No. 5

REASONS PEOPLE GIVE—

- Number ONE Reason People GIVE: BECAUSE THEY WERE ASKED!

-Number TWO: They were asked a SECOND, THIRD, FOURTH or FIFTH TIME.

-They were told what their money was to be used for.

-They were told their money was needed by a certain date.

- Ideology and agreement with Issues

- Connection to the Candidate, family, supporter or member of the committee

- Ego

- Hope for reward

- To join the Bandwagon

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• The CANDIDATE should devote significant time (party manuals suggest up to 20 hours per week) to personal solicitation of campaign funds from donors. NO ONE ELSE can raise money as effectively as the Candidate, especially those donors with big pockets. The candidate should always be the main solicitor from those donors, enlisting support people at face-to-face meetings.
• The Donor Envelope is your second best fundraising tool. It should go into every single mailing and be included in every door-to-door packet and present at every single event.
• Fundraising letters via:
  • US Mail Marketing Campaigns— Include brochures or Candidate Info cards, donor envelopes and other campaign literature and give-aways. You can fit more weight into a bulk mail envelope for a minimum cost — as much as 3.3 oz for less than half the price of first class stamp. Bulk mail can be disguised as first class mail by using special stamps or franking. We do suggest that you separate key donors who give over a certain amount, use your good stationery and mail first class.
  • Email Marketing Campaigns — These are those "professional" emails that look like web pages.They come into your email box as newsletters, announcements, coupons and ads. Extremely cost effective, they can be sent to your database for as low as 50 for a penny. They contain click-on links to web pages and on-line donation links.
• PHONE BANK
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• Donor Information: Verification of name, address, work and home phone, occupation and donating history . KEEP AN UP-DATED LIST.
• Amount to be requested.
• Identify issues of concern and connection to the Candidate.
• Brief statement regarding the mission of the Candidate.
• Talking points which identify current events and Candidate's favorable stand/solution.
• Follow up with unanswered questions by the donor and/or a Thank You note or call from the Candidate for the donation.
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• Greeting — if possible, address letters to individual names. If you don't have the software to do this, address to "Friends of________" or "Supporters of_______" and use the Candidates first and last name. Not everyone will know who the "Joe" in "friends of Joe" is and there may be several "Joes" running in the election. Doing this helps imprint your candidate branding.
• Opening paragraph — Uplifting! Good news or a series of good news bullets.
• Describe what's coming up next—
  • What it is.
  • Why and How you're going to do it.
  • Results you expect.
  • If it's an event: location.
  • If it's a broadcast, include dates/times and stations/channels.
• Ask for money—
  • Ask for a SPECIFIC AMOUNT.
  • QUANTIFY what that amount will buy in easily understood terms: "$1000 will pay for a mailing to 5,000 people." "$100 will pay for the hot dogs at the campaign picnic."
  • Provide an URGENT DEADLINE
• Tone — ASK with the emphasis on donors and others in the district benefitting by this support. Remember that you are the hope for the district's future. Don't sound desperate or apologetic. Don't beg. Donors — and voters — will pick up on the tone and people don't respond well to desperate candidates. It rings of "loser."
• Remind supporters that your past success is due to their contributions. If you don't accept PAC contributions, let them know that their donations make up your entire budget.
• Thank them in advance at the end of the letter. —don't forget to send follow-up thank you notes to donors— your best tool for follow-up donations.
• P.S. add-on—
  • Create an enticing, short message to encourage reading the entire message.
  • Reinforce the main message.
  • Re-emphasize the urgency.
• Make the reader turn the page if it's more than one page long— Don't finish your thought on page one. Break it off and continue on page 2.
• Teasers for mailing envelopes or e-mail subject lines— "Wouldn't you like a cleaner community?" or a call to action, "Help us bring accountability to (local, county, state) government!" If you aren't printing out a new batch of envelopes with the teaser printed on it, you can have stickers printed up. Contact Election Images for further information.

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• All Politics are LOCAL: Raise Money on Main Street
• Regarding costs: FREE is better than cheap.
• What you NET is significantly more important than what you RAISE.
• Target your donors
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