Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapters
01 - The Candidate
02 - The Staff

Chapter 7

Fundraising

A successful political campaign must have money; there is no getting around that point. A candidate that is behind in the polls by over 15 points will find very little support from the Republican Party. Several clubs and political service associations will give small donations to almost anyone that asks, but in order to get significant support from the Party you must make a name for yourself early. Party support is important because it is not legally limited by finance laws; the party can give as much as it wants to without penalty.

Some party officials want to see a candidate raise a certain amount of support on their own to prove their ability to win. Unfortunately, it takes money to raise money. You should try and raise money, support and volunteers before you start asking for help from the State Republican Party. It is also important to remember to attend all Party events and meetings; when the time comes to ask for support, you will need members to vouch for your character.

Another type of donor that is not limited by finance laws are other candidates; this is known as candidate to candidate contributions. Many safe incumbents have large war chests they do not need. Legally, this money must be spent on their campaign or given to fellow candidates. You must call and ask for this money yourself, do not have a staffer do it. You can ask your friends for a personal introduction to safe incumbents, but you must be the one to ask for money.

Some candidates choose to name an Executive Committee (also known as a fundraising committee) for additional fundraising. Your executive committee should be made up of wealthy friends and political allies that can raise large sums of money from their social groups. The executive Committee is chaired by the campaign treasurer and should meet twice a month. The members of your Executive Committee need to be briefed on campaign finance laws and the candidate’s platform. Under no circumstances should a member of the executive committee have the ability to make promises or “deals”.

Make sure your Treasurer or Research Director investigates every donor that gives more than $200 to the campaign. You should return donations from hate groups, foreign companies and governments or any company or individual involved in scandal. Don’t take money from anyone you wouldn’t break bread with.

A candidate must spend several hours a week asking friends, family and political allies for money and supplies. Your tele-fundraisers should be making at least 600 calls a week asking for smaller donations while the Campaign Manager should be requesting and filling out PAC questionnaires, and making follow-up calls for support.

Political Action Committees are difficult to get money from on a good day. However, some may offer support in other ways; PACs may endorse your candidacy, include you on their mailers, distribute your materials at PAC events or encourage their members to support you. PACs that decide to help you will want access to the campaign and the candidate. This access may include using the candidate as a speaker for their events, your signed endorsement of PAC resolutions and/or your pledge to support their agenda if elected. For these reasons; never solicit money or support from PACs you don’t agree with.

Unless you or a member of your staff knows someone on a PAC’s Board of Directors, do not contact the national headquarters. You must go through the proper channels that start with the local chapter. Board members do not want to meet with unsolicited candidates unless they have been recommended by the local chapter. Calling the Executive Director of a PAC out of the blue and asking for support is like calling a stranger and asking for an invitation to their birthday party; it’s considered rude.

The Campaign Manager should have donation envelopes printed up for events and fundraisers. Donation envelopes are standard envelopes addressed to the campaign with suggested dollar amounts printed on the inside flap. The top left corner should have a place for the donors name, address, phone number and email address. These envelopes can be mailed out, handed out or placed on seats at fundraisers and club meetings. The envelopes keep cash donations separated by donor and are intended for donations between five and two hundred dollars. These envelopes can also be used in a direct mail campaign or added to the precinct walker’s handout literature. Only the treasurer or the candidate should be allowed to open the envelopes.

People are often more willing to donate with a credit card than cash (This is often true with larger amounts and online donations). You will need a merchant account to process credit card donations. It’s best if you get your merchant account through the bank that you are using for the campaign accounts.

Fundraising Events: Each fundraising event needs to be planned down to the last detail by the Event Coordinator and their fundraising crew. Food, drinks, tables, flatware, entertainment, lights, sound, venue, publicity, permits and a hundred other problems must be solved long before the event. Fundraising events can also serve to boost the morale of your crews.

Traditional, grassroots fundraisers such as bake sales, raffles and carwashes don’t work well for political fundraising. Political fundraisers serve more than one purpose; they must raise money and demonstrate your ability to run a successful campaign. You must be able to socialize with the people that attend and convince them that you are ready and able to hold public office.

It is best to have several different types of fundraising events; some for big donors and some for smaller donors and volunteers. Keep in mind that working people are more likely to be able to attend events on weekends. They also want to use this free time to be with their families. Saturday mid afternoon cook-outs in the park, with activities for the kids and entertainment for everyone work best. You should prepare a speech about jobs and opportunity for this type of event.

The most cost effective way to have a fundraiser is to get someone else to host it. Local Republican clubs are the best ones to ask, but some local PACs may be willing to help. They may only be willing to help with the location or volunteers; they may also ask for a percentage of ticket sales. Make sure you know what you are agreeing to.

Fundraisers require operating capital that must be raised before the event. You must be able to cover the entire cost of the event before announcing it. Don’t rely on money you haven’t raised yet. You and your fundraising crew will have a better understanding of your event options, but below are a few ideas to get you started.

Most of these ideas are standard fundraisers and have been successful in stocking the war chests of many politicians. Some are untested but have the potential of great success. At private functions, donation envelopes should be placed at every table and a collection box will sit at every entrance.

1. A dinner or luncheon with music, entertainment and a speech from the candidate.
2. A roast with a popular politician as the guest of honor. Friend and foe alike will purchase pricey tickets to watch a congressman, assemblyman, mayor or celebrity on the hot seat.
3. A variety show with local talent to star. This can be held on its own or with a dinner and cocktails.
4. Silent auctions with donated goods and services. These are good money makers but they should be used as part of another event such as a dinner.
5. Bounty Drives. Volunteers can participate in petition or registration drives with part of the bounty to be paid to the campaign.
6. Competition fundraisers with donated prizes and a BBQ. These can be anything from a marksmanship competition to a talent show. You can charge participants an entrance fee and sell tickets to spectators.
7. Cocktail parties with a no-host bar. People give more when they drink.
8. T-shirts and merchandise sales.
9. Buy blocks of tickets for an existing show or event at a discount and sell them to supporters at full price.
10. Offer a tour “trip” to a local landmark. In California, a pilgrimage to the Regan Library, including lunch and a bus seat for $50 would be a good example.

When you have chosen the type of event and have settled on a budget, you must plan every detail. If your evening event starts before 7:00 pm., you will want to serve dinner and cocktails. If one of your volunteers have catering experience and is willing to cater the fundraiser for you, ask them for references anyway. You do not want to cut corners on the meal.

Make sure you don’t serve a “rubber chicken dinner” at your fundraiser. You should take the time to plan a meal people will remember and rave about. You may decide to have a theme to the event, in which case the food should complement the theme. Avoid pork dishes unless you plan to have a kosher and/or a vegetarian alternative. For Republican dinners, beef is your best bet.

Themed events are an alternative to the boring fundraisers everyone else throws. Theme events must be done with taste and style or not at all.

Good Examples:

1. Big Band Nightclub: Dinner, Dancing and a no host bar.
2. An Evening in Paradise: Island music, tropical drinks/food and Polynesian entertainment. This theme is best outdoors by the shore or next to a large pool.
3. Dinner in Vegas: Game tables and machines can be rented from gaming suppliers, listed in the phonebook. Guests donate money for chips, but they do not cash out at the end of the night. Top winners get donated prizes.
4. A Ladies Sunday Tea: A formal tea with a quartet and a raffle.
5. Shindig or Barn Dance: Many Republicans are country music fans; serve ‘down home’ food, clear the dance floor and hire a band. (OK, you could argue the taste and style point on this idea)
6. The Formal: These are very expensive events that require a lot of volunteers. You should only have a formal fundraiser if you know a lot of wealthy people to invite and you have a five star venue.

The cheap and effective way to hire a band suitable for a fundraising event is to contact your local college music department; you should be able to find willing Jazz, classical and swing bands willing to work cheap. If you are looking for a country, rock or pop band, you can often find them on Myspace.com or in the local newspaper, in the back of the entertainment section.

You will need a suitable venue for the event. It is worth your time to ask around at club meetings and in your social circles for donated or discounted event venues. Plan your event and theme (if any) around the venue; an ocean view and a western theme or a historic building with an 80’s theme would be tacky. Many companies handle party/event rentals at reasonable prices. It is worth the effort to call every rental company in the phonebook to find the best prices.

Once you have planned and budgeted for your event, you will need to get the word out to the donors. Contact everyone in your database and send them a flier with the date, time, location and dress. Take the time to make a professional looking invitation in PDF format; these can be printed and mailed or sent as an attachment in email. Allow people to purchase advanced tickets, (at a slight discount) with a credit card through your website. Announce the up coming fundraiser at every speech or personal appearance and make the flier for the event available through the website.

Try to control the bar receipts which can be substantial at one of these events. The margin of profit on a bar bottle is as much as ten times its cost. A big event can pay for a lot of mailers and supplies in booze sales alone. In some events you can also sell hand rolled cigars (at a marked up price). Make sure you consult with someone that knows about cigars before you purchase them.

If you are able, you should have a rehearsal before the fundraiser to make sure the sound system, lights, volunteers, event staff and entertainment know their cues. If parking will problem at the event, hire a valet service to park your guest’s cars.

Direct Mail: Direct mail campaigns can be expensive and risky. Companies that charge a flat rate will want to be paid regardless of how successful the mailing is. Some companies will want to charge you a “list rental fee” in addition to postal charges, labor and a consultant fees. If you decide to put out a direct mail piece or an insert in the local newspaper, do it yourself. Do not hire any company that claims that they can do it for you cheaper; they can’t. This is a scam that is often perpetrated by low level party members looking to cash in on your inexperience. In the old days these con-artists would be tarred, feathered and run out of town on a rail. Contact the local paper or weekly circular and ask for rates if you choose to take out an ad.

You can obtain a voters list from the County Central Committee that will include mailing addresses, phone numbers and some email addresses. Often these lists are in an excel document, making it easy to sort the list by categories (party, zip code, gender). The excel document can be imported to the label making program that sends the data to the printer. Load your printer with separated, sticker paper and place the individual stickers onto legal sized envelops containing campaign literature and donation envelope. Take your boxes of mailers to the post office and ask them about bulk rates.

Tele-Fundraising: You should have people dialing for dollars every day. Volunteers can make “cold calls” to district voters, asking for small donations and inviting them to fundraising events. For more experienced tele-fundraisers, you can obtain a “hot list” from a marketing firm.

Hot lists contain the contact information of people that have donated money to conservative causes in the past few years. If you decide to rent a hot list, make sure the company is reputable and uses updated lists. You may also want to ask around the party for a referral.

Tele-fundraisers need a good script to work from; keep it short and to the point. In addition to the script, give every tele-fundraiser a FAQ sheet, candidate biography and talking points. Make sure they know what they are talking about before you have them call the voters. You don’t want to use uninformed and unskilled volunteers in your phone room.

The Tele-fundraisers may need to assist the phone crew at crucial times. Late in the campaign, it will be more important to help get out the vote than to solicit donations. Tele-fundraisers should assist the phone crew the week before absentee ballots are mailed out and the last week of the campaign.