Sometimes, funding an important campaign or ballot access drive can seem daunting-especially if you don't know where to start. "If only we had the money," is an oft-heard refrain.

Wouldn't it be nice for your state, county, or local party organization to have all the money it needed for a specific project? Or if your campaign for local office had more money than the incumbent?

I'm here to tell you: You CAN raise ALL the money you need for that campaign or project. Here's how:

First, you need a cause! Campaigns, ballot access, hiring a paid staffer, any of these will work, so long as there is a clear and easily understood perceived value associated with the cause.

Second, you'll need a plan: Variables here include number of volunteers, number of members to be contacted, and number of calls per day. Assuming an all-volunteer effort with 500 statewide members and 10 volunteers making 5 calls per night, the time needed to call everyone would be about ten days...plus a few extra for follow-up calls to folks missed first time around. (Calls should be made Sunday-Thursday from 7-9pm, or during the day on Saturday).

Only have 6 volunteers? Fine! It will take a bit longer to finish, but will be well worth your effort. Have more? Great! Chances are, you have more members to call, too!

As you recall from my column on recruiting candidates (LP News, MONTH, YEAR) you'll want to create a quick script for the volunteers to use on the phone so that your message to donors will be consistent. The script should talk about the important reasons why their contribution is needed NOW, and focus on the BENEFITS of the project being completed. Then, the caller asks for a donation which is large enough to make a difference-say, $250 or so, depending on the area you are in.

Here's one nice touch I've seen recently reported in Campaign & Elections magazine: involve your dozen or more largest contributors ("major donors") by approaching them first and in person. Your state chair--or someone with similar credibility, like a well-known candidate--should explain the cause at hand, share your written plan with them, tell how the money will be used, and what has been raised thus far. These donors will be asked for "matching funds," and it's important to assure them that their check won't be used until the telephone fundraising effort matches them 100%, dollar for dollar.

This type of matching arrangement is a GREAT motivator: major donors are more comfortable since they are not being asked to go it alone with only their own contribution. These up-front donations of $500 or more help motivate rank-and-file donors, since callers will tell them that each dollar they give will actually be worth two because of the matching effect!

A certain amount of discipline is useful during the calling effort.

EXAMPLE: Elias Israel, the Executive Director for the LP affiliate in Massachusetts, ran a telephone fundraising drive based on a design by Michael Cloud in June of 1998. Eli arranged for volunteers working from home to telephone him EACH EVENING to report their specific results: how many calls attempted, who was reached, who got messages left, and who pledged money to the cause. Eli, in turn, kicked out electronic mail updates to the team each day summarizing the amount of major donor matching pledges remaining, total raised from each source, and remaining goal amount. Over a two week period, nine volunteers called about 450 members, with the state chair calling about a dozen major donors.

The result of Massachusetts' first effort at telephone fundraising: almost $14,000 raised in 15 days--more than enough to fund the paid portion of the Massachusetts statewide ballot drive. Think about what that amount (or more, depending on your participation level) could do for you in this important, pre-election time.

To be successful, you MUST raise money regularly and efficiently. This method is far superior to direct mail in many ways: it's personal, fast, project-specific, and tends to involve a good number of activists working together. Not only does telephone fundraising build teamwork, A SUCCESSFUL FUNDRAISING DRIVE REINFORCES THE VALUES WHICH CAUSE OUR SUPPORTERS TO DONATE IN THE FIRST PLACE-and this success breeds future successes.

You CAN do this. It WILL work for you. START NOW for the November elections, and you'll have the biggest campaign war chest in your state's history. Period.

Contact Mark Tuniewicz (nhliberty@aol.com) or Elias Israel (eisrael@la-ma.org) for an emailed copy of the LPMA fundraising plan. Thanks to all the LPMA volunteers and donors for the inspiration for this column.

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