Political campaigns have become very expensive in recent years, with candidates now required to raise millions and even billions of dollars for various campaign uses. This huge campaigning cost can deter some candidates, while some turn to fundraising to get the funds they need to complete the race. To raise the funds required, however, political campaigns must first attract donors. Here are a few ways they can do so.
Reach Out to Previous Donors
Old donors can become new donors especially when a candidate is running for office for a second time. Previous donors are more likely to donate a second time (sometimes even within the same campaign) if they super a candidate strongly. Fortunately, there is no shortage of ways that a candidate can reach these donors.
With good record keeping, a campaign should have a list of previous donors. This list can be added to a CRM platform that sends out automated emails to all previous donors. Doing this is inexpensive and can produce great results if the email sent to the donors is well-written and persuasive.
Carry Out Grassroot Campaigns
Grassroots campaigns are about mobilization and reaching as many people as possible. This mobilization is used to grow a movement that ends up supporting a candidate and even donating to their campaign.
When setting up the campaign, it is important to have an anchor message that people can coalesce around. An engagement strategy, volunteers, and the power of social media will all determine the success of the campaign.
Another critical strategy for attracting donors is through the use of impactful promotional material. By creating customizable political promotional supplies, campaigns can produce targeted, message-driven content that resonates with potential donors. High-quality, appealing promotional items not only increase visibility but also reinforce the campaign’s key messages, making it more likely for individuals to commit their support financially.
Send an SMS
When you hear about sending an SMS to attract political donors, you might think that it would not work because SMS is supposed to be a personal and intimate communication medium. This is precisely why SMS works so well for political fundraising. Most people open 98% of their SMS within three minutes of receiving them. This is especially true if you consider that they see an enticing push notification first and are intrigued to find out what the message says.
The SMS could be informing the recipient about a candidate but could also be asking them to opt into SMS communication. Once they opt-in, campaigners and parties can send an SMS with embedded links to their donation pages. Additionally, parties and candidates can integrate their campaign forms with an SMS marketing tool to make this easier. For example, conservatives can fundraise using WinRed fundraising and Tatango, which helps them grow their SMS mailing lists while automating SMS marketing.
Encourage Small Donations
Many politicians focus on larger donors and forget small donors cannot contribute a lot of money at once, However, they can donate small amounts over a longer period. Because campaigns are long, this strategy could work to sustain a candidate if they have a large group of supporters sending smaller but numerous monthly donations.
Smaller donors are invaluable because they can help a candidate form deeper roots with communities that they want to vote for them.
Due to how expensive elections have become, candidates will spend a lot of time raising funds. Whatever position they are running for, they need to find ways to raise these funds while also taking care of their other campaign obligations.
