Most first-time candidates would rather knock a hundred doors than make one finance call. The call is still the fastest way a local campaign gets funded, and it gets easier after the fifth one. Here is how to make the first twenty.
Before you start, make sure your committee is registered, your treasurer is in place and you know the limits and the records you have to keep. Those rules live on Campaign Compliance Hub, with the official source for every figure. Do not take a dollar until that is done.
The twenty-call list
Write down the twenty people who would be surprised if you did not ask them. Family, old friends, people you have done business with, the ones who said "let me know how I can help" when you told them you were running. They are not the richest people you know; they are the people most likely to say yes.
Next to each name, write a number. Ask for a specific amount, and make it a little higher than you think they will give. People give to the number you say. Leave the amount blank and they will send a token.
The call
Call, do not text, and do not email. Pick a time they are not at work. The call takes five minutes, and it goes like this:
- Say why you are running, in the three sentences from your index card. Thirty seconds.
- Say what the money is for. "Signs and the first mailer cost about this much, and I need to order them by the fifteenth." Specific purpose, specific date.
- Ask. "Would you give three hundred dollars?" Then be quiet. The silence after the ask is the hardest part and the most important one. Do not fill it.
- If yes, say thank you, tell them exactly how to give (the link on your site, or a check made out to the committee name) and when you will follow up. Then get off the phone.
- If maybe, ask what would help them decide, and set a date to call back. Write it down and keep it.
- If no, thank them anyway and ask if they would knock doors or host a coffee. Many people who will not give will do something else.
Within an hour, send the link or the mailing address by text, so the gift happens while the conversation is fresh.
After the gift
Record every gift the day it arrives, with the fields your treasurer needs. Send a handwritten thank-you within a week. Donors who are thanked quickly give again; donors who hear nothing until the next ask do not.
Hosting a coffee
Once the first twenty are done, ask the two or three who were most enthusiastic to host a small gathering at their home. The host invites fifteen friends, you speak for ten minutes, and the host makes the ask on your behalf before you leave. A host asking their own friends raises more than you asking strangers.
Online giving
Put a donate button on your site from the first day, and post the link when you announce. Most gifts in a local race still come from people you talked to, so treat the button as the place a conversation ends, not as a substitute for one.
What to keep in mind
You are not asking for yourself. You are asking for the road, the school or the budget vote you are running to fix, and the person on the phone cares about that too. Say it that way and the call stops feeling like begging.
Rules about money, disclaimers and reporting depend on your state and your office. Check them on Campaign Compliance Hub before you act.