Home » Politics & Society » Women in Politics » Who You Know!

Who You Know!

© Hunter

Peer-pressure fundraising begins with, first of all, who you know and then who they know and so on and so forth.

Peer-pressure fundraising is not much more than an organized version of a chain letter. You start with a small group of either special interest groups or mutual friends and just like in a chain letter, the key to success is getting these people to pass on the messages. A good place to start is with looking at the highly professional people and civic leaders who are attracted to or support your candidacy. You should have created a master file, like we talked about in a previous article, of all your contributors and supporters to this point. That is the best list to start this fundraiser with. Divide them into interest groups such as women, minority groups, chamber of commerce, downtown business association, lawyers, nurses, state employees, unions, etc., and others who tend to function as peer group organizations.

You will then need to identify a key person in each of those groups. Do your homework and be sure you find the most influential and credible person in each group of peers . . . remember, you are soliciting the endorsement of the entire group through this one person. This endorsement can and will translate into thousands of dollars in contributions to your campaign.

In your first meeting you should concentrate on impressing this key person with your campaign strategy and with your chances of winning. Once this key person becomes part of your fundraising board, it is important that this person's contribution be no less than what he/she will be asking others to contribute. The campaign should supply this key person with campaign brochures and other campaign materials, a list of specific items, which will be paid for with the money he/she raises, and an arrangement for follow-up letters and return envelopes to confirm pledge amounts.

It should not be a difficult process to get a core group of people, especially among those people who have past records of being politically involved. They should then be asked to agree to divide up a list of peers and then telephone or visit a specific number of them. In some cases, perhaps a small "meet and greet" session in the campaign coordinators office conference room may appropriate. During this "meet and greet" session, the candidate should make a few remarks and then the key person should make a direct pitch for contributions.

The copyright of the article Who You Know! in Women in Politics is owned by Hunter. Permission to republish Who You Know! in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.