Professional Documents
Culture Documents
How 100 Hoosier Libe Arians Raised $40,000 N One Day: T U R e F
How 100 Hoosier Libe Arians Raised $40,000 N One Day: T U R e F
How 100 Hoosier Libe Arians Raised $40,000 N One Day: T U R e F
Set your party's fundraising goal one to three months before your state
convention. Earlier is better so you can articulate your goals to your members and shift their
attitudes to align with yours.
1
4. Be specific in your request. If $30 each month is what you have budgeted as a need,
then say exactly what $30 will buy the party. Your pledge card should include higher and
lower giving levels since each member's financial situation is different.
5. Send your letter in the national party's "off months" so the two appeals do not compete
with each other.
6. Agree on who will record, track, and process monthly pledges. Also, designate who will
send monthly check invoices and follow up on bad credit cards or delinquent check
pledgers.
7. Be sure your merchant account is working since you will want to encourage credit/check
card pledges over any others. (Sending monthly check invoices almost always have a
decreasing rate of return.)
Raise Money at the Convention. Every LP convention has the potential to raise at least
$1000 a month in pledges. You've created the plan, now put it into action.
2
2. At each place during the business meeting
3. At each place setting at lunch and at dinner
4. In stacks in the hospitality suite or reception area
Before the convention begins, have a quick fund raising committee meeting.
1. Decide who is taking up the pledge cards, and be sure each fundraising speaker knows
to point donors in that direction.
2. The state treasurer should tally the monthly pledges as they are received so the chair can
announce the progress (and mark the "thermometer") after each break.
3. If the goal is to raise money for paid staff, existing staff should not be a visible part of the
convention fundraising efforts. Staff should not ask for money or take up the pledge
cards unless first approached by the pledger.
4. Make copies of the attendee list at the hotel desk and divide it among the committee
members. Be sure current pledgers are quickly identified so they are not insulted when
asked to pledge.
Line up your fundraising speakers so they "turn up the heat" as the convention
progresses (see attached example from the 1999 LPIN convention or watch the video)
1. The opening or "State of the State" address by state chair or convention chair mentions
the party's goal but should not mention fundraising
2. Place your director or other "meat and potatoes" party producer early on the agenda.
3. Paid staff treats the convention as a board of directors meeting, offering proof of the
party's accomplishments under her watch and promoting the strategies to reach set
goals. Essentially, she is justifying their pledges. Charts and graphs don't hurt.
4. Before each break, line up a two-minute "testimonial" from a fundraising committee
member. He briefly says why he was inspired to pledge and why others should, too.
Two or three testimonials spaced throughout the day is plenty.
5. During each break, committee members circulate to nicely ask people on their list to
pledge. (They do not expose the list or alert attendees to the fact that this is highly
orchestrated!) They thank existing pledgers and, politely encourage them to consider an
~ increase. (Remember, existing pledgers have already been called.)
6. After the luncheon speaker, the state chair or other respected designate makes a five- to
ten-minute presentation about the goal and offers the first serious pressure to pledge.
Cards are already on tables, and the speaker will remind the attendees to whom to give
them.
7. Pressure mounts with each subsequent pre-break testimonial.
8. Depending on how the fundraising is going, all the stops are pulled out at dinner.
a. Cards are again at each place.
b. The "thermometer" is at the front of the room.
c. The state chair readies himself for an all-out, shameless pitch after the dinner
speaker concludes.
d. Several pitches may have to be given, depending on the energy and frequency of
pledges. Always reinforce the goal.
e. The designated "collector" gathers each card and returns it to the treasurer for
tallying and addition to the "thermometer."
f. Auctions or other methods of bidding can be incorporated to increase excitement.
9. The chair will need to know when to end the evening-preferably on a high note,
before people tire and begin having an unpleasant time.
10. Always thank the attendees.
a. Never make those who didn't pledge feel as if they haven't contributed.
b. Always appreciate pledgers, and reinforce the fact that they have made reaching
the goal possible (or one step closer, depending on how much was raised).
Keep Your Eyes on the Prize. Entropy will set in if you do not nurture your pledgers,
members, and party leaders.
1. Follow through with any incentives or prizes that were part of the convention fundraising
effort. Do this immediately so you are taken seriously.
3
2. Send a special fundraising letter to every member and friend who did not attend the
convention. They may not have been able to attend, but they may be able to give. (The
LP of Michigan has had tremendous success in this area.)
3. Continue sending fundraising letters like the ones previously discussed to your list.
Existing pledgers may give more, and you will always more than break even if done well
and "layered" with additional reinforcement of the goal in other areas (newsletter, state
events, e-mail lists, etc.).
4. Prospects may not have joined yet (or they may not intend to sign the pledge); however,
they may be very interested in pledging or making a donation. Keep them on your
fund raising list for a few months ... even longer if they respond.
5. Keep a tight ship:
a. Promptly process credit card pledges the same week each month.
b. Call the donor immediately if the card is declined. It is probably a simple problem
that can be fixed with a friendly call.
c. Send professional monthly invoices to those who pledged by check.
d. Give check pledgers a friendly call if they do not fulfill their pledge on time.
Encourage them to switch to credit or check card. It will save the LP a lot of
money and time, which will mean a lot to the member.
e. Make fundraising an integral part of your party activities.
a. Always ask for money at every meeting of the LP, even at the county level.
b. Many churches do this every week with great success, and freedom is more
important than religion for some people.
c. People give because they believe in the goal, because they are used to being
asked, and because they know financial support is expected of them.
d. Remember: "If not you, then who?" Do we expect Republicans and Democrats to
give us money?
e. Keep it in perspective: "If you say you would die for liberty, then why won't you
give $30 each month?" This is Indiana's goal for each member ... and is the same
cost as one soft drink a day, one decent round of golf, two pizzas, or one daily
Twinkie from the vending machine at work.
4
From theory to reality:
How 100 Hoosier Libertarians raised $40,000 in one day
r=-; The Libertarian Party of Indiana Model
"* June 1998: The LP of Indiana set the goal to hire an executive director to manage the
party's headquarters and facilitate activities surrounding that fall's Secretary of State
ballot access race.
"* Summer 1998: In-kind donors of goods were lined up, and the party negotiated a salary
with the potential director. The SOS candidate agreed to split the salary with the LPIN.
"* August 1998: The executive director was hired, and the headquarters opened.
"* Campaign 1998: From August until November, the focus was on the SOS candidate and
maintaining ballot access. The director was an essential part of the campaign effort,
mostly serving as a media/activist/communications hub.
"* November 1998 to April 1999:
After the successful election, the goal we articulated to members before and during the
convention shifted to "See what we did with an executive director? Let's keep her so we
can do it again ... and do more." Everything revolved around that goal, which included
articulating everything the director accomplished, since that was the point.
Indiana's LP publications alternated monthly between a Progress Report (to raise money)
and a newsletter (to talk about the great things we did with the money, like increase
media hits, run campaign training, manage the activity of the headquarters, support a
record number of candidates, etc.). A bi-weekly e-mail missive called the Liberty Beacon
was sent from the director to all e-mail addresses we had on file. It was an update of
state- and county-level activity in the LPIN and helped subconsciously reinforce the idea
that a director was important to the party.