FUNDRAISING
It’s become pretty expensive to be a Democrat in Utah these days.
The Jefferson / Jackson Dinner is supposed to cost $22.00 – this Friday it costs $65.00 - as does the Eleanor Roosevelt Award Luncheon every fall. The Legislative Ball now costs $250.00 a seat.
At a Meet the Candidate event the other night, a very interesting question was asked about fundraising and involvement of the grassroots: What is your plan for involving the grassroots donors?
Wayne’s answer was, basically, that people could use ActBlue to make small dollar donations.
ActBlue is a great online credit card machine. It can take the credit card payment through a branded outlet and return the donor to the webpage where they came from. It’s a nice tool, but it is not a strategy for sustainable fundraising.
I think this is an illuminating look on why the party is dependant on a few large dollar donors – to the exclusion of the majority of Democrats in this state.
I’ve spent the majority of my adult life, in one form or another, volunteering or employed by various political candidates. I’ve seen candidates, state and local parties both succeed and fail in their fundraising efforts.
Over the years I’ve learned a lot about what it takes to get the grassroots members active and generous toward campaign and party operations: Make It Affordable.
Democrats come from every financial demographic but over the last four years; party fundraising has focused solely on their upper tier of wage earners. Democrats that were happy to give 5, 10, or 25 dollars to the Obama campaign found themselves being either ignored by the State Party or priced out of events that, as proud Democrats, they want to attend, but can’t afford to.
I have no problem with high dollar events – in fact, I think that they’re a great idea. When high dollar events are all that the State Party offers, however, that’s a huge problem.
Affordability and Opportunity -
Every high dollar function of the State Party needs to be paired with at least one, and preferably two, affordable functions.
These events should travel. Break the habit of Salt Lake City only events and get out into the counties. The best example in recent years was the DNC push for Democratic Family Reunions. The model – community pot luck BBQ – was a great opportunity to gather with Democrats and unaffiliated voters, share stories, ideas and coordinate messaging. It was low cost, high visibility and open to everyone.
Targeted Fund Raising -
Sometimes you have to give people a reason to donate. A specific and timely reason. One great idea is to raise money for specific media. A television or radio campaign to target an issue is a perfect way to expand the donor base.
When the political base knows that you’re speaking – and speaking for them – they’re a lot more motivated to be financially supportive as opposed to when they watch over a million and one half dollars disappear into a program they very, very few of them have ever heard about, let alone understand.
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