Starting Your Fundraising Operation
A lot of candidates launch without being prepared to fundraise — no website, no way to accept contributions, and no system in place for keeping track of donors and potential donors. Don’t let that be you! Your launch is a great opportunity for visibility in the press (often your best opportunity) so be ready to use that publicity to get the ball rolling on your campaign. Here are three things you can do pre-launch to maximize your potential fundraising right away.
Who should you reach out to?
Going through all of your contacts to identify potential donors is often called ‘rolodexing.’ When you’re fundraising, you need a clear plan for who you’re going to contact and when, and that starts with knowing who to call.
Don’t just identify potential donors — also figure out how much they might be prepared to give! Then you can personalize your ask amount on each call, to maximize each donor’s potential.
If that sounds daunting, don’t worry. CallTime.AI automates most of your rolodexing and prioritizes the potential donors for you, as well as using artificial intelligence to find recommended ask amounts.
Get on the phone!
While an email blast is great for reaching a lot of people at once, it’s not as personal as a call from the candidate. Call your top potential donors as soon as you can, to make sure that they feel involved and important to your campaign. Good fundraising includes donors who feel like a part of the campaign, not just people who get asked for money. For your most important contacts, you can even call before your campaign has been officially launched. This is a great way to make them feel like a campaign insider.
Before you start making those calls, check the campaign finance rules for your election. Some campaigns can ask people to pledge to donate before the campaign is officially launched, which means you’ll have a head start on fundraising.
Whether you can ask for pledges or not, it’s important to have conversations with potential donors. Tell them about your campaign, ask what issues are important to them, and ask them for their feedback. Make sure they know that their voice is an important part of your campaign.
Get ready for donations
If you have pre-launch pledges, the best time to fulfill them is right after you launch your campaign. Make sure you’ve set aside time to handle that — follow up with people who pledged, walk them through the donation process, and thank them for helping your campaign with a strong start.
Also, make sure that it’s easy to donate to your campaign! The last thing you want is someone looking for your campaign website so they can donate to you and giving up because they can’t figure out how it works. Potential donors should be able to go to your website and find the link to your donation page right away. Also, have someone in your campaign ready to provide support and help donors through the process when necessary.
The two most important things for successful fundraising on day 1 of your campaign are starting early and getting organized. The stronger your start, the more viable your campaign will look to potential supporters. You can use your pre-launch preparation to start building the momentum that will take you all the way to Election Day.
