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FundBunch Success Center- Political Campaigns

Asking for money is hard.  We know.  That is why we’ve created the FundBunch Success Center to provide you with a few easy guidelines to help you raise the most money possible for your Political Campaign.

The Essentials for Success

Most individuals will contribute to your campaign because they:
  • Know and want to support you.
  • Relate to your event or have a personal experience with it.
  • Understand their contribution will have a positive impact towards something.
  • Want to be a part of a bigger community that is doing good.

By understanding the motivations of your contributors, there are several very simple things you can do to take your fundraising to the next level.

Tell a Compelling Story

You are not just asking for campaign contributions.  You are asking people to help make a difference.  Use the “Owner’s Message” section of your site to tell this story.  Within your personal message, be sure to include the following:
  • Why you are running for office and why the reader should care.
  • Why you are asking for contributions.
  • What their contribution will provide.
  • Remind contributors of campaign contribution limits and to complete their personal information.
Because of the varying disclosure requirements and contribution limits by municipality and office, FundBunch cannot enforce these rules.  Instead we suggest that you outline the rules specific to your office using the sample text provided below:

    Per Washington State campaign contribution laws, your contributions are limited to $xxx per individual or $xxx per corporation.  Also, you are required to complete all personal information, including employer and occupation, that you will be asked to provide following your contribution.

Configure Your Site For Campaigns

  • Remove the ability to post comments to your Fund Hub.  This prevents the one sour apple from posting a comment that may not reflect your true character or qualifications for the office.
  • Hide the Goal and Amount Collect fields.  These figures may not reflect your offline contributions and do to timing may not tie out with figures provided as part of required campaign disclosure.
  • Remind your contributors to complete their personal information within the 'Tell Us About Yourself' section that follows their donation.  It is important they complete this information as it will make your life easier for contribution reporting.
  • Reiterate Campaign Contributions Limits for your office.  Large donations are great, but not if they exceed the limit. 

Include a Picture

Upload a picture to your site that shows the you, your logo, or campaign logo.  This will make your Fund Hub look more professional and help you connect with your supporters. 

Ask Your Supporters to Contribute

You have to ask your supporters to contribute to your campaign.  Just creating a site alone will not help you meet your fundraising goals.  Ask and ask often.  Create monthly goals and share the progress with your supporters.  Celebrate successes.  Share your site with family, friends, colleagues; anyone that is supporting your campaign or has a vested interest in your election.  FundBunch allows you to choose an easy to remember web address for your site, www.fundbunch.com/yoursite so word of mouth should be very strong.  Don’t forget to include this address in all correspondence to your supporters, including:
  • Your campaign website
  • Your social network site, such as Facebook or MySpace.
  • Your personal website or blog.
  • The signature of your email!

Recognize Your Contributors

You can choose to publicly recognize your contributors by setting your contributors names and contribution amount to display on your site.  You can do this when you set up your account.  If you didn’t do this originally, you can always go back and set your site to do this.  FundBunch also allows you to send a Thank You email to your contributors.  Site Owners can simply go into their site management tools, select the contributors to thank, and add a personal message letting them know their contribution is appreciated.  Of course, this would be in addition to the contribution receipt your contributors will receive from FundBunch. 

Keep Momentum on Your Side

Expect to see the greatest response shortly after you share the site with your community.  Keep the momentum on your side through open communication.  Periodically send updates on how you are tracking to your goals, how the beneficiary is progressing, any steps forward that are being made.  Help keep your cause top of mind and let people know they are making an impact and the importance of your campaign. 

Refer a Friend

FundBunch offers you a Refer A Friend tool that allows you to take contacts from your address book and send them an email with a personal message that includes a link to your site.  This tool is located right on your Fund Hub, so your network can also use this tool to share the message beyond your immediate circle.  Of course you can also simply use your own email to send out the message as well.  Either way, make sure to reach out to your network and get them involved in supporting your campaign!

The Press Loves to Cover Campaigns

The media loves campaign coverage.  Use this to your advantage.  FundBunch provides you with a downloadable Press Release Template (doc) and Press Release Sample (doc).  Complete this easy template and send it to your local television, radio, and newspaper outlets.  Getting the media to run with your story can be tricky, so make sure to review FundBunch’s PR Best Practices. 

 

Do you have a tip that has worked for you?

Please share by emailing the FundBunch team.