You can run, but you can’t hide – it’s Presidential Election season. I’m tempted to quote Shakespeare at this point to suggest that the tsunami of communications coming out of this season’s political campaigns are simply tales “…told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”
But in truth, as fundraisers we can all learn something by observing how candidates’ teams are engaging – and activating – donors this season. Yes, it’s annoying as hell to wade through the muck that is passing for much of political rhetoric this year, but if you’re not following the candidates you are missing out on a great education.
Think about it, political candidates have budgets we can only dream about and a mandate to TEST, TEST, TEST content, tactics and message.
So, because we love you – we’ve taken the plunge and donated to most of the 2016 Presidential candidates. We’ve studied their websites, struggled through their donation user experience (UX) and tied ourselves to a chair to watch acceptance and concession speeches from the recent New Hampshire Primary. All to bring you our latest White Paper: Primary Education: A Tuition-free Course in Online Fundraising. Think of it as your “Cliff Notes” for an advanced degree in digital fundraising and steal whatever good ideas you find. It’s not really cheating.
And because we really love you, we’re now suffering the slings and arrows of an overloaded inbox (yes, we’ve received 125 emails after donating to seven candidates on February 10th). We promise we’ll read them all for next week’s lesson on email fundraising.
Happy reading!
– Dolores McDonagh
Dolores McDonagh began her political career as President of her Freshman Class at Bishop Feehan High School, splitting the male vote to shatter a 70’s era high school glass ceiling. After college, she eschewed politics to embrace nonprofit fundraising, where we all know we can make a WAY bigger difference in the world. To learn how Dolores or one of our other awesome fundraisers can help you take your digital program to new heights, give us a call!
