how to raise the money you need to win your election€¦ · welcome back to our class how to raise...

How to Raise the Money You Need to

Win Your Election

By Joe Garecht

www.LocalVictory.com

Class Guide #2:

The Complete Guide to Finding and

Communicating with Campaign Donors

© 2016 by Joe Garecht. All rights reserved. 2

Welcome back to our class How to Raise the Money You Need to Win Your Election. I hope

you enjoyed last week’s class materials, where we talked about the fundamental principles that

underlie successful political fundraising.

In this week’s class guide and podcast, we’re going to be going over the strategies you will need

to use to find donors for your campaign and to communicate with them to make sure that they

not only want to give to your campaign, but that they want to keep giving over the course of the

entire election cycle (at least until they hit the maximum legal donation limits for your

campaign).

Remember, if you have any questions about what you are learning, please feel free to e-mail me

at any time at [email protected] and I would be happy to answer!

Fundraising Prospects are Key to Your Political Campaign

The entire fundraising process starts with prospects. Prospects are those people that you think

might be willing to donate to your campaign.

Prospects come in all shapes and sizes. Some of your campaign’s prospects (such as the

candidate’s siblings or best friends) may be ready to be asked for a donation immediately,

because they already have a strong relationship with the candidate. Other prospects won’t be

ready for an ask for several months. These prospects may include local donors who always give

to candidates of your ideological persuasion, but who you do not yet have a relationship with.

Whether they’re ready to give tomorrow… or your campaign has yet to introduce itself to

them… these people are all prospects for your campaign. Your campaign’s job is to create a list

of prospects, figure out how to communicate with and cultivate these prospects, and move them

to the point where you can ask them for a donation to the campaign.

If your campaign is having trouble raising enough money, chances are you have a problem with

your prospecting system. Sure, it could be that your cultivation strategy is flawed, or that you

are having problems with making good asks… but it is far more likely that you simply are not

feeding enough prospects into your system to allow your cultivation and ask strategies to work.

Once you have enough prospects entering the funnel, you will have far more opportunities to

cultivate support and ask for donations to support your efforts.

Who Makes a Good Prospect for Your Campaign?

The best place to start is by asking, “Who makes a good prospect for your political campaign?”

Many campaigns answer this question by saying, “everyone is a prospect.” I disagree. It takes

real time and effort to figure out how to approach prospects, cultivate them, and ask them to

donate. If you aren’t sure who your prospects are, or want to target “everyone,” you will never,

ever have the time and resources necessary to effectively move people through your system. It’s

just not practical. That’s why I advocate “targeted prospecting.”

mailto:[email protected]


Simply put, targeted prospecting means setting up your prospecting system with certain donor

profiles in mind. Because your campaign won’t have the time and resources to focus on

everyone in the world as a prospect, you will need to find the “low hanging fruit,” those

prospects who are most likely to give to your campaign once they understand your message.

These people are true prospects, because they really are potential donors to your campaign. You

have a reasonable belief that you can move them to an ask with a minimum amount of

introduction and cultivation.

So, who really is a prospect (potential donor) to your campaign? Who is likely to give once they

hear about your campaign?

Good, solid prospects might already know about your candidate - they are his or her friends, past

donors, family members, colleagues, classmates, or regular supporters of your candidate’s

political party. These are the best prospects, and the best way to start your campaign fundraising

is with these potential donors.

Once you exhaust these prospects, move on to people who might not know about your candidate

specifically, but may be inclined to give because someone they do know is involved with your

campaign as part of your finance committee, or as a donor or volunteer. Your campaign also has

a sizeable pool of prospects that doesn’t know about your campaign or have a relationship with

someone connected to your campaign, but who may be inclined to support you for other reasons,

such as an affinity for your cause, a personal belief system, etc.

The Fundamental Rules of Donor Prospecting

The process of finding prospects for your campaign is called “prospecting.” There are several

fundamental rules of prospecting that you will need to grasp in order to have the greatest amount

of fundraising success:

Rule #1: People Give Based on Relationships

Humans are relationship driven. We seek out relationships and make decisions based on

relationships. It’s no different with political giving – people give based on relationships. Before

someone gives to your campaign, there has to be some sort of relationship which gives the

prospect a reason to give. That relationship can be a pre-existing personal relationship with the

candidate, a relationship with the issues or causes represented by the candidate, or a relationship

that is built over the course of the campaign. Either way, a relationship must exist or be built

before a check will be written.

Rule #2: Strong-Arm Fundraising Doesn’t Work

Having read Rule #1, many campaigns may think, “great! I’ll just tell my finance committee that

they have to get all of their friends to write checks. They can just go through their rolodex and

tell people, ‘I need you to write a $1,000 check.’” This is called “strong-arming your rolodex,”

and it works, but only up to a point.


Sure, you can raise money this way, at least for a time. Your supporters and committee members

can call in favors from friends and colleagues and make it a point of personal friendship or

professional association for donors to give to your campaign. And some of those people will in

fact give.

But it’s not sustainable, and doesn’t generate the huge returns that can be had by relationship-

based prospecting. Strong-armed donors give one time. Donors that give based on a relationship

give over and over again. They give more. They max out. And then they try to help you build

relationships with their friends and colleagues.

Instead of asking your finance committee to strong-arm their contacts into making a donation,

ask your board to invite three people they think may be interested in your campaign to a meet-

the-candidate event or a tour of your campaign office… or ask them out to lunch with the

campaign manager… or get them involved in a volunteer activity. This slow-but-steady

approach to prospecting builds long-term donors who give more money than the one-time gifts

that can be had through strong-arming your finance committee’s rolodexes.

Rule #3: Your Campaign Message Matters to Prospects

No matter how you come across a fundraising prospect – whether that person is a friend of the

candidate, a finance committee member, a friend of your campaign chair, or simply a

businessperson who cares about your campaign’s issues… you should know that your

campaign’s message matters to your prospects.

Some prospects will want to give to your campaign because they support your message. Other

prospects will decide not to give because they don’t support your candidate’s message or

disagree with your approach to tackling you’re the issues of the day. Either way, your message

matters to them. For that reason, you should make your campaign’s message, and the issues

supported by your candidate, central to your prospecting conversations and communication.

Rule #4: Prospecting is a Deliberate Process

Prospecting should be a deliberate process. Far too many campaigns prospect without any real

strategy or plan. This leads to haphazard prospecting at best, and a disorganized and ineffective

fundraising organization at worst.

Know your prospecting plan… don’t go into your campaign figuring that you’ll throw

everything up on the wall to see what sticks. You’ll only be frustrated and disappointed.

Instead, launch your fundraising efforts by asking: Who are the people that are most likely to

give to my campaign? Where can we find those people? How can we reach them?

Similarly, track your prospects through the fundraising funnel. My favorite strategy for doing

this (in addition to keeping accurate and detailed notes in an campaign’s fundraising database) is

to visually track major prospects through the funnel on a whiteboard that allows your entire team

to see, on a daily basis, where each prospect stands in your funnel.


Rule #5: The More You Ship, the More You Will Receive

How many e-newsletters does your campaign send out? How many meet and greet events do

you have? How many rallies do you hold per month? How often do you provide volunteer

opportunities? The more often you “ship” things out into the world, the more prospects will seek

you out.

For example, over the course of one election cycle, one campaign I know went from shipping

almost nothing to offering monthly meet-the-candidate nights, bimonthly e-newsletters and press

releases, and renewed focus on volunteer activities, which were heavily publicized. As they

implemented this plan to ship more out into the world, they not only generated additional buzz

among their own supporters and friends, but they started to have new prospects approach them,

simply because the prospect had heard about the campaign’s activities from their friends.

Remember: ship more, receive more.

There Is No “Master Donor List”

Many first-time candidates go into their campaigns thinking that there is a master donor list out

there that they can gain access to… some group of local do-gooders, donors, or powers-that-be

that will fund their campaign, if they can just get access to the list or group.

Instead of spending time asking their own friends, family, and colleagues for donations to the

campaign, these candidates try to set up long-shot meetings with local powerbrokers, hoping that

during the meeting the person will grant them entree into the magical world where all of their

campaign fundraising will be handled for them.

After decades of work in political fundraising, I can tell you, for a fact, that there is no master

donor list, and I can assure you that no one is going to handle your fundraising for you. If you

want to get elected, YOU need to be the captain of your own destiny. YOU need to ask

everyone you know to make a donation to your campaign. No one will do it for you.

Sure, there are keen political fundraisers out there, and there may be some in your area. These

fundraisers (sometimes called “bundlers”) are people who have a wide fundraising network, and

can help raise money for the candidates they support. These are good people to know, and your

campaign should spend time building relationships with them… your goal for these bundlers is

to ask them to join your finance committee or other major donor groups, and to get them

fundraising on your behalf.

But even if you are successful, no bundler, or group of bundlers, will be able to raise the majority

of your campaign’s fundraising needs. Your candidate and campaign team need to take

responsibility for meeting your campaign’s fundraising goals.

This rule also holds true for your local political party. Some candidates go into campaigns

thinking that the local party apparatus will “handle” the fundraising for them. Some party


leaders actually tell candidates that this is true, in the hopes of getting good people to throw their

hat into the ring. Do not, under any circumstances, rely on your local political party to handle

your fundraising for you.

Many part officials mean well when they promise to help with fundraising. Sometimes, they are

even able to raise a significant amount of money for the candidates they promise to help. But no

candidate should ever rely on that help. If your local party committee helps you raise lots of

money, great… but treat it like icing on the cake. Focus on raising 100% of the money you need

to win using your own team, and if the local party helps you raise even more, you’ll be that much

further down the road to victory on Election Day.

Most Mid-Level and Larger Donors Will Be No More Than Two Steps Away

The vast majority of mid-level and major donors to any campaign are no more than two steps

away from the candidate. This means that they either already know the candidate (that’s one

step away)… or they know someone who knows the candidate (that’s two steps away).

Smaller donors who give through direct mail, online, or through small events may be further

removed from the candidate, but larger donors almost always have a relationship with the

candidate or with someone who does have a relationship with the candidate.

This means that you should spend lots of time before and during your campaign building

relationships with people who could donate to your campaign, as well as with people who know

lots of people who could donate to your campaign. Your goal is to have a team of mid-level and

major donors around you who make donations and who also refer their friends and colleagues to

the campaign to make a donation. As the campaign progresses, you’ll want to continually reach

out to new prospective donors and bundlers to build relationships with those people and ask them

for their donations and their support.

The Ever Growing Call List

The candidate’s fundraising “call list” should be an ever growing list of names and phone

numbers. The campaign should work hard to keep adding people to the call list through all of

the prospecting tactics mentioned in this class module. In large campaigns, this list is usually

managed by the finance director, and in smaller campaigns may be managed by the campaign

manager or the candidate. In either case, be sure to have such a list and to constantly add to it.

Who should get added to the call list? Anyone who is a reasonable prospect to give to the

campaign. Each person on the call list should be marked as a “prospect” or a “supporter.”

Supporters are those who already support your effort – these are people the candidate can call

and ask for an immediate contribution. Prospects are people who should like your campaign, but

haven’t committed to support you yet. These people should get an introductory call (or “feeler”)

call from the candidate.


The candidate should constantly be working on the fundraising call list. Specific times should be

set aside for the candidate to make fundraising calls, and down time while travelling, waiting for

meetings, etc. should like likewise be used to work down the list.

Reaching Prospects by Finding the Path of Least Resistance

Nearly every campaign will at some point develop a wish list of prospects… people that they

don’t know, or kind of know, but who could make a major donation to the campaign if only the

campaign could reach them to build a better relationship with them. As you build your prospect

lists, one of the key questions that you need to ask is: how do I reach out to each person,

company, or PAC on this list to start building a relationship with them? How do I get them into

my prospect funnel? How do I make first contact with them?

I tell campaigns all the time: the best way to reach a new prospect is by finding the path of least

resistance. Because people give (and get involved) based on relationships, the path of least

resistance usually involves a relationship the prospect already has… so ask yourself, for each of

your top donor prospects… who already knows this person? Who on our finance committee

knows them? Which of our current donors know them? Do they sit on a corporate board with

someone that we know? Are they involved in a service club, country club, or other campaign

where we know people? Do we as a campaign have a relationship with anyone that already has a

relationship of some kind with this prospect?

If the answer is yes, than the path of least resistance is to utilize that relationship to build a new

relationship directly between you and the prospect, with the help of the person who already has a

relationship with the prospect.

As noted above, most of the prospects you will approach for your campaign will be people with

whom someone you already know has a relationship, no matter how tenuous. You’ll be

contacting friends and colleagues of those people who already have a relationship with your

campaign.

For those prospects with whom you do not have any shared pre-existing relationships, you will

need to develop a new relationship from scratch. For these prospects, the path of least resistance

is generally a non-threatening, not-committal entry point: a way for the person to get to know the

campaign and the candidate without getting scared off by being asked to make any sort of

commitment. Non-fundraising “meet and greet” events work well (these are informational

events where no admission price is charged, more personal than rallies, smaller, geared to

prospective donors) as do tangential events like facility tours at a company you want to get into,

policy roundtables, etc.

Actually Getting Prospects into Your Funnel & Determining Interest

For mid-level and larger donors, once you have your prospect list, the best way to actually kick

of the relationship is a meeting of some kind (or at least a phone call). If you know someone


who knows the prospect, try to set up a lunch with the candidate (or another surrogate), the

prospect, and the mutual acquaintance. Alternately, have the mutual acquaintance invite (and

accompany, if possible) the prospect to a small group candidate meet-and-greet.

As mentioned above, if you and the prospect do not share any mutual acquaintances, the best

way to start building the relationship is to invite the person to a non-threatening, non-ask event,

such as a meet-and-greet.

Once the relationship starts, the first task for your campaign is to gauge the interest of the

prospect – once the person learns about your campaign and your message, how interested are

they in getting involved? Do they seem moved by your message and issues, or just polite and

uninterested?

I always suggest gauging interest by being direct in your follow-up. Meet with a new prospect,

then call the following week to thank the person for the meeting and ask if they have any

questions. Ask for their thoughts about your campaign. If the person seems supportive, ask

them something like, “would you ever see yourself getting more involved with us?” This is a

fairly non-threatening way to deepen the relationship. If the person says “no,” you know not to

waste your time and energy on building that relationship. If the person says “yes,” you can move

on to the cultivation phase. Most people will say, “I’m not sure,” or “maybe.” These folks are

still good prospects, and you should continue building the relationship through cultivation until

they reach a decision point.

Finding Prospects (and Raising Money) Using Major Donor Groups

Very few candidates personally know enough people to be able to raise their entire campaign’s

fundraising goal just by calling their own network. But what if you could leverage your network,

and the networks of your friends and supporters, to increase your reach? What if you could

easily ask people who know you to serve as an ambassador for your political campaign by

introducing you to new prospects? That’s the power of major donor groups and clubs.

Here are some diagrams to illustrate the point. This is the candidate, fundraising by him or

herself:

Total Universe of

Potential Donors

The candidate

The candidate’s

network


As you can see, when the candidate is the only one doing the solicitations, he or she can only

reach a small portion of the total universe of donors – those prospects residing in the candidate’s

own network. Sure, over the course of the campaign, the candidate’s network will get bigger (as

he or she meets more people and gains more supporters), but the candidate’s range will never

come near the total prospect universe.

Here’s what it looks like when the candidate puts together a major donor group to help her

fundraise:

In the above diagram, each circle represents a major donor group member (a supporter) who is

out fundraising on behalf of the campaign. Some of these supporters have large networks (the

large circles) and some have small networks… some of them have networks that overlap with the

candidate (represented by the star) and/or with other people in the fundraising program, and

others don’t. As you can see, starting a major donor program allows the campaign to reach out

and solicit from far more people, and cover much more of the total universe of potential donors

than if the candidate is doing the calls all by himself.

What is a Major Donor Group?

A major donor group is a group of people, put together by the campaign, who support the

campaign and who also go a step further, and agree to go out and fundraise on behalf of the

campaign from their own group of friends and colleagues. These groups exist in most

professionally run campaigns. The most common example of a major donor group is called a

“finance committee.” We’ll talk more about establishing a finance committee in today’s

podcast.

In addition to its finance committee, a campaign can have any number of other major donor

groups or clubs, consisting of people who support the candidate and go out and fundraise on

behalf of the campaign. Every campaign, no matter how large or how small, should have at least

one major donor group to help it reach its fundraising goals. Raising money is an uphill battle

without using a major donor groups.

Total Universe of

Potential Donors


Remember: Fundraising is the Goal

As you are putting together major donor groups, you need to remember that the goal of the

groups is fundraising. If people want to help you stuff envelopes, great, sign them up for a

committee of volunteers who are stuffing envelopes. If people want to help you write position

papers, great, get their names and contact information to your research department. Only people

who are ready and willing to fundraise for the campaign should be asked to join the Finance

Committee or other major donor group.

Setting Expectations for Your Major Donor Groups

When someone is asked to be on a major donor group, it should be explained that the goal of the

group is fundraising. You should also set an individual fundraising goal that is expected of each

member of the group. This goal will vary depending on the size of your campaign. It may be

“raise $250 for the campaign,” or it may be, “raise $250,000 for the campaign.” No matter the

size of the goal, one should definitely be set so that members understand what you are expecting

of them.

You can also consider starting multiple major donor groups, with different goals for each

committee. One structure I like to use is to have a Finance Committee, which has a lower goal,

and an Executive Finance Committee, which has a higher goal. For example, you could have a

Finance Committee which is tasked with raising $25,000 each for the campaign, and an

Executive Finance Committee, which is tasked with raising $100,000 each for the campaign.

Finding Members

The real trick with making major donor groups a success is finding people who will serve on

them and have the capacity to fulfill their commitments. Where should you look for members?

The first place to look is the candidate’s own rolodex – who are your closest friends, biggest

supporters, and most influential contacts? Which of these people has the capacity to raise the

kind of money you will be asking them to raise and have large networks of potential donors that

they can contact?

Once the candidate has gathered the prospect list of his own contacts that could serve on the

committee, (and after he has already asked them to make their own contribution to the

campaign), he should call each person on the list and ask them to be part of the major donor

group or finance committee. You can also consider appointing a very influential person (or key

fundraiser) as chairman, vice chairman, or co-chairman of each of your committees.

After the campaign exhausts the candidate’s own personal list of major donor group prospects,

there are several other groups of prospects you can approach:


1. Key business leaders and influentials in the district – these asks will take time, as they

may be further removed from the candidate

2. The usual suspects – who are the most politically active people, the biggest donors, and

the political party leaders in your area?

3. Friends of friends – Once the groups get going, you can also ask your biggest

supporters, large donors, and other major donor group members who they would

recommend you ask, and see if they will provide an introduction for you.

Your list of major donor group prospects should continually grow and be cultivated over the

course of the campaign. Every time you receive a large donation, ask yourself… would this

person be a good fit for one of our major donor committees?

Activities and Outreach

Major donor groups can engage in a wide variety of fundraising activities and perform amazing

amounts of outreach for the campaign. Generally, you will want to give your groups a list of

suggested ways to raise money for the campaign, and keep track of who is doing what. Some of

the most common ways major donor groups raise money for political campaigns are:

Personal Asks – Making calls, doing meetings, and asking for money

Events – Either a major donor group member hosting an event, or several major donor

group members teaming together to host an event or sell tickets to a campaign-sponsored

event

Letters – Sending out personally signed letters asking for donations

Setting up Fundraising Meetings for the Candidate

The possibilities really are endless. Be creative, but also make sure to closely supervise your

major donor group members to assure that they are following the law and the wishes of the

campaign, and to track their progress towards their individual goals. The campaign should also

be prepared to support major donor group members in their efforts (for example, drafting a letter,

helping them set up an event, etc.). Remember – the more you help and motivate them, the more

they will raise for your campaign.

Don’t Forget Thanks and Recognition

The final piece of the puzzle for major donor group success is offering recognition and benefits

to group members. Note: I’m not talking about offering fundraising group members any illegal


benefits. What I’m talking about is offering them much praise and recognition, as well as a

package of campaign-related benefits in return for being a member of the group. While most

people will join your groups because they know you, support you, and believe in your cause,

some will join for the benefits and recognition, and no matter their reason for joining, all

members will appreciate the benefits and thanks.

What types of benefits and recognition should a campaign offer to its major donor group

members? The most important is face time with the candidate – hold meetings and events where

the candidate is present. This will motivate your group more than any other single benefit.

You can also offer your group free tickets to campaign events, recognition on the campaign

website, special lapel pins, business cards, or other “members only” items, Election Night party

“VIP” tickets, etc. The goal is to make your major donor group members feel like part of a

special group, one that sticks together and works towards a common goal.

Some of your benefits can also be tiered in recognition for hitting milestones – such as, “When

you raise $1,000 for the campaign, you will receive a silver lapel pin. When you raise $5,000

you will receive a gold lapel pin. When you hit your overall $10,000 goal, you will receive a

campaign logo fleece jacket and 8 VIP tickets to our Election Night Party Suite.

The Power of Referrals

As you can see from the information above, one of the best things about your campaign’s finance

committee and other major donor groups is that they provide an easy system for your supporters

to make fundraising referrals to your campaign. Referrals are when someone who supports your

campaign introduces you to their friends, family members, business partners, colleagues, etc.

While your finance committee and other major donor group members should be providing your

campaign with lots of referrals, it’s important to note that someone need not be part of one of

your official donor groups in order to introduce you to new donors. All of your donors and

supporters are potential sources of fundraising referrals… and referrals are one of the most

powerful tools at your disposal for finding new donors for your campaign.

Good salespeople are constantly asking their current customers and others in their network for

referrals… introductions to people that might also want to buy the product or service the

salesman is selling. You’d be surprised at just how often current customers will refer new

customers to their salesperson. In fact, in many businesses (such as real estate and insurance),

referrals can make up a majority of a salesperson’s new business each year.

Guess what? Referrals work well for political campaigns, too. Smart candidates and finance

directors are constantly asking current donors and supporters for introductions to new people

who might be interested in supporting the campaign. When was the last time you asked your

donors for referrals?


Remember, the only way people are going to refer you to new donors is if you come right out

and ask them to do so. You need to sit down across from your donor (or pick up the phone and

call them directly) and say, “Who else do you know who might be willing to support our

campaign?”

Of course, when you ask your supporters for referrals, you aren’t asking just for a name. You

want your current donors to introduce you to their friends and colleagues by way of a meeting, a

call, or at least an e-mail. This type of introduction reinforces to new prospects that the

candidate / campaign is trustworthy and worthy the person’s time and support.

Using Minor Donor Groups to Help You Find New Prospects and Raise More Money

Much like major donor groups, minor donor groups exist for one purpose: fundraising. Unlike

major donor group members, however, minor donor group members are normally not asked to

raise money for the campaign, but only to make a contribution. These groups target donors who

can afford to make a contribution in the range of $50-$500, depending on the campaign size and

structure.

Minor donor groups are “clubs” within a campaign that seek to engage and motivate small and

mid-level donors by making them feel like they are an appreciated part of the campaign team. Of

course, your campaign would never call the group a “minor donor group,” (you don’t want to

offend anyone!) but would instead give the group a catchy campaign related name, offer benefits

for membership, and set the minimum giving requirements. One great way to run these

programs is on a recurring billing system, where you ask people to sign up and give $10 or $25

per month, automatically debited from their credit card. You could also set your group up with

only a one-time contribution required for membership (I would still make asks of these members

at later dates, however).

For example, let’s say that Jim Rodgers is running for city council, and sets up a minor donor

program called “Team Rodgers.” He could ask members to donate $100 to the campaign to join,

or he could ask members to sign-up to give $20 per month on automatic re-bill.

Finding Members

Your campaign can use the following methods to find members for your minor donor program:

Direct mail

Sign-up directly on your website

Mailings to current donors

Sign-up at campaign events and rallies

Appoint captains in each precinct to help find members


Remember, because your prospects for a minor donor program are not big contributors, and

because the minor donor program only contributes a small fraction of your overall campaign

budget, you won’t want to have the candidate spending time making calls to prospects. You will

want to automate as much of this program as possible, including asks (things like mail and sign-

ups at events), and activities.

Activities and Outreach

As mentioned above, your activities for this program should be on auto-pilot as much as

possible. You can hold large rallies for this group, invite them to campaign meetings, send out e-

newsletters and updates, and provide stickers, buttons, yard signs, etc. The members of this

group are also great prospects to get involved with your grassroots organization as precinct

captains and volunteers.

Thanks and Recognition

It is important to keep your minor donor group members active and engaged by offering them

lots of thanks and recognition. For example, thank the groups as a whole at campaign events

(“Thank you to everyone who is here from Team Rodgers!”), send them campaign buttons

designed just for the group (“Team Rodgers Charter Member. Vote Rodgers!”), and send them a

thank you note for their contribution to your effort.

The Power of Affinity Group Fundraising

Every campaign should be using a finance committee or other major donor groups to help them

raise money. Some campaigns can also benefit from minor donor fundraising groups. A select

portion of smart campaigns will also be able to utilize affinity groups to raise money and find

new donor prospects.

Affinity group fundraising is a lot like major and minor donor group fundraising, except with

affinity groups, you are trying to build a fundraising group based around a specific demographic.

Some common affinity fundraising groups include:

Young Professionals

Neighborhood Groups

Industry or Business Area Groups

Ethnic Groups

Special Issue Related Groups

For example, the hypothetical Jim Rodgers for city council campaign that we mentioned above

could start a “Downtown Businesses Organized for Rodgers” group, an “Italian Americans for

Rodgers” group, and a “Less Sprawl Now!” group, each of which would work to raise money for

the Rodgers campaign.


Building Affinity Groups for Your Campaign

The best way to effectively use affinity fundraising groups in your campaign is to supercharge

them to grow virally, picking up members and generating activity with very little interference or

resources from the campaign. The best way to get them to grow virally is to find “champions” to

help you build your groups.

Champions are those people who are part of the target group and who are willing to do the hard

work, find new members, plan events, and really roll up their sleeves and get involved. I’ve

been involved in campaigns where we were able to build huge affinity fundraising groups that

held 1,000 person low-dollar fundraising events, sent out direct mail (w/ help from the

campaign), and placed three people on our Finance Committee, all with very little involvement

from our end. The way we were able to do this was by finding five champions who were willing

to co-chair and spearhead the group.

In order to build these groups in your own campaign, find supporters who are members of your

targeted demographic, and ask them to co-chair an affinity fundraising group for your campaign.

Keeping Your Affinity Groups Active and on Task

Of course, even if you are able to find effective and motivated champions, your campaign will

need to closely monitor the groups’ activities to make sure they are keeping busy and not

straying from your campaign’s pre-designed message and plan. I recommend someone from

your staff meet with the group champions at least monthly during the beginning of the campaign,

and at least bi-weekly or weekly once the campaign really starts to ramp up.

Summary: Finding New Prospects

There are lots of ways to find prospects to donate to your campaign. Your first prospects should

always be the candidate’s own rolodex: the people he or she already knows. The campaign

should also put together a finance committee by asking a group of supporters to join the

campaign team to help raise money. The campaign and candidate should constantly be asking

for referrals to help fill the prospecting pipeline. The campaign can also create major donor

groups, minor donor groups, and affinity groups to help bring in new prospects.

The campaign also has other prospecting tools at its disposal, including using events, online

tools, and direct mail to find and engage donors. Each of these topics will be covered in a

separate week of this class.

Now that we have spent some time talking about how to find donors for your campaign, let’s talk

about how to build a relationship with your prospects to turn them into donors. Let’s look

closely at the process of donor cultivation…


What is Donor Cultivation?

Donor cultivation is everything your campaign does from the time you identify a person,

business, or PAC as a good prospect for your campaign until the time you make an ask of that

person or entity. Cultivation is what happens in between… it is all of the communications and

interactions that occur between your campaign and your prospect.

It’s important to remember that the cultivation process has one major goal, and lots of minor

goals. The big goal that the entire process is focused on is the ask: your cultivation efforts

should move the prospect closer and closer to the campaign, for the purpose of making an ask

(the ask is usually for money, but can also be for other things, like asking the person to open up

their network to you or to hold an event for the campaign, etc. But usually, it is an ask for

money).

The cultivation process also has a number of minor goals: you’ll hopefully be creating new

evangelists for your campaign (people who are willing to spread the word about your candidate

and message), making new connections (friends of the prospect will often come into your orbit)

and generating new support in the form of volunteers and voters. That being said, the reason

your campaign will need to spend so much time on the cultivation process is because it will

move your prospects to the point where they are ready to be asked for money.

The Hidden Agenda of Cultivation: Weeding Prospects Out

Most of your cultivation efforts are spent building relationships to convince people to give to

your campaign. However, the cultivation process has another, somewhat hidden agenda: to weed

out prospects that are not a good fit with your campaign.

As fundraisers, we like to think that everyone will want to give to our campaign, if we can just

get them into the room to hear about our candidate. But the truth is that some people will not

want to give to your campaign, no matter how much you communicate with them. The fact that

they do not want to get more involved with you does not make them a bad person… their

interests may lie elsewhere, or they may not have the financial capacity to give at the level that

you thought. Thus, while you originally thought the person was a great prospect for your

campaign, it turns out that they are really not.

The cultivation process helps by allowing you to identify those prospects who are not likely to

give (or are unable to give) so that you don’t have to spend time trying to get them to do

something they are not going to do. Cultivation takes time: there are phone calls, events, letters,

emails, and more. You’ve got limited time and resources. Don’t spend time trying to cultivate

people who just aren’t interested in getting involved with your campaign. Instead, use the

cultivation process to weed out the people who aren’t going to give, and focusing your time on

those who are likely to give.


People who are not likely to give will self-identify, if you ask the right questions and do the right

things. They’ll skip your events and avoid your phone calls. When you ask them if they’d like

to get more involved with your campaign, they’ll talk about how busy they are. When you send

out a survey, they won’t respond. Be alert. When it is clear that someone does not want to walk

down the cultivation highway with you, stop the process, and part as friends.

Generally, your cultivation process should look like a funnel. At the one end, you have a large

group of potential prospects. As you walk down the process, you have fewer and fewer

prospects, until you come to the other end, where you have the smaller group of people who have

demonstrated their interest in your campaign. This is the group you will ask for a donation.

The 8 Keys to Understanding the Cultivation Process

Now that we’ve defined exactly what cultivation is, let’s review the 8 keys to understanding the

cultivation process:

Cultivation is a process.

It is important to note, from the outset, that cultivation is, in fact, a process. It is not a one-shot

deal. If you meet a new prospect at an event and she tells you she wants to make a $10,000

donation to your campaign, you didn’t cultivate the prospect, you just got lucky. That doesn’t

mean you should turn down the donation, it just means you should realize that that particular

circumstance is rare and is not a scalable proposition.

Cultivation takes time and resources to do properly. It doesn’t need to cost a lot to cultivate

prospects, but it does take a lot of time and work by your staff, candidate and/or volunteers.

Have patience, and resist the urge to rush people towards the ask. Build a relationship first, then

make an ask (but make sure you have an endgame: don’t keep putting off the ask just because

you want to lengthen the cultivation period. Take your time to cultivate, but when it is time to

ask, go make an ask!)

It’s all about building relationships.

People give to campaigns because they have developed a relationship of some sort with that

campaign. Relationship-building is the goal of cultivation process. Everything you do to

cultivate a prospect could also be called “building a relationship.” The stronger the relationship

is, the more likely the person is to write a check to your campaign.

Relationships build and strengthen over time.

Just as with any relationship, donor relationships build and strengthen over time. Realize this,

and give your donor relationships the time they need to mature. As you walk a prospect down

the cultivation highway, the relationship between the prospect and your campaign will slowly but

surely strengthen.


Relationships are built with people.

All true relationships are built between people. If your prospect is a business, organization or

PAC, understand that it is impossible to build a lasting relationship between your campaign and

an organization or entity. Yes, the business or organization may support your campaign

financially, offer staff volunteers to work your events, etc… but in almost every case that help

will be driven by one or two people at the business or entity who have a relationship with your

candidate or with the staff of your campaign – a relationship that was built through cultivation.

For that reason, when you are cultivating a business or other organization, it is important that

your staff identifies one or two key decision makers at the business or organization to build a

relationship with. Once you get the decision maker on board, you will get the business on board.

As your relationship with the person strengthens, so too will your campaign’s relationship with

the business.

Relationships are built person to person.

No two people are alike, but your process must still be scalable.

Cultivation can be a tricky proposition. On the one hand, no two people on this Earth are exactly

the same. This means that no two people will react exactly the same to your cultivation process.

On the other hand, it is impossible to develop a new cultivation process for each prospect that is

completely individually tailored for their likes and dislikes. You just don’t have the time and

resources. Your cultivation process needs to be scalable so that it can be used in multiple

situations without constantly re-crafting it.

I have found that the best way to make sure that your cultivation process is both individualized

and scalable is to make sure that you have a couple of standard cultivation processes in place and

that you remain flexible.

For example, you may have a cultivation process in place for new major donor prospects, one for

prospective bundlers, one for PAC prospects, and one for lower-level donors. I suggest that

every campaign have several different “paths” that they have laid out (in writing for the staff or

volunteers to see) to cultivate. Additionally, campaigns should remain flexible, should an

individual donor need a different path.

If your cultivation paths are well designed, you will be able to use them for the vast majority of

prospects, but will also feel comfortable deviating from them (particularly for major donor

prospects with individualized needs).

People like to feel like part of a team.

The final three keys are a pseudo-psychology lesson on donors and prospects. The first lesson is

this: people (all people!) like to feel like part of a team. Everyone on Earth wants to feel like

they are joined in a relationship to other people who are all marching towards a common goal.


Thus, one of the key strategies for your cultivation efforts should be to make people feel like part

of your team. Ask them for their suggestions. Keep them constantly in the loop. Invite them to

exclusive events. Give them branded materials that show the world that they are part of your

team (Buttons? Bumper stickers? Pens?) Make them feel like you’re all one big team working

towards a common vision and a common goal on Election Day (you are, aren’t you?!)

People like to be caught up in a larger vision.

The next psychology lesson is this: people like to be caught up in a larger vision. Most people,

even the rich and famous, get “stuck” in their daily routines. They get up, go to work, eat meals,

play with the kids on the weekends, retire and do some traveling or relaxing, and grow old

watching the grandkids play.

Because most people don’t like the fact that they get stuck in a “standard” routine, they like to

break free by getting caught up in bigger stories and visions. Epic movies, great novels, and a

night at the symphony are all ways to escape the humdrum and get caught up in a larger story.

You might not realize it yet, but your campaign is another great way for people to escape the

routine and get caught up in a larger story and vision for the future. Why is your candidate

running for office? Are you making the world a safer, freer place? Are you bringing new

businesses and new jobs to your town? Fixing your city’s schools? People want to get caught up

in your vision… so let them! Cast a big vision, and paint a big picture.

Your cultivation process has to be about engaging people in your vision and allowing them to

escape the routine by working with you to meet your common challenges and accomplish your

common mission.

People want to be heard.

Finally, it is important to remember that people – all people – want to be heard. Everyone thinks

that they have good ideas and good stories to tell. Nothing builds a relationship so much as

listening to another person.

Because your campaign is trying to build relationships with prospects, it is imperative that you

listen to them as part of the cultivation process. This means asking them for their input, hearing

their ideas, and acknowledging their contributions of time and talent to your campaign. Hear

your prospects, and they will become your donors.

Now that we understand the keys to understanding the cultivation process, let’s take a look at

how the process plays out…

Entry Points for New Prospects

As a growing campaign, it is not enough to simply find new prospects. You need to engage

them. The way you engage with your new prospect is sometimes referred to as an “entry point.”


This is the activity whereby the prospect enters your campaign’s orbit. It is the first real

relationship-building activity that you carry out with each of your prospects.

Holding a meet-and-greet event (sometimes called a non-ask event) is one of the most common

entry points for new prospects. (Old-time political operatives refer to these events as “coffee

klatches”). Many campaigns hold informational gatherings at their own location, or at a local

business or supporter’s home, to introduce their message to a new group of prospects. Tours of

your office also work well for this purpose. Other great ways to meet new prospects in a non-

threatening setting are to hold small roundtable meetings with the candidate and a group of

prospects or invite prospects to the candidate’s home for a coffee event.

Of course, events are not the only entry points for new prospects. Another great way to start the

process is by setting up individual meetings with donors. If you have new major donor prospects

(such as those referred by a finance committee member), breaking bread with the prospect over a

meal (or simply meeting with them in their office for 30 minutes) can be a great way to kick off a

relationship. Phone calls work as well.

The key here is to think through your entry points: are you providing good solid non-ask entry

points for your prospects? How often? Each time you come across a new prospect, think to

yourself, “What would be the best entry point for this person? How can we best start our

relationship with this new prospect?”

Ways to Build a Relationship with Your Prospects

Once a prospect has entered your orbit through an entry point or an initial meeting, it’s time to

begin building a relationship with the prospect – ideally a relationship that is constantly growing

and strengthening. You need to communicate with and cultivate your donors and make they feel

like part of your team.

There are any number of ways to develop a relationship with a prospect. Here are some of the

most common strategies used by campaigns:

Campaign Communications

Communicating with your prospects on a regular basis is a great way to strengthen your

relationship with them. Possibilities include sending out a paper or e-mail newsletter, mailing

campaign reports, keeping your website updated, doing short e-blasts to your network, etc. For

the vast majority of campaigns, the primary way that they communicate with and cultivate their

donors is through a regular e-mail newsletter.

Events

Meet-and-greets and other non-ask events are great cultivation tools. Whether you are hosting a

tour of your campaign office, bringing in a guest speaker or friendly politician, holding a “thank

you” coffee at a local business, or doing a roundtable discussion, prospects and donors should be


invited to at least one (and preferably more) free events hosted by your campaign each cycle that

are directly related to your message.

Volunteer Opportunities

When people donate their time, it is often a first step towards donating their money. Offer

volunteer opportunities so that your prospects can get actively involved without opening up their

wallets – it will make them feel like part of your team and put you in a great position to ask for a

gift at a later date. Remember, even if you don’t currently offer volunteer opportunities, with

some creativity, every campaign can find something for volunteers to do.

Committee Membership

Placing prospects on a committee that is doing something related to your campaign is a great

way to get someone engaged. For example, you may form a committee of people to look at ways

to generate more PR and buzz around your campaign, or you could pull together a committee to

make get out the vote calls. Getting people working for you, as part of a group, is a great way to

get and keep them engaged.

Earned Media and Public Relations

You may not think about earned media, press coverage, and public relations (PR) as a way of

cultivating donors, but it is. Each time a prospect sees a story about your campaign in the local

paper or hears about it on the radio, he or she will not only feel great about their association with

you, but will also feel the desire to continue getting more involved with your efforts.

Drawing Prospects through the Funnel

Remember our funnel analogy… as you interact more with your prospects, a number of them

will weed themselves out and drop off your radar screen. Your job as a fundraiser is to slowly

draw people through the funnel, bringing them closer to your campaign and making an ever

stronger connection with them.

For example, your first contact with a certain prospect may be when they come to a campaign

meet-and-greet event. You then follow up and ask the person via a phone call if they have any

questions and for their thoughts on a particular issue. You place that person on your mailing list,

and send them a copy of your monthly newsletter. Then, you ask the prospect if they’d like to

serve on a committee you are putting together. At each step, the person is being drawn closer

and closer to your campaign. By the time they are through the funnel, they know you, they

understand your campaign message, they are on a committee, etc. – of course they will want to

support you financially! That’s when it’s time to make an ask.

Great campaigns get good at walking people down the path and drawing them through the

fundraising funnel.


Keeping Donors Engaged

Of course, once you do make an ask and the person says “yes,” you’ll need to keep cultivating

the donor. Many campaigns forget about this step… in order to keep donors engaged and keep

them giving over the course of the campaign, and/or in subsequent cycles, it is important to keep

cultivating them.

This means that your campaign should set up a cultivation path for current donors that walks

them towards their next donation. This “current donor cultivation” funnel should include lots of

thank-you’s, and lots of opportunities for current donors to take leadership positions on event

committees, etc.

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