Campaign Alert Get up to speed-now-on these new rules
Smart Voter Targeting Wins Campaigns
If you're running for office—whether local, state or federal—voter turnout in the November general election is a big deal. But it's even more of a concern if you need to get your supporters to the polls to win a contested primary. In some of these races, you typically find the turnout to be 20 percent to 50 percent lower than that of a general election. This means your campaign must be ready to pull out all the stops, since a handful of votes can spell the difference between winning and losing.
Low turnout can be a product of voter apathy, the weather or the overall political climate. But whatever the election environment, there are ways that smart campaigns can maximize the vote.
First, campaigns must realize that there is a vast difference between primary, municipal and general election voters. To win in a primary contest, a campaign has to target those who have historically voted in these elections. That requires you to build Election Day turnout models based upon the turnouts for similar primary elections in the past.
Also, don't make the common mistake of targeting the wrong types of voters. For example, if you are managing a local race for mayor or council and the election is held in the spring, the campaign should not be targeting voters who only vote in general elections. At the same time that you're messaging to citizens who may not vote, you could be failing to communicate with others who have a history of voting in municipal elections or primaries.
To find targeting data, contact your local clerk or elections office and ask if you can obtain the number of registered voters and the number of actual voters who turned out to vote in the last two similar elections. Once you have this data, you can begin to build your turnout model. Averaging the last two similar elections and dividing that average into the total number of registered voters, should yield the turnout percentage—roughly the number of voters who will vote in your election.
Once you have targeted the most likely voters, it's time to start communicating your message to them. Make sure that message is clear, concise and consistent. Otherwise, you won't be able to penetrate the competing messages from other campaigns and consumer products.
The next step is to use this communication to identify which voters are supporting your candidate, and focus on turning them out on Election Day. In messaging to them, always incorporate the date of the election and the office you are running for. Because most voters are trained to think that elections occur in November, they need to be repeatedly reminded of the election date.
When it comes to turnout, it all boils down to these three critical efforts: research past elections, target the most likely voters and communicate a crisp, clear message. Do these well, and your campaign will have the structure it needs to win.
Tony Bawidamann is a Democratic strategist and vice president at the public relations/public affairs firm MWW Group.
Your Direct Mail Can Be a Cut Above But the keys to success are not what you think.
When discussing what makes good or bad mail, too often people focus on the final product. They talk about graphic design (be creative) or copy (be concise) but, in truth, those are some of the final decisions you'll make. The keys to a successful mail program are actually defined weeks and months earlier, long before you start writing the first piece.
1. Know your candidate bio
Because mail is less animated than TV, it relies more heavily on details about your candidates to bring them to life. Salting the copy with personal details regarding the candidates' local ties (where they grew up, their high school, where their grandfather's business was first located) will make their story interesting. And by researching your candidates' bios you will also learn their weaknesses, ensuring that you won't make an attack that could be deemed hypocritical.
2. Build your foundation on good research
You'll need to know the opposition as well as your own candidate, so a well-funded campaign should conduct opposition research and polling. Research both sides' strengths and weaknesses, their successes and failures. What you'll say about your candidate depends in part on what you think the other side will say about theirs. Test these messages in a baseline poll that walks through key message themes of each campaign—positive and negative—so you know what's believable and credible to voters. And when you finally do write that first negative mail, footnote every claim. In this new information age where people can Google almost any fact instantaneously, voters are even more wary of claims made without any substantiation.
3. Spend the money on a real photo shoot
Nothing makes an elected official look worse than a mail piece with three pictures: one grainy, one a head shot in front of a flag and the third a shot of them handing an oversized check to an unprepared township official. Put as much time into the still shoot as the TV shoot; think about what the major themes of the campaign will be and plan a shoot around those issues. Recruit as many volunteers as you can—seniors, kids, firemen, teachers, doctors—they'll all make these pre-planned shots look as natural as possible. And don't forget to take the diversity of your district into account when recruiting volunteers.
4. Understand your budget's constraints
Most people realize that your mail budget affects the volume of mail that you can send: The more money you raise, the more mail you can send. But it also affects the tone of your pieces. Fewer pieces means shortening the arc of what will be presented in the mail program. For example, in a competitive race, a 10-piece program might propose five positives, two comparatives and three negatives, spread out over five weeks. However, a four-piece plan might default to four comparatives over two weeks. A larger program will allow you to repeat key issues over a number of pieces. A smaller program must gamble and focus on just one or two issues, at most.
5. Lay the entire program out in a comprehensive plan
Once all the research is done and you have a good estimate of your budget, create a detailed mail plan that ensures the key players of the campaign are all on the same page. This plan should lay out the path to victory: the number of pieces, timing, targeting, themes, approval dates, mailing dates and cost. Moreover, ensure that contingency plans are clearly defined, in case your campaign has trouble raising money or the opponent runs a very different campaign (i.e., much more negative) than you expected.
Andrew Kennedy is principal of Kennedy Communications, a Democratic firm specializing in direct mail and print advertising.
Get More Juice From Your Press Releases
Press releases can feel like a necessary evil to many campaign managers. You have to issue them but you don't have much confidence that they'll earn you any votes, in large part because you have no control over whether the media will report the information or how their stories will present your candidate.But that view is changing as more and more campaign activity moves to the Internet. Taking advantage of blogs, YouTube and interactive websites, smart campaigns are attracting donors, volunteers and voters by making their press releases both relevant and findable in the online world.
When press releases can be found on search engines and news websites like Google News, they can play a major role in supporting one's overall campaign marketing strategy.
Knowing press releases can have that sort of impact is not the same as making it happen are two different things. You need to know how to get your releases into the world of search and how they should be written so that they will pop up in searches. There are also some key elements that can make a big difference in the results you get.
Press Releases and Campaign Strategy
Leaving aside the fact that you still need to get your releases to the traditional media, think about press releases in light of your overall campaign strategy. Press releases can:
- Support existing ties to supporters, donors and volunteers
- Help attract new supporters, donors and volunteer
- Help create buzz about specific issues
- Help promote your candidate's brand identity
Imagine someone searching out your candidate's position on offshore drilling. If they search for your candidate by name, hopefully they will find your website and eventually find your candidate's views on the issue. But what if they search on your candidate's name plus "offshore drilling"? One of the first items they should see is a press release stating your candidate's views. Consider how much more of an impact that could make versus having to search through a website to find the information!
RSS: The Key to Online Relationship Building
In the past, online marketing meant trying to figure out how to get people to come back to a website. One strategy was building and maintaining one or many e-mail lists and sending out e-mail blasts. Today, instant messages can be used for short notices. Now another very valuable tool has come along in the form of RSS (really simple syndication).
The beauty of RSS is that once someone subscribes, your information is pushed to them outside of the cluttered email channel. When you get people to sign up to receive an RSS feed of your press releases, for example, your latest release will pop up in their RSS reader, browser or portal page. As a result, they will see it faster and it is much more likely to be read.
Offering an RSS subscription to your press releases is the way to reach another important audience: bloggers. Bloggers may not like you sending them releases by email. However, if you let someone know that you offer an RSS feed of your releases, he or she might sign up. RSS—not e-mail—is the blogger's medium.
Writing Releases for the Online World
There are at least four critical factors that need to be considered when writing releases for the online world:
1. Headlines
2. Page titles
3. The first paragraph
4. Embedded links
Headlines: If you have been issuing releases without a headline or just putting "Media Advisory" at the top of your release, you need to change immediately. Headlines are one of the three most important elements in the search engine ranking of your press release. Your candidate's name, the contest he or she is running in, as well as particulars from the release should be included in every headline. Instead of "Press Conference Monday at 11 a.m.," your headline should read "Mary Jones, Candidate for U.S. Congress in New York's 30th District, Will Hold a Press Conference on Off-shore Drilling in Front of the Yourtown City Hall at 11 a.m. Monday, Oct. 6."
Page Titles: The headline should be used as the title of the webpage version of your press release. Otherwise you're undercutting the search engine ranking of that release and reducing the chances it will be found.
First Paragraph: The first paragraph of your press release should include all of the who/what/why/where essential information. Why is this crucial? Because if the news person who is reading that release hasn't been convinced by the headline that your release is important to her or his audience, your first paragraph had better do the job. Don't count on busy journalists reading your entire release to find key information, such as what the press conference is about.
Embedded Links: Don't forget to insert links in the body of your text to pages on your website that support the content of your release. Thus, when you're announcing a page on your site where people can sign up for your RSS feed, include the link to that page. Links can also be included to photos, audio and video clips, as well as to PDF or Word documents.
Picking a Press Release Distribution Service
All of the above may sound like you need to involve an expensive IT person. In fact, every capability mentioned here PLUS the ability to reach the traditional media at the same time can be provided by some press release distribution services. When contacting a potential vendor you will want to ask these critical questions:
1. Do they permit you to build more than one media list for your election district? For example, you may want to create separate regional lists as well as separate lists for broadcast and print media.
2. Is search engine optimization of press releases built into their service? Optimization includes such features as using the headline as the page title of your releases.
3. Do they have arrangements with any online news sites that will result in your releases being posted or findable by keyword search? Your chances of being found on sites like Google News will rise dramatically if you use a service that follows requirements for getting releases on Google News.
4. Do they offer an RSS feed of your releases which can be placed on your website?
Then compare pricing. Some companies charge extra for some or all of the above features, while others may offer a fl at rate package that covers everything you need.
This fall, make sure your press releases are part of your online strategy by optimizing them for search engines and offering them via RSS. Who knows—the traditional media might even respond to them as well.
Peter G. Pollak is publisher and editor of The Empire Page (www.empirepage.com) and chairman of readMedia Inc. (www.readmedia.com).
There's an Art to Networking
In politics, most opportunities result from a single, identifiable human being. Here are some practical and proven principles you can use to expand your contacts and create relationships that can help you throughout your political career.
1. Develop a Game Plan
The first thing to do before a networking event is to define your goals by asking three questions:
- What am I trying to accomplish? Are you trying to establish new contacts for future job prospects, revitalize old contacts, seek advice on campaign strategy, or enjoy the open bar? Understanding your goals will keep you focused throughout the event. This is very important because we can easily get distracted by catching up with friends or, worse, by getting stuck with a Stage-5 clinger who insists on telling you about door-knocking for Ike.
- Where do I need to be? Figure out which organizations or events will give you access to the people you need to meet. Is it a political party, nonprofit, trade association or chamber of commerce? Experimenting with different types of groups may open new doors.
- Who do I need to meet? It’s important to research this before the event. You can usually request an RSVP list from the organizer before the event. Make a list of people you’d like to meet, or you’ll be shooting blindfolded all night long. Don’t get hung up stalking VIPs, though; it’s better to meet the VIP’s staffers, since there’s a more realistic chance of establishing a relationship with them.
2. Make Contact
In Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, he states, “You can make more friends in two months by becoming really interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.” I understand this runs counter to typical political networking, where people have the tendency to brag and bloviate. When meeting someone, though, you don’t have to manipulate and you don’t have to be agreeable (especially if they are affiliated with another political party). You just have to care. After you establish a rapport, tell them a little about yourself and suggest a “let’s do lunch” follow-up. After you walk away, write any additional information about the contact on the back of their business card. This will be helpful when you follow up with them.
3. Follow Up, Follow Up, Follow Up!
It is essential you enter the contact’s business card information and any notes you wrote on the back of the card into your Outlook, Plaxo or Excel spreadsheet. And if you want your new acquaintances to become part of your network, reach out to them that night or the next day so you don’t get lost in their pile of business cards. By sending an e-mail, making a phone call or sending a “nice meeting you” note, you’ve continued the line of communication. You’ve invested all that time preparing for the event; it would be a shame if you didn’t close the deal.
Christopher N. Malagisi is the grassroots coordinator at The Leadership Institute, a national conservative political training organization.
Get More Juice From Your Press Releases
Press releases can feel like a necessary evil to many campaign managers. You have to issue them but you don't have much confidence that they'll earn you any votes, in large part because you have no control over whether the media will report the information or how their stories will present your candidate.But that view is changing as more and more campaign activity moves to the Internet. Taking advantage of blogs, YouTube and interactive websites, smart campaigns are attracting donors, volunteers and voters by making their press releases both relevant and findable in the online world.
When press releases can be found on search engines and news websites like Google News, they can play a major role in supporting one's overall campaign marketing strategy.
Knowing press releases can have that sort of impact is not the same as making it happen are two different things. You need to know how to get your releases into the world of search and how they should be written so that they will pop up in searches. There are also some key elements that can make a big difference in the results you get.
Press Releases and Campaign Strategy
Leaving aside the fact that you still need to get your releases to the traditional media, think about press releases in light of your overall campaign strategy. Press releases can:
- Support existing ties to supporters, donors and volunteers
- Help attract new supporters, donors and volunteer
- Help create buzz about specific issues
- Help promote your candidate's brand identity
Imagine someone searching out your candidate's position on offshore drilling. If they search for your candidate by name, hopefully they will find your website and eventually find your candidate's views on the issue. But what if they search on your candidate's name plus "offshore drilling"? One of the first items they should see is a press release stating your candidate's views. Consider how much more of an impact that could make versus having to search through a website to find the information!
RSS: The Key to Online Relationship Building
In the past, online marketing meant trying to figure out how to get people to come back to a website. One strategy was building and maintaining one or many e-mail lists and sending out e-mail blasts. Today, instant messages can be used for short notices. Now another very valuable tool has come along in the form of RSS (really simple syndication).
The beauty of RSS is that once someone subscribes, your information is pushed to them outside of the cluttered email channel. When you get people to sign up to receive an RSS feed of your press releases, for example, your latest release will pop up in their RSS reader, browser or portal page. As a result, they will see it faster and it is much more likely to be read.
Offering an RSS subscription to your press releases is the way to reach another important audience: bloggers. Bloggers may not like you sending them releases by email. However, if you let someone know that you offer an RSS feed of your releases, he or she might sign up. RSS—not e-mail—is the blogger's medium.
Writing Releases for the Online World
There are at least four critical factors that need to be considered when writing releases for the online world:
1. Headlines
2. Page titles
3. The first paragraph
4. Embedded links
Headlines: If you have been issuing releases without a headline or just putting "Media Advisory" at the top of your release, you need to change immediately. Headlines are one of the three most important elements in the search engine ranking of your press release. Your candidate's name, the contest he or she is running in, as well as particulars from the release should be included in every headline. Instead of "Press Conference Monday at 11 a.m.," your headline should read "Mary Jones, Candidate for U.S. Congress in New York's 30th District, Will Hold a Press Conference on Off-shore Drilling in Front of the Yourtown City Hall at 11 a.m. Monday, Oct. 6."
Page Titles: The headline should be used as the title of the webpage version of your press release. Otherwise you're undercutting the search engine ranking of that release and reducing the chances it will be found.
First Paragraph: The first paragraph of your press release should include all of the who/what/why/where essential information. Why is this crucial? Because if the news person who is reading that release hasn't been convinced by the headline that your release is important to her or his audience, your first paragraph had better do the job. Don't count on busy journalists reading your entire release to find key information, such as what the press conference is about.
Embedded Links: Don't forget to insert links in the body of your text to pages on your website that support the content of your release. Thus, when you're announcing a page on your site where people can sign up for your RSS feed, include the link to that page. Links can also be included to photos, audio and video clips, as well as to PDF or Word documents.
Picking a Press Release Distribution Service
All of the above may sound like you need to involve an expensive IT person. In fact, every capability mentioned here PLUS the ability to reach the traditional media at the same time can be provided by some press release distribution services. When contacting a potential vendor you will want to ask these critical questions:
1. Do they permit you to build more than one media list for your election district? For example, you may want to create separate regional lists as well as separate lists for broadcast and print media.
2. Is search engine optimization of press releases built into their service? Optimization includes such features as using the headline as the page title of your releases.
3. Do they have arrangements with any online news sites that will result in your releases being posted or findable by keyword search? Your chances of being found on sites like Google News will rise dramatically if you use a service that follows requirements for getting releases on Google News.
4. Do they offer an RSS feed of your releases which can be placed on your website?
Then compare pricing. Some companies charge extra for some or all of the above features, while others may offer a fl at rate package that covers everything you need.
This fall, make sure your press releases are part of your online strategy by optimizing them for search engines and offering them via RSS. Who knows—the traditional media might even respond to them as well.
Peter G. Pollak is publisher and editor of The Empire Page (www.empirepage.com) and chairman of readMedia Inc. (www.readmedia.com).
The New Electorate Has Arrived
The New Electorate Has Arrived
...So How Do You Target It?
By Craig Charney
American voters’ fast-growing diversity, along with sharper targeting and mobilization of minorities and immigrants, is tipping the electoral balance of power in more and more cities and states. In 2008, the presidential and senatorial outcome in several key states was determined by tsunamis of minority votes for Democrats.
These changes present big challenges. Campaigns will have to find minority and immigrant voters, bridge cultural barriers to reach them, and decide how to model voting amid uncertain registration and turnout rates. These challenges can be met by those who learn to stretch. Those who don’t may find themselves in the “losers” column.
Targeting Minorities Means Finding Them
So what are the challenges? To begin with, finding minority and immigrant voters to poll can be much more difficult than with the general public. The digital divide limits online access to less-educated minorities, like Latinos or Haitian-Americans. Focus group recruiters, usually more focused on middle-class consumers, often lack minorities on their lists. And fear among people who came from repressive lands can make immigrants reluctant to answer political polls. But for researchers and campaigns willing to try harder (and spend a bit more), there are solutions.
Since minority and immigrant groups usually concentrate in certain neighborhoods, once these are identified from census or other data it’s possible to focus calling on areas with high yields. For qualitative studies, or polls where projection to population is not essential, it’s possible to buy lists of those with the relevant ethnic surnames. For instance, when a Chicago focus group center drew a blank n its database for the recruit on a study we were doing of American Muslim attitudes, we bought a list of Pakistani- and Arabic-named residents—which made recruiting a breeze.
Finally, minority and immigrant networks and organizations also offer ways into closed communities. The key here is not necessarily to have a consultant drawn from that community—though that can help—but rather to have one who has good contacts in the target community.
When we had to do a study of refugees from Kosovo, for example, we worked with an Albanian-American women’s group to recruit focus group members. After panicked recruiters told us on a Friday they had just two recruits for a focus group of African immigrants we had planned to conduct the following Monday, we arranged with ministers at churches they attended to ask congregants from the pulpit to cooperate with our recruiters—who were stationed outside. We had an overflow group the next day.
To Reach Immigrant Voters, Speak their Language
English-only polls miss a huge chunk of the Hispanic population. Same goes for the growing Asian, African, Arab and Haitian immigrant communities. In U.S. telephone surveys, we routinely interview in Spanish as well as English—and one-third to one-half of Latinos prefer Spanish.
Other languages are harder to come by, but specialized multilingual calling houses, like International Point of Contact, do exist. For one New York City poll, they did a first-rate job translating questionnaires and calling for us in Spanish, Russian, Haitian, Creole and Chinese.
But just the language isn’t enough—the question is also the variant or dialect your targets speak! There are differences in vocabulary between every Spanish-speaking country, so make sure your translator is writing the right Spanish! Once, one of ours translated “health insurance” as “Seguridad Social”—“Social Security”—which is absolutely correct where she comes from, Argentina. But if we hadn’t caught it, it would have made the question incomprehensible for a Hispanic-American audience.
Cultural Awareness is a Must
If you offer a noontime focus group of Arab-American women a spread of food and drink during Ramadan (the month Muslims are not supposed to touch either from dawn ‘til dusk), you’ll have an angry group on your hands. Trying to do a poll in a heavily Indian community close to Election Day? Better avoid Diwali, the leading Hindu holiday, which can fall right around then. Should a man offer to shake the hand of a Chinese group participant or let her offer her hand first? If you don’t know, you’d better find out beforehand.
Cultural awareness extends to voting patterns, too. Pollsters must take into account the fact that smaller proportions of non-whites than whites have traditionally registered and voted. Participation in 2004, for example, was 7 points lower among blacks than for whites, 20 points lower for Latinos and 23 points lower for Asians. Yet they can also surge to the polls in proportions that swamp previous voting models.
In recent New York and Los Angeles mayoral elections, Latino candidates doubled their turnout, and Obama’s presence had a dramatic effect on voting patterns. So minority and immigrant turnout tends to be more volatile than that of whites, making it both harder—and essential—to model.
It’s just as important to figure out when electoral tides are receding—like when lower black turnout saved Chambliss’ seat in the Georgia runoff in December—as when they are running high.
The presence of a first-time minority candidate is one key flag. Others include up-ballot races, new minority registration, interest in the election, and previous voting patterns as well as declared voting intentions.
In 2008 the stakes involved in targeting minority and immigrant voters were higher than ever before, and they will only grow in the years ahead. Politicians and consultants who learn how to model these voters will reap gains. Those who ignore them will do so at their peril. Ask John McCain—or Saxby Chambliss.
Craig Charney is president of Charney Research, a New York polling firm specializing in multicultural political polling and market research.
Building a Database for Fundraising
Building a Database for FundraisingOne of the most important tasks in the beginning of a campaign is gathering potential donor lists and building a donor database for fundraising and communications. It is a time consuming task that campaigns usually piece together as they go along. Doing solid research on which lists to gather and then gathering biographical information on the individuals in the lists are very important steps. This should be one of the campaign’s first goals. Once the lists are gathered, they should be databased for future editing and for use in fundraising and communications.
Since my firm’s focus is U.S. congressional open-seat or challenger campaigns, I will offer some advice on building a donor database, using a congressional campaign as an example.
Step 1: Gather Lists of Potential Donors
Potential donor lists are the foundation of the fundraising effort, period. These lists can mean the success or failure of your entire effort. Gathering the lists and putting them into usable formats at one time saves time and money.
The so-called “circle of friends” is the most important list to put together. Start here, because this is a time consuming effort. The candidate must sit down and write all the names of his or her family, friends and colleagues who could potentially contribute. Then the candidate or staff gets the info into an Excel file.
If you’re new to this, be sure to include these key fields in your file: first and last name, title, organization, employer, occupation, address, state, zip, phone, e-mail and fax number. Also, include fields for other notes and biographical info. And be sure to add fields for donor history information and the ask amount to contribute or raise.
A second source of donor lists is from previous statewide and local campaigns. Lists can be gathered by simply asking elected officials and previous candidates for them. In some cases, state and local candidates have lists that are public.
When running as a congressional candidate, the campaign should gather donor lists of candidates who ran for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, etc. Also include candidates who ran for state Senate, state representative, mayor, county office and lower. Lists from certain interest groups are useful too, like Labor Unions, the Sierra Club or the Humane Society.
Once the campaign has gathered all the lists, it should try to determine whether it is complete. By complete, our firm likes to feel confident that our lists include roughly 80 percent to 90 percent of potential donors in the state.
The third source of donor lists can come from fundraising firms themselves. My firm, for example, has more than 300,000 high-dollar, low-dollar and “netizen” national Democratic donors available from all 50 states.
Step 2: Database The Potential Donor Lists and Add Contact Information
There is really only one way to database lists and do it right the first time. A campaign should hire a professional database firm, like Ravi Singh’s firm ElectionMall.com, which offers an excellent new databasing service. The databasing of the lists is key.
First, all the lists are named using the last name of the individual or group of the list—for example, if the list comes from “Smith for Governor,” the list would be named “Smith” so that when the call sheets are printed with the donor histories, the candidate would know what amount the donor gave that candidate. Then all the lists are combined into one master list.
The next step is to take out the duplication, being careful to retain the donor history when condensing duplicate entries. Then home, business and cell phone numbers and e-mail addresses need to be added.
Step 3: Managing The Donor Database
Purchasing software to manage the newly built donor database is a very important decision. Nathaniel Pearlman of NGP Software offers a good software product for managing potential donors for U.S. congressional Democratic campaigns. I saw the software give a major boost to Rep. Jerry McNerney in 2006, in both a hotly contested Democratic primary and against incumbent Republican Rep. Richard Pombo.
I was the general and fundraising consultant for McNerney’s 2006 campaign and we needed a product to manage thousands of potential Democratic donors and the new “netizen” donor community. The software let us easily make updated call sheets, mail information, track contributions, prepare and file FEC reports, and target potential donors with e-communications.
The McNerney 2006 campaign had the best outreach to the “netizen” community because the campaign was able to effectively manage and communicate with potential Democratic donors thanks to its donor database.
Step 4: Researching Donors
The next step is to gather as much biographical information about a potential donor as possible. When the candidate knows the audience, it helps build a relationship faster and makes the candidate a better seller. Biographical donor research is a time consuming process but it pays off in the end.
Also, having a professional donor call sheet is very important. All professional fundraising firms have a donor call sheet ready for candidate calling.
Have your database firm print all the donors onto call sheets in order of priorities. Before the donor call sheets are printed, the potential donors are targeted in order. Since the donor history information is available, print that onto the call sheet as well. Why is targeting and having the contribution history of a donor important? The answer is easy. First, the campaign can target the “circle of friends,” followed by wealthy donors, individual donors who have given multiple high-dollar contributions, and so on.
Step 5: Communicate and Fundraise
Now that the potential donor database has been built, researched and targeted, the campaign and candidate can start communicating with potential donors through phone calls, direct mail, e-mails and text messages. And the candidate will start calling potential donors with the confidence of knowing his or her potential donors are the most likely donors for the campaign.
Kenneth S. Christensen is a partner at Christensen & Associates Inc., a Washington, D.C.–based Democratic national fundraising and political consulting firm.