How to crowdfund for your political campaign - Part Two

SCOPE

How will the funds be used?

Campaign creators should clearly explain their crowdfunding goal and how they intend to spend the money raised. You could have financial targets and state how the funds will be used once the target is achieved.

For example, if you need to organise flyers, brochures and shirts for yourself and your supporters, a target of your campaign might be “$5000 will get marketing items printed” etc.  

Crowdfund for an important local issue

Politicians don’t always crowdfund for an upcoming election or for political donations - in some cases, they may create a crowdfunding campaign to construct a playground or improve a local building within their community. This can be a great way for politicians to show their constituents how they are trying to help the community. It also shows people that a politician is aware of an issue facing their local area and is willing to help their constituents out in new and innovative ways.

REACH

Getting eyes on your campaign page

You can have the most well-written page in the world, but if you don’t promote it to anyone then it won’t succeed. Every political candidate needs to reach out and talk to their supporters about their campaign. Explain why you are crowdfunding online and how these donations will ultimately end up helping the community once you are elected.

The first people to donate to a campaign are the core supporters - friends, family and dedicated donors of the campaign creator. Major corporate sponsors and donors should also be contacted and offered rewards for generous donations. One reward could be a personal thank you note, another could be a short video explaining how their donation will be used for promotional purposes on their social media accounts. You should be promoting your campaign from the moment of launch until you close the campaign - if you don’t show that you are invested in the campaign, then it is highly unlikely that anyone else will promote your cause.

Community support can be the difference between a landslide victory or loss. Online updates for your social media pages are very important, as they help show people just how dedicated you are to your community and the people who live in the area.

Campaigning in the digital age

People are signing up to social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter every single day. Social media is a great way to spread your values and plans for your constituents around in a cost-effective manner.

All of your website links should be clear and short - if possible, you should get short links and include those in each of your social media posts. Your online political campaign should utilise a variety of social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube - and be updated at least three times each week. You need to update more frequently as the election date gets closer, to increase interest in your political campaign.

In the digital world, political fundraising is no longer through physical interactions via word of mouth or in person. Printed material should work alongside online political promotion and should be included in a marketing plan. This plan should detail what you want to say to voters, how you want to say it and how much everything is going to cost.

If you have bought some flyers and picked them up from the store, then you should post about it on social media. Take a photo of the flyers, show your online supporters how thankful you are and what you have done so far with their hard-earned donations. Online political fundraising for your upcoming electoral campaign is the perfect way to engage with tech savvy voters and manage your campaign funds in one easy location.

Political crowdfunding is a tried and tested way to raise funds for political campaigns overseas. Australia is just starting to use this method of collecting donations, and with the Australian federal elections due in 2016, now is the perfect time to get involved and create your own political crowdfunding campaign.