Political Fundraising: Ideas That Work

No matter where we are in the election cycle, the truth is, preparing for elections is a year-round effort. The round-the-clock nature of political fundraising applies to nonprofits that engage in advocacy work, too, including fundraising for refugees, social policies, and education around specific legislation. We share political fundraising ideas for campaigns and for nonprofits engaging in advocacy so that you and your organization can be the change you want to see!

Fundraising Ideas For Political Campaigns

If you’re an individual, entrepreneur, startup, or established business that wants to fund a particular candidate’s run for office, or if you’re the candidate yourself, there are plenty of excellent strategies that can help you get there. Running a successful campaign costs a pretty penny for everything from staff to advertising to communications.

While major candidates can expect to raise billions of dollars to support their political bids, grassroots candidates often run on less than a million. Even the majority of individual contributions to Bernie Sanders’ campaign totaled less than $200 dollars. Before you get started on your fundraising efforts, sit down with your team and discuss the following essentials:

• Funding goals. How much do you hope to raise? Be realistic. While it would be nice if 100% of people donated something to your campaign, the truth is, you’ll get a lot of no’s, so budget accordingly.
• Timing. While any campaign fundraiser has a hard deadline that hits every election season, it’s smart to set milestones for yourself to measure your efforts and stay on track.
• Objectives. Your overarching goal is, of course, cash for your campaign. But it helps to get more specific than that: are you aiming to attract new supporters, galvanize old ones, or build relationships with a few key donors? The more clear your objectives, the easier it is to budget and schedule your activities.

In every case, building political support requires diligent and time-consuming dedication to creating, promoting, and executing fundraisers that get your candidate the cash they need to keep going. Here are reliable methods to get your campaign off the ground—and keep it there:

#1: Calls

The most tried-and-true method of political outreach is cold calling. It’s been around forever because it works. While it might feel a little awkward, donors who take politics seriously understand that calls are an unavoidable element of grassroots campaigns.

Do your research on which donors in which districts are most likely to be at home, receptive, and willing to give when you call (i.e. don’t call before 9 am and never call late at night). Use sites like LinkedIn, Whitepages, and voter registration records to scope out potential donors based on their industry, political affiliation, and approximate income. The more you know before you call, the better placed you’ll be to provide information that your prospective donor will find relevant.

#2: Canvassing

Door-to-door canvassing is a powerful tool in every political hopeful’s toolbox, and they can energize your campaign while significantly expanding your network of donors. The trick is to train volunteers well so that they can articulate exactly why your candidate holds the key to the future. Here are some tips for training your canvassers:

• Recruit passionate people who are genuinely dedicated to your political aims.
• Encourage your volunteers to avoid yes or no questions that shut down conversations, instead asking open-ended questions that engage voters and make them feel heard.
• Remind your canvassers that the ultimate goal is to convince voters to support your candidate, so they should always have 2 or 3 convincing takeaways on hand.

#3: Fundraising Events

One of the best ways to inspire voters to root for your candidate is to bring them together for a fun, communal activity that sparks connections and trust. From debates to fundraising auctions to marches, what matters most is building relationships with people, but if nobody knows about your fundraiser, your candidate has lost before the race even started. That’s why getting the word out on your website, email, newsletter, social media, and fundraising platform is so critical.

#4: Social Media Fundraisers

While canvassing and calls have been around forever, there’s a new kid on the block when it comes to political fundraising for grassroots candidates, and that’s social media. Unlike door-to-door methods, social media outreach can mobilize millions of people very quickly, and it’s a much more effective method of getting young people on board. If a single, well-placed ad goes viral, your campaign is as good as made. Transform your supporters from followers to donors by creating visually appealing content that’s sharable, and don’t forget to include a clear call to action in the form of a “donate” button that takes your supporters directly to your donation pages, fundraising site, or website. 

Fundraising Ideas for Nonprofit Political Advocacy

Many nonprofits have an important role to play when it comes to political advocacy. For example, if you’re working with vulnerable populations in your area, and a bill is introduced in the local legislature that has a chance to improve­—or exacerbate! —the very conditions you’re working to alleviate, then it makes perfect sense that your nonprofit would seek to get involved. Whether your organization wants to mobilize its donor base to support or reject congressional, state, or local legislation, or to simply promote a specific legislative policy, advocacy fundraising gives your organization the chance to affect change at the political level while building awareness of your campaign.

Keep in mind, though, that while some political advocacy work is perfectly legal for nonprofits, going too far by dedicating too many of your resources to advocacy work risks losing your tax-exempt status. In other words, don’t spend too much time (or money!) on lobbying activities by either your staff or your volunteers. How much is too much? It’s decided on a case by case basis, but the IRS provides a helpful breakdown here of how to measure lobbying activities for nonprofits.

#1: Direct and Grassroots Lobbying

As we’ve already mentioned, there are limits on how much lobbying a registered nonprofit can do. So long as you keep those constraints in mind, you can get creative with advocating for political change. While lobbying doesn’t raise funds directly, it has the potential to massively increase your organization’s reach and donor base, showing your supporters that you’re serious about making a measurable impact. Here are the most effective ways to influence policy and look really good in the process:

1. Send letters. Whether your organization has plenty of weight to throw around or is a small neighborhood nonprofit, your voice counts. Communicating your views to an elected official not only makes them notice you, but it positions you as a leader in your community. Share the essentials of your letter on your website, newsletter, and social media channel so your donors can see exactly what you stand for while being impressed by your transparency.
2. Visit the Capitol. Whether you’re aiming to influence policy at the municipal, state, or federal level, nothing looks better on your website than a photo of you in the place where decisions are made. A visit to a legislative body counts as lobbying if you meet with elected officials to address legislation on behalf of your nonprofit. Bonus tip: snag a photo with your representative or senator and share it proudly across all your channels.
3. Invite a Legislator. Consider inviting a member of Congress or staff to attend your next fundraising event, whether as a guest or a speaker. Not only will they better understand your cause, but having an elected official at your fundraiser will make your biggest donors sit up and take notice. Just be sure to follow these rules for maximum transparency.

#2: Community Organizing

If a piece of legislation has you and your donors fuming, it’s time to get the community behind you. Community organizing may include filling the next town council meeting with dissatisfied citizens or coordinating a carpool to ensure that 50 distressed parents are able to attend the annual school board meeting. Community organizing contributes to your bottom line in 2 distinct ways:

1. Indirectly, by building relationships and coalitions while demonstrating to donors that you’re dedicated to improving your constituency, thus expanding your donor reach.
2. Directly, with dues paid by community members.

While it’s ideal to leverage both direct and indirect support, the overall goal of community organizing is to mobilize people and voices to address the needs of your community. The more you’re able to show yourself as a community leader, the bigger your impact—and revenue—will be.

#3: Voter Registration Party

Is it possible to bring together advocacy work, community organizing efforts, and fundraising goals? Yes! By hosting a voter registration party, your nonprofit or foundation accomplishes 3 things:

• Shows that it’s a serious player on the political stage
• Helps represent the community at the ballot box
• Raises cash for your cause.

Jackpot!

Registering people to vote on a bipartisan basis is part of kindling political awareness among your supporters, but it’s critical to avoid showing bias for or against any party or individual candidate. Here’s how to pull off a memorable Voter Registration Party in 5 doable steps:

1. Select a time and venue. Get inspired by music festivals across the nation that pair good tunes with getting out the vote and hold your event in a big park. Aim for a weekend day, or early weekday evening, to make it as easy to attend as possible.
2. Sell tickets online that prompt registration. When attendees purchase their tickets (i.e. $20 per ticket), give them the opportunity to register to vote or update their registration.
3. Get Creative. Book a local band, sell baked treats and branded merchandise, and add bouncy castles for voters with kids!
4. Make sure you have wi-fi and a working computer. If some attendees prefer to register in person during the event, make sure that you can have a safe and reliable connection so that you can register people or update their current registration online. Set up a table where you can easily interact with attendees.
5. Advertise. Promote the heck out of your Voter Registration Party across all your channels, and make sure to take plenty of photos and videos on the day!

#4: Crowdfunding

Nonprofit advocacy is tailor-made for crowdfunding campaigns. Why? Because it channels all the energy of grassroots movements and pairs it with the latest tech! Instead of making cold calls to people you don’t know and hoping they answer, your organization can tap into the power of digital fundraising tools to share its advocacy efforts with supporters across the globe who will donate, share, and raise awareness of your mission.

To take just one example that’s inspired by the unfolding crisis in Ukraine, a UK-based crowdfunding campaign called Stand with Ukraine has raised more than £10k to build refugee camps for Ukrainians fleeing their country. Fundraising for refugees is just one of the many advocacy efforts for which the power of crowdfunding can build major support, since your organization can create effective crowdfunding campaigns to tackle everything from education to health to the environment.

Fundraising for the Future

It’s never too late to organize a political fundraising event, crowdfunding campaign, or grassroots mobilization effort that speaks to donors’ sense of justice and community responsibility. RallyUp takes democracy seriously, which is why we offer the easy-to-use tools and seamless functionality that help your candidate or nonprofit meet their policy goals.