Jesse

Internet Fundraising

Many claims have been made, look no further than the rest of this blog, regarding the Internet’s potential to transform politics in the United States as we know it, from making third parties legitimate contenders, to minimizing the influence of party elites. (Chadwick 2006) Whether or not these potentials can equal reality is debatable; however one thing is certain, the Internet has completely transformed political fundraising in the United States. By utilizing the diverse networks of communication enabled by the internet, campaigns have the ability to tap into the collective fundraising power of the grassroots, a power not fully utilized until the 2008 presidential election. However, what came to fruition in 2008 however has its roots in the United States’ 2004 primary elections (Kerbel and Bloom 2005; Chadwick 2006; DiJulio and Wood 2009)

It is important to keep in mind that claims predicting the Internet’s transformation of politics are not new. “Commentators have continually prophesied the coming of the “first Internet election” since the 1992 presidential campaign” (Chadwick pg. 151, 2006) However it’s hard to deny this coming finally arrived in 2008. Obama for America’s impressive new media campaign did indeed transform political campaigns, creating what has been described as the first Web 2.0 presidential campaign; however, Obama for America took a page from the Howard Dean campaign’s fundraising playbook by soliciting small donations from a broad audience by pushing federal filing deadlines. (DiJulio and Wood 2009) Many people actually cite the presidential campaign of 2003-2004 as “the first real Internet election in the United States.” (Chadwick pg. 162, 2006)

Dean for America

Dean’s campaign showcased many benefits of Internet campaigning, benefits Obama for American would build upon in 2008; however most importantly, Dean’s campaign demonstrated  the of power garnering small donations via the Internet. (McCullagh, 2004; Chadwick, 2006). “It has been calculated that at one stage (of the 2004 primaries) 280,000 individuals had contributed to a $40 million running total, which makes the average contribution $143. (Chadwick pg. 164, 2006; Singel, 2004) “The (fundraising) effort, like Dean’s other tactical initiatives, combined high tech tools with low tech techniques.” (Kerbel and Bloom pg. 13, 2005) The best example of this was the “Dean for America Bat”. The Dean Bat web tool measured how close supporters were to reaching fundraising goals set by the campaign.  This strategy was used to encourage donations from supporters before fundraising deadlines, but it also created a shared experience between supporters, fostering an online community around supporting Dean. (Kerbel and Bloom, 2005)

The 2008 US Presidential Election

The numbers tell it all. After becoming the first presidential candidate to turn down public financing, Obama for America raised a total of $656 million during the 2008 election, dwarfing the McCain campaign’s total of $201 million (excluding federal funds). (DiJulio and Wood 2009) Of the $656 million raised by Obama for America, $500,000 million was raised online, primarily through emails. (DiJulio and Wood 2009) The Obama campaign used this huge money advantage to fuel its winning campaign operations, paying for field staff salaries to nearly $250 million in TV air time.

According to Stephen Geer, Director of Email and Online Fundraising for Obama for America, “eighty-five percent or more” of the funds raised online came through direct emails, drawing on a email list of 13 million people. (DiJulio and Wood 2009) Obama for America developed an exceptional email campaign, using carefully crafted language and other strategies to build a movement, and as a result, Obama for America was able to raise unprecedented amounts of money to capture a groundbreaking presidential election.

Elements That Made OFA Fundraising Successful

Obama for America crafted a meticulous email campaign to raise its impressive fundraising totals throughout the primaries and presidential campaign, using the content management system Blue State Digital to manage an email list of 13 million people. Here are some of the elements that made Obama for America’s email fundraising efforts a tremendous success.

Relationship Building and Authenticity

Nurturing a one-on-one relationship with supporters was paramount to the success of Obama for America’s email fundraising effort. (DiJulio and Wood 2009) The campaign was able to do this by striking an authentic tone with supporters.  The campaign accomplished this this through a few methods; for example, striking a personal tone by using first names in the email signatures, providing “insider” details about campaign activities, and including raw, unedited video in contribution asks (see below). (DiJulio and Wood 2009)

The Obama campaign also solicited personal stories from supporters and incorporated them into email content. This was a common trend noticed on Dean’s Blog for America website which generally fostered a community of supporters around the campaign. (Kerbel and Bloom, 2005) Rather than primarily focusing on the candidate, this two way street  of communication put the supporters at the center of the movement, fostering a personal relationship between supporters and the campaign.

The Narrative Arc

Consistency was also a major focus of the campaign. “The story from one email to the next was consistent, and many of the fundraising appeals were part of a multi-message email series.” (DiJulio and Wood pg. 21, 2009) One example of this strategy is Obama for America used language putting the supporters at the center of the movement, rather than the candidate. This type of language remained consistent from the campaign’s start to its finish.

Video

Another element that added to the authenticity of the campaign was the use of raw, unedited video used by the campaign to connect with supporters. This created an cheap, authentic means of communication between the campaign and supporters by giving the videos a familiar feel to supporters.

This video is a perfect example of David Plouffe, Obama’s campaign manager, using the narrative ark built by the campaign, fostering relationships with supports by supplying information regarding campaign strategy, and asking for donations to the campaign. These videos were made available via Youtube and email landing pages.

Timing

Obama for America was also able to respond quickly to events happening on the campaign trail with successful email blasts. The best example of this was the “community organizing email” sent by Plouffe the night of the Republican National Convention. Sent just hours after Palin’s speech, this email raised close to $11 million for Obama’s campaign. (DiJulio and Wood pg. 21, 2009)

How New Media Enables These Successes

No can deny that without utilizing new media, Obama for America would never have come close to reaching the fundraising totals it did during the 2008 election. Many of the elements that made the email fundraising so success were primarily enabled by characteristics of web 2.0.

Mash up

Obama for America embedded videos, pictures, and other forms of media to emails, and by combining external sources in the emails, Obama for America utilized the “mash up” or “remix” characteristic of the Internet to create a unique product. The “mash up” elements of the emails, the Youtube videos, video clips from main stream media, video clips from speeches on the campaign trail, helped create and maintain the relationship between the campaign and supporters vital to Obama for America’s fundraising effort.

Uploading

Obama for America constantly encouraged supporters to upload their personal stories, pictures, videos, etc, during the election. (DiJulio and Wood, 2009) The campaign used these stories when crafting email content, but it also again fostered community, both on and off line, centered around electing Obama president.

Viral Community and P2P Sharing

All of the elements discussed above fostered a viral community around electing Barack Obama president. Howard Dean demonstrated the potential power of a dedicated viral community on a campaign during his bid for the Democratic ticket. Emails and other messages issued by Obama for America online flowed freely over supporters various Internet networks. The viral community around Obama was key in generating both first time and repeat donations, and it was greatly facilitated by supporters’ abilities to share content with family, friends, co-workers, etc. over the Internet. Obama for America fully understood the potential of a robust viral community and P2P sharing by implementing a donor matching fundraising program. (DiJulio and Wood, 2009)

Conclusions

The great success of Obama for America was in large part due to its ability to combine a successful online campaign and offline campaign. Its online and offline communities fueled each other with momentum and donations, growing a movement. The genius of Obama for America’s Internet fundraising was it’s ability to successful combine new media tools with old media techniques. This was the main tactic Obama for America took from the Howard Dean campaign, and it was a tactic that help propel Barack Obama into the White House.

What does this mean for the future of campaign fundraising? Well I don’t think it takes a genius to point out that unless there are serious changes made, public financing of presidential campaigns is likely a thing of the past. It is impossible to predict if the record amount of funds raised by Obama for America will ever be replicated; however, I think it is safe to say that the strategies used during the 2008 elections will be implemented, scaled down for state and local elections if needed, in future elections.

References

Blog for America and Civic Involvement. Ed. Kerbel, Matthew R. and Bloom, Joel David. 2006. Press/PoliticsThe Harvard International Journal of  . <http://hij.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/10/4/3>.

Chadwick, Andrew. Internet Politics: States, Citizens, and New Communication Technologies. New York: Oxford       UniversityPress, 2006.

Online Tactics Success: An Examination of the Obama For America New Media Campaign . Ed. DiJulio, Sarah and Wood, Andrea. 2009. Wilburforce and Brainerd Foundations.