How Quickly Can You Build a PAC Fundraising Culture?

Today I am off to Beautiful Downtown Tempe.  Home of theArizona State University Sun Devils, and my well spent College Years.  My Delta Sigma Phi fraternity house may be gone from Alpha Drive, but the lessons I learned there live on.

One of those lessons was that organizations operate off of a culture.  If you're a jock, you're in the jock house, and you do jock things.  If you don't care about something, your peers aren't going to care about something, and therefore that something wont get done.  It's just kind of how organizations work.

I also learned that just because you operated one way, it didn't mean you couldn't shift.  Cultures Can Change!

So I will be meeting with a business group today that has a historical culture of NOT raising PAC funds.

• Their member participation rate was low
• Their total dollars raised per year was low
• Their dollars per contributor rate was low
• Their awareness of the PAC was low

So much so that I was repeatedly told for years that it wasn't that THEIR participation was lacking, it was that their participation reflected the state's participation in political engagement in ANY form.

This was a very convenient excuse because it sounded reasonable.  It's a state culture, not ours.  Regardless of whether or not that was true, its what they believed.

So several years ago I set about to help them change that culture.  Population wise its a good sized state, political influence wise it is a strong state, and even presence on the national stage, it is a strong state.  So why couldn't this group too become a more influential state when it comes to the PAC?

We started with a simple question - How can we change the culture here?

In examining exactly how they can shift the culture, we started with a small plan to get the leadership more engaged, to pass that through the organization, to the industry leaders, and out to the general members to become a stronger PAC state.

So what kind of results have we had?

• Every chapter in the state has improved their fundraising year over year in terms of participation rates and dollars raised by up to seven times in some chapters
• The state has improved its overall fundraising rates by about 20% year over year the past two years
• So far in 2015 they have raised 20% more than they did in all of 2014 with 4 months to go in the year.
• In less than 2 years they have increased their participation rate and fundraising totals by 50% each.

So how did they do it?  What changed?  What was the catalyst?

They each committed to trying and did try new things. 

Not everything worked, but nothing was catastrophic as they feared.  And they learned that they could accomplish something by just trying.

They still have a ways to go to meet their goals, but the culture has shifted, and provided they keep up the work, the culture will have permanently changed for their organization.

Four Months Left

September
October
November
December

That's it.  That's all you've got left of 2015.  Did you get all you needed done?  What do you have left?

You need to set up 2 plans -

One plan to address what you are going to do for the rest of this year to meet your goals.

One plan to figure out what you can get done in 2016.

Let us know how we can help you.

Making Use of the August Recess

So Congress is out of session for the summer recess.  Your state legislature may be as well.  For that matter... many city councils go dark in August as well.  However your issues still persist.

Over the next couple of weeks you have a real opportunity to capitalize on the off season to get your agenda accomplished.  Here are 5 quick ways to keep your issues top of mind for the key decision makers necessary.

1. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - no, very few people are swayed by these.  That isn't the point, the point is who does still read these - Your elected officials.  They know that their name could easily show up, so you should remind them of your issue.  Bonus points if you target the districts that your swing votes are likely to be.
2. FUNDRAISERS - Just because they aren't working, doesn't mean that they aren't still working for money for their campaign.  Show up at a few, bring people.  There are two things every fundraiser needs - bodies and money.  So bring them, maybe work out a deal with the fundraiser to bring more people.
3. COMMUNITY EVENTS - Whatever is the most important thing in your area, you bet your elected officials are going to be there.  A street fair, Rotary club meetings, whatever it may be.  If they are there, so should you.
4. IN DISTRICT MEETINGS - Most of the time these breaks aren't vacations.  They just work from the district.  Set up some time to meet with your elected officials in their local offices.
5. SET UP A DINNER - Fundraiser? Perhaps.  Meeting? Sure.  A chance to sit down with the elected official and introduce them to community leaders in an informal setting... That's a great way to make their acquaintance on a whole new level.

These breaks are an incredible opportunity.  You don't always have to go to their office to get things done, you can often make a difference just by being present.

The Real Winner(s) from the Debates

Candidates did what candidates do.

Commentators did what commentators do.

But the interesting thing coming out of the debate from last night is - there are actually quite a few well versed candidates on key issues.

Despite the format, despite the presentation, despite the lack of a "true debate format" (because with 10 candidates that isn't all that viable, unless we are going to have 2 questions answered, replied to and rebutted over the course of the hour), we actually saw some well reasoned answers on some very tough candidates in this debate.

The real winners from the debates were - the American people.  Because we saw that this isn't just a crazy show of anyone who wants to run.

Business Travel, Exploring, History and Kids

Business travel is tedious as anyone who does it can tell you. However if you do it right, you can make each trip memorable. I just returned from a business trip to Springfield Illinois that I managed to make memorable not just for me, but my colleagues... and my kids.

But here is how I did it -

1) I planned ahead for a babysitter for my kids during my presentation and business meetings - work with the client to see if they have anyone working there with kids you can hire - talk to the hotel to see if they have a service - look into local mom groups who might have a resource - you can always rely on online matching services for day care

2) I paid for way too much, but gave the babysitter a plan. I didnt want my kids sitting in a room playing video games. I wanted them to see Springfield - it is after all the Land of Lincoln.

 3) I made sure the moms who worked at the client's offices were involved. They really took to making sure everything was ok.

4) I introduced my kids to everyone at the office before they took off.

5) I added in days. Look you have to teach kids how to travel. You have to teach them how to get excited about new places. And you want to make the trip memorable for them. So rather than rushing to get back home, we went and explored Springfield and Chicago.

What lessons did I learn?

- Start early - plan in advance and you'll be fine
- Know that using your miles and paying for your ticket doesnt guarantee the reservation will stay together
- Think through babysitting arrangements
- People who fly these days have no courtesy... don't expect them to give up their seats just because yours got moved. Yeah... I had a guy do this.