BUILDING BETTER CAMPAIGNS

February 2004
TEN SECRETS FOR A SUCCESSFUL POLITICAL FUNDRAISER
 

All candidates want to hold fundraisers for their campaigns. They envision throngs of eager supporters coming to a fest of yummy goat cheese soufflé and artichoke sections encrusted with slivered pecans on a bed of arugula, and forking over good money for the cause.

Little do they know events are the hardest way to raise money for a campaign, not to mention the most time and effort spent for the smallest return.

As I often say to my clients, “You could be on the phone to your colleagues and friends asking $1000 apiece and raise more money in a tenth the time it takes to put on one decent event.”

But go figure. They’d rather hire a hall and caterers, beg for wine from the local vineyard, print invitations and return envelopes and spend money for mailing than pick up the phone.

Campaign fundraising events are, like bumper stickers and buttons, a necessary campaign evil. Put them in the budget. They are going to happen.  You might as well make them pay for themselves, generate a little “buzz” for the campaign and maybe even make some money. 

Here are ten tips for making your fundraising event a success:

  1. Keep expectations realistic. Determine well in advance whether you really need to make money with the event, or if generating publicity and galvanizing your campaign volunteers is enough.
  1. Plan well in advance. Book your hall if one is needed, or get someone with a fabulous house your supporters will pay to see. Remember you need time to gather sponsor, print an invitation, mail the invitation and do follow up phone calls. You’d be surprised how many people bury your wonderful invitation under their stack of bills to be paid at the end of the month.
  1. Have a team of volunteers in charge of the fundraiser. Have your fundraising chair train them well, offer them first crack at the eats, but don’t let them into the booze too early. Make sure they get the contact info for everyone coming through the door and have your literature and donation envelopes available. And no freebies unless they’re VIPs, and then, try to get them to give during the ask.
  1. Get the bulk of your money up front. This means offering an incentive to your major donors to be a sponsor of the event. Give them an honored title depending on the level of giving. For example $1000 donors can be Angels, $500 Beneficiaries, etc. Tell them their name will appear on the invitation that goes to thousands of your town’s prominent residents.
  1. Get food and wine donated if possible. Many restaurants are willing to give a platter of goodies for a worthy candidate.  If you have boutique wineries or small breweries in your neighborhood, they often will donate a case or a keg to your campaign event.  Don’t forget to mention them in your invitation and on your program. If you get a well known chef to offer his services, you’ve got one more “selling” point on the invitation.
  1. Try to get “value added” by enticing a local chamber group or pianist to play at your event. They can use the exposure and you’ve got instant atmosphere. If it’s an evening event, you might even see if a jazz or swing band can play dance tunes for the guests
  1. Make sure you get a Union bug on your invites even if small gathering. You never know who might show up and offer their endorsement (or withhold it)
  1. Get as much press for your event as you can. Get it announced ahead of time in the local events section of the paper, get it on the radio if you can. If your candidate is endorsed by any environmental groups or unions, have them announce it in their newsletters and at meetings. Print extra invitations for your volunteers and supporters to hand out wherever they go.

Invite the press to your event and try to get a photo in the society pages. Your sponsor list of local dignitaries may make you more newsworthy than you think.

  1. Have your fundraising chair or your best speaker do an “ask” no matter what the cost for admission. People who want to see you win will always be able to give a little (and often a lot more) but you have to ask. Have envelopes on the chairs or scattered about the room, with plenty of pens at the ready.

Consider having a “shill” in the audience who will run up to write the first check Obviously this needs to be someone who would have written one anyway, but that first enthusiastic donation will prime the pump of your other attendees

10.  Thank your volunteers, sponsors, donors, the caterer, the host, everyone who made the event possible.  Make your thanks sincere. They will come through for you again if they feel appreciated. No matter the outcome of the event, these are your maintays, and you need to let them know you value their time and energy on your behalf.

Congratulations on a successful event! Don’t be disappointed if you make less than expected. At worst you will have had a fun event that brought your most ardent supporters together for a pep rally and got your name in the paper.  At best, you will made some money for the next phase of the campaign and maybe even found new volunteers for the all important get out the vote effort.

 

Contact:
Dotty LeMieux, Founder GreenDog Campaigns
8 Willow Street
San Rafael CA 94901
415-485-1040
del@greendogcampaigns.com
www.greendogcampaigns.com

Dotty LeMieux founded GreenDog Campaigns in 1998 and has maintained a steady 75% win rate for women, first time and challenger candidates. She also presents training programs in conjunction with National Women’s Political Caucus, the Democratic Party and other activist groups. Her articles have been published in campaign magazines and online, and she recently presented a nationally broadcast “Webinar” for Winning Campaigns Magazine on the subject of negative campaigning.