Online Fundraising for dummies...like me!
After reading the first chapter of The Political Consultants' Online Fundraising Primer, produced by the good folks at the Institute for Democracy, Politics, and the Internet, I felt enlightened. I am not kidding in at all. This is a must read for anyone that is going to be running a campaign.
The most insightful concept is simple: “E-mail is more important than my Web site!” Wow! At first I had trouble wrapping my mind around this, but I think I get it.
A wed site, no matter how great, is passive. It only sits there waiting for someone to view it. A possible supporter or contributor can be led to a campaign’s site by 1) seeing the address on other campaign material, i.e. push cards, TV spot, direct mail, etc ; 2) clicking on a link that leads to your site; 3) results of a web search, like Google.
Of these three, clicking on a link is the easiest. So what does this mean? A campaign should strive to get a link to its website in front of as many receptive people as often as possible.
Had I realized this a year ago I would have made getting a link to my candidate’s website on other related sites and in as many emails as possible. I am beginning to see how even in rural Tennessee the internet could be a big asset.
The most insightful concept is simple: “E-mail is more important than my Web site!” Wow! At first I had trouble wrapping my mind around this, but I think I get it.
A wed site, no matter how great, is passive. It only sits there waiting for someone to view it. A possible supporter or contributor can be led to a campaign’s site by 1) seeing the address on other campaign material, i.e. push cards, TV spot, direct mail, etc ; 2) clicking on a link that leads to your site; 3) results of a web search, like Google.
Of these three, clicking on a link is the easiest. So what does this mean? A campaign should strive to get a link to its website in front of as many receptive people as often as possible.
Had I realized this a year ago I would have made getting a link to my candidate’s website on other related sites and in as many emails as possible. I am beginning to see how even in rural Tennessee the internet could be a big asset.
2 Comments:
I completely agree with you!! I appreciate the proactive approach that is built into emails as opposed to the passive nature of the website. Looking back, I think I should have pushed our website more in other forms of our media strategy.
I think my assumption (which in hindsight was wrong) was that because we already had the website up; anyone that wanted to use that medium for information on my candidate would, and didn’t need any direction or push. But because of the sheer vastness of the internet it is very likely that people may have been interested in the website and simply not know how to find it.
Sounds like even in rural Tennessee and North Carolina people are geared up and ready to get “plugged in!”
One thing I feel was a missed opportunity was the lack of use of paid search advertising. By that I mean buying keywords in google when people search (e.g. Tennesse Governor) and the option to click on a link appearing on the right hand side.
You can then direct people to whichever part of your site you like. It usually costs less than a dollar per click, and is a great way of getting people to your site via a search engine when then search for a generic term.
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