Campaign Fundraising III: When you raise it matters

Email and the internet permit campaigns to be more targeted and timely in their fundraising efforts, particularly when it comes to raising money prior to the Federal Election Campaign Finance Disclosure deadlines.  Only slightly less important as how much a campaign raises - is when it gets raised.  Campaign must disclose how much they raised, from whom and in what amounts each month and quarter.  What was merely a regulatory event has grown to become a political news story.

When campaigns out raise their opposition during a reporting period it supports an argument that they have greater support from the public; and better means to follow through on delivering their message.  Out raising your opposition in the months leading up to the election gives the impression that you have momentum - even if you are behind in the total dollar amount raised.

As we discussed earlier, the drum beat out of both the Obama and Romney campaign is that the Romney Campaign and the GOP have out raised the opposition during the last several months.  Yet Democrats, at least as of July 31, 2012, had raised 587.7 million compared to the GOP $524.2 million.  Yet the fundraising emails from Democrats need a crisis to encourage people to donate.  

On August 31, 2012 - the deadline, the Democratic National Committee sent the following email for their Chair - Debbie Wasserman Shultz:

I'm going to guess your inbox is pretty full today. But think of it this way: This is one of the last fundraising deadlines before Election Day.With just 10 weeks left to go, we have limited time to make a difference for Democrats nationwide.If their races were already in the bag, if they already had all the resources they need, and if we didn't have that much on the line this year, I wouldn't ask you to make a donation today.But the stakes are high, President Obama and many Democrats across the country are in razor-close races, and these candidates need our help before they head into the final months.So if you can, please make a donation to Democrats before tonight's critical fundraising deadline:https://my.democrats.org/Tonights-DeadlineTomorrow morning, may you wake up to an uncluttered inbox -- and may Democrats in races across the country wake up to see that they're exactly where they need to be.Thanks for making that difference,DebbieDebbie Wasserman SchultzChairDemocratic National CommitteeP.S. -- We're closer to the finish line than you think. Chip in what you can today.

The email acknowledges that email inboxes must be pretty full today with requests for donations - showing just how critical that campaigns view the Finance Reports.