fundraising – Page 2 – Jim Eltringham

Three slides from a 72-slide presentation on fundraising are causing headaches over at the RNC. The PowerPoint talks about why people give money, with “ego” and “fear” being the terms that have gotten the most press.

There’s nothing in the presentation that wouldn’t be found in most lectures or lessons on how to raise money – though the RNC could have chosen the word “urgency” over “fear.” Though embarrassing, the story will likely not affect many voters in November.

Yet this story matters to RNC donors.

The RNC is getting a bad reputation for its fundraising (or lack thereof). Michael Steele has been under fire for the amounts of money both coming in and going out. A frequent criticism is that Steele does not schmooze the big-dollar donors. This leaked presentation has hit the national media, but it’s only the latest in a series of stories in the inside the beltway trade press that hammers Steele – and donors who write big checks read those media outlets.

These stories will have no effect if the RNC is in front of its donors, keeping them updated on the organization’s plans and making sure that, no matter what Politico says, they are valued members of the team. If the RNC isn’t defining their donor relationships, Politico will do it for them.

I haven’t read Funding Fathers: The Heroes Behind the Conservative Movement yet. I have read Dan Flynn‘s review of the book, which was written by two key leaders of the Young America’s Foundation (YAF), founder Ron Robinson and fundraiser Nicole Hoplin. (As any campus conservative knows well, YAF is an extremely helpful organization that helps bring center-right speakers to colleges and universities.)

As a history lesson, there are few better professors than Robinson, a firsthand witness to the rise of the conservative movement, and Hoplin, one of the bright young torch-bearers at YAF. But this also underscores one of the needed shifts in the conservative movement. In the past, deep-pocketed businessmen who loved freedom could and would bankroll books, organizations, or other projects. Direct mail mavens – especially Richard Viguerie – updated that model by creating a donor base that relied on relatively low-dollar average donations from a higher number of supporters.

Now, as Viguerie himself has long predicted, the conservative movement must go even farther in optimizing the internet. Online fundraising doesn’t offer the one-shot money bomb that a check from Richard Mellon Scaife may have, but it forces organizations to be more diligent and intelligent in their fundraising.

And best of all, it gets more people involved – which is what a movement should be about, anyway.

Tag: fundraising

In fairness, Pelosi DOES look like Cruella D’Evil

Funding the conservative movement