Fundraising Done Well
An overview from the Green Party National Party Office
To start with..

Introductions

What we will achieve with the next hour

Enthuse ‘you’ to do more in your local party around fundraising and to be confident
in asking everyone!

Give an overview of fundraising

Introduce what channels of fundraising you can use
What is a fundraiser?

An entrepreneur

A stimulator of social change

Someone who enthuses people

Someone not afraid of asking…

A great administrator
What is a donor?

Someone you may not know yet…

Someone who needs persuading

Someone who asks why (what, where, why?)

Someone who needs to be asked (how do I give?)
How do we connect the two?
Information is provided, need is
demonstrated and an ask is made
The Fundraiser
Entreprenuer
Stimulator of social
Change
Someone who may
enthuse people
Not afraid of asking
A great administrator
The Donor
Shared interests
– The Green
Party and it’s
Ambitions
Needs to be found
Needs persuading
What, where and why?
Needs to be asked
£: Trust is built, why and what should give is
identified
How do we find more donors?

Set up events and CiviEvent – automatic sign up and logging onto your
database

Pushing out requirements for your campaign via social media (one
mechanism; crowdfunding)

Gathering of email addresses from canvassing efforts and putting

Researching people and businesses in your local area

By asking people in person, via email, via letter and via telephone.
How do we build trust?

We create a ‘Case for Support’ which doesn’t
change

We send information regularly which doesn’t
always ask for money but eludes to a need.

We prepare budgets for our appeals which are
agreed at the highest level and set in stone, so
that when we ask there is no confusion.


We know what difference a donation will make
and where the money will go (we understand
our need better than the donor….)
We keep the donor up to date with what’s going
on
Inform
Thank
‘Case for
support’
Ask
Identify
Building trust: The ‘Case for Support’
Key facets to a ‘Case for Support’
-
A broad statement which will never change and will be used in every
fundraising approach
-
It should always complement the ‘need’ for an appeal
National Party ‘Case for Support’:
‘The Green Party is not funded by a few donations from companies or
individuals like other parties. We are funded by membership fees and
donations. Membership fees cover the running costs of the organisation,
whilst donations allow us to actively campaign and grow.’
What a local party ‘Case for Support’ may look like:
‘Our local party only gets16% of membership fees paid by members
which allow us to set up regular meetings and buy tea and coffee. We
fundraise so that we can mobilise volunteers and provide them with
necessary materials to encourage people to vote Green’
Building trust- How to determine a
budget for need
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Speak to the treasurer:
I.
Find your current financial position
II.
Find out who’s been asking them for
money and for what- talk to these
parties separately where necessary.
Talk to campaigners:
Item
Description
Website
We need an effective website which will be
Immediately
able to; publicise what activities we’re
undertaking, deliver our key messages, recruit
volunteers/supporters/members.
We will be canvassing every household in our
6 weeks
10 weeks
constituency 3 times during the campaign.
14 weeks
We need leaflets with different messages
throughout.
Distribute to every one of our members and
8 weeks
supporters a poster for them to put into their 12 weeks
14 weeks
window. Will
Launch our campaign from a venue so that we 6 weeks
can publicise the activities of our campaign
throughout
Pay for the distribution of a freepost to target 14 weeks
constituencies
Paying for a part time Campaign Manager 10
6 weeks
weeks before the election
Total Basic Budget
Deposit for billboards for locations around the 4 weeks
city
Paying for hire of billboards
10 weeks
Buying and funding a campaign bus to go
10 weeks
around the city
Paying for campaign office to manage
6 weeks
volunteers
We want to test the groups in the local area
4 weeks
by have 3 focus groups for those living in 3 of
our constituencies. This will pay for a venue
and drinks/food during the meeting.
We want to mail the 50,000 people in our
12 weeks
target constituency to garner their support
and give them key messages tailored to issues
local to them.
Paying for advert to go into local newspaper 2 12 weeks
weeks before the election
Total ‘Blue Sky Budget’:
Production of leaflets
Production of posters
Hiring launch venue
Freepost
1.
What’s missing from the campaigns
Campaign Manager
2.
What is needed with the number of
volunteers on the street
Billboards
Create a ‘Bare Bones’ and ‘Blue Sky
Budget’
Take this to your local party meeting
and determine if there are any other
needs and add them in.
Circulate the budget via email and
get this agreed.
Campaign bus
Campaign office
Focus groups
Direct mailing to target constituencies
Newspaper inserts
When needed Cost
No cost
generally
£2,500
£2,500
£2,500
£500
£500
£500
£750
£3,000
£3,000
£16,750
£500
£2,500
£5,000
£7,000
£1,000
£15,000
£1,500
£33,000
Building trust- Demonstrating your ‘need’ and
becoming a social entrepreneur

You now have a budget – this is boring to a donor….
e.g. Budget: £1,000 needed for 50,000 leaflets – BORING!!!

How do we make it appealing? – Think about the difference it will
make…. (be a stimulator of social change…):
‘1,000 will be spent on 50,000 leaflets for our campaign. 50,000
leaflets will allow us to give a leaflet, in person, to every single voter in
Cotham Ward. Our 50 activists are desperate to get out our message
and this money will help them and voters realise there is a real
alternative – The Green Party’
Note: It is good to condense your ‘need’ into 5 or 6 points. This may
mean that you want to pull together for instance leaflets and freepost
and digital activities.
Demonstrating ‘need’ for a regular
giving appeal

This is quite different….

Regular giving means transformation change by; professionalising the party, having money for
an office and buying a printer which you maintain.

It’s a very different proposition to a ‘single gift’ appeal - therefore you shouldn’t really ask
for both – one or the other as the leading ask…. You can say ‘Can you give £10 a month. Of
course, whatever you can afford, be it a smaller regular donation or a single gift will still
make a huge difference…’

Again- you need to sell why and what regular giving can do for a local party…. (most just say
‘we need it’- this isn’t enough…):
‘We only need 100 members giving £10 a month and we can have a headquarters for the Bristol
Green Party. This will allow us to have a home for volunteers, a place for our printers and a
‘hub’ to drive election campaigns.’
Or:
‘Every year we need £10,000 in addition to our income from membership dues to allow for us to
have leaflets to do year round canvassing…’
Now I know all these things what do I
need to do now… ask!!!
Medium
Website
Newsletters
Social media
Email
Mailing
Telephone
Events
Face to face approaches
Method of appeal
To whom
Brought to ‘donate page’ on website by coming to website either through web Anyone
searches, media or social media. May also give as part of becoming a
member.
In the regular e-bulletins there should always be an option to donate.
Members/
Supporters
When used
All times
Bi-monthly (email),
Quarterly (mail)
During appeals you can keep on telling people how much money has been
raised toward an appeal and attract them to give by directing them to a
giving page, which explains the appeal.
Actively asked for a donation toward a particular cause. Use specific ‘donate’
pages for specific appeals where donations may be made. 3-7 emails may be
used in a single appeal with an end date.
Actively approached to give toward reactive or regular giving appeal. Will
focus efforts on previous single donors and those without email address.
Anyone
During appeals
(around/build up to
elections)
Members/ Supporters
Toward elections, for
specific causes (max 3
times/yr)
Mostly members, but some 2 times a year.
supporters
Actively approached to ask for a regular or single gift toward an ongoing or
reactive appeal. Segmentation required for this type of appeal. Small scale
often too expensive.
Used events as engagement exercises. These may result in people giving but
may include paid for dinners, drinks or free events where people may hear
more about what the Green Party is doing. These events may range from
fayre style events with a coconut shy with faces of politicians to serious
engagement dinners. Events are generally expensive in terms of a return on
investment but can be very effective to build contacts.
Mostly members, but some 3 times a year (to different
supporters
segments), every year
Those identified as
prospective ‘high value
donors’
Used to a small number of individuals to identify what their interest in the
Those identified as ‘high
Green Party is. This is to help build knowledge of what these individuals may value donors’ through
want to give to and so we may have the opportunity to discuss potential large events
donations (1k+).
6 – 12 times a year (Donor
Forum Events to form back
bone at National Party
level)
As much as possible.
Using systems to deliver
elements of fundraising
What are the best systems and why/when should they be used
Mechanisms of Fundraising
10
9
8
7
Video
Crowdfunder
page
Av Donation
£10
6
Online
processer
(PayPal or
Direct Debit)
Av Donation
£40
Cheques
Online
processer
Phone system
Callers
Direct Debits
Av Donation
£60
Av Donation
£100
Av Donation
Varies
depending on
ask £1,000
Phone
Face to face
Bank account
5
4
3
2
1
0
Crowdfunding
Email
Direct Mail
Personal
Average Size of gift
Ease of delivery
Percentage response from audience
Risk of going wrong
Getting it right
Project Page
•
Think of Audience
•
Title
•
Video/Image
•
Profile Candidate(s)
Project Pitch
•
First Paragraph
•
Identify Who
•
Graphics
•
Clear project spend
•
Emotive
•
Ask to share
•
Declaration
Launch
•
Pre warn
•
Social Media
•
Members mailout
•
Press release
•
Landmarks
Gifts
5 Every little helps!
10 A big thank you on the Green Party website.
20 Special edition 'Invite the Greens' badge
35 Green Party mug or similar
Vote Green badge + personal note on postcard/ signed poster from Caroline
50 or Natalie
75 Meet and greet with local candidate
100 Photo on the wall of funders in the HQ
150-200 Meet and greet event/ breakfast with Caroline or Natalie
Declarations
•
£50 limit – Candidate Project
•
£500 limit – deposit based or broader GE