2010 Senatorial Campaign - Fundraising
Product: Fundraising and Prospecting
What We Did: FLS provided the Marco Rubio campaign with a small dollar fundraising plan that built a house file early on in the cycle to pay off dividends in the election year.
How We Did It: FLS began fundraising for the senatorial campaign in the summer of 2009.
Through aggressive prospecting and an increase in name ID, we built up a strong donor base, implementing our breakeven guarantee so the campaign was at no risk of losing money. We also cultivated campaign supporters by reaching out to donors across the country in addition to in-state donors over the course of 18 months.
FLS telephone service agents were trained specifically for this campaign’s projects, and were able to converse with donors intelligently in order to make a stronger appeal. By having knowledgeable professionals on hand, we were able to start calls quickly in order to capitalize on media highlights and candidate appearances.
Once FLS callers secured a pledge, we followed up with mailings and reminder phone calls to collect committed funds at no extra cost to the client.
In addition, FLS worked with the campaign’s direct mail and online fundraising vendors to make sure our efforts complemented one another and didn’t impede success for the client.
Results: FLS brought in over 13,000 new donors for the campaign and maintained a fulfillment rate above 60% for both prospective and current donors. Our small dollar tele-fundraising program grossed over a million dollars in 2010, proving the value of finding new donors early and setting up a schedule where they give regularly.
The campaign also netted funds through prospecting which is a rare commodity in political fundraising; many aspiring campaigns actually lose money in this practice because of the lack of off year planning and work. Fortunately through the FLS breakeven guarantee and trained calling staff, the Rubio campaign was able to generate net dollars, while finding new donors at the same time.
We grew the donor list from a couple thousand regional pledges to a national network of contributors committed to the campaign’s success.
Through communication with the campaign’s fundraising vendors from other mediums, FLS maximized results for the campaign in tele-fundraising. Donors were not overwhelmed by multiple vendor contacts; instead our efforts worked hand-in-hand to maximize profits for the client in all fundraising capacities.
Bottom Line(s): Building a strong donor base in this off year will give your campaign the needed resources to take 2012 by storm.
During the off year, campaigns often lose money through poor prospecting which also hurts their chances of starting off the election year with the resources needed to win. Start fundraising now and you are guaranteed success through FLS’ breakeven guarantee. The addition of donors to your cause is a benefit that will pay off time and time again.
