room is spacious, the evening will appear to be a failure. The ultimate golden rule is to have a crowded and packed room no matter what. If you are light on sales, then either cut the room size in half or give away some tickets. Bottom line, the room should be crowded... even uncomfortable!
Short invitation lists guarantee small results.
Normally when you invite your friends to a birthday party eighty percent of them turn out. For a political fundraiser, a candidate can expect roughly a 2 to 4% rate of return for a new list and a 5 to 10% return on repeat donors. Hence if you want one hundred people to attend, then you need to mail at least 1000 invitations. Don’t interpret the lack of response as a sign of unpopularity. Politics is not everyone’s cup of tea and a fundraiser can send even your strongest supporters away for the weekend.
Never use labels on mail packages.
Nothing says junk mail like a label. In order to get the donation, you first have to entice the recipient to open the package by making a good mailbox impression. Letters should either be hand addressed or addressed with a direct impression to help you to cut through the mailbox clutter. Never use a “bulk rate indicia.” Live and pre-cancelled stamps personalize your package. Remember that your mail piece is more likely competing against Home Depot and the Victoria Secret catalog than your opponent.
Failing to re-solicit.
Once you have built a donor master file, re-solicit the list every 6 to 8 weeks. People will double down on their financial support if they are repeatedly asked to give. Campaigns that raise money ask for it. Campaigns that don’t raise reasonably sufficient funds don’t ask or more likely, don’t ask enough.
A lack of patience.
Patience is a virtue, especially in reference to fundraising. Early money is the hardest to raise, but it will generate more contributions as the campaign progresses. You have to plant seeds early that will sprout during the last 60 days of the campaign.
Remember this very important fact about the successful fundraising plan, i.e. strategy…. the amount you raise between now and Labor Day of Election year will double during the last 6 weeks of the campaign, if you ask, ask, ask, and then, ask again.
Holly Robichaud has over 20 years experience in helping
Republicans get elected to office. She specializes
in strategy, direct mail, voter contact programs, and campaign
fundraising. She can be reached at Click here to contact this Author
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Winning Campaigns Online
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