Metro Atlanta
Regional
Transportation
Referendum
Fundraising
Overview
 HB 277 passed in April, 2010
 July 31, 2012 election, simple majority
 10-year, 1 penny sales tax
 Georgia divided into 12 regions; regions vote separately
 Effort in metro Atlanta managed by MAVEN/CTM
 Other 11 regions managed by GA Chamber of Commerce
 Metro-Atlanta 10-county region will generate $7.2
billion over 10 years
 52% Transit
 48% Roads, interchanges, bike/ped, aviation
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May 2011 benchmark poll: majority of voters unaware or
undecided; balance favor the tax, by small margin.
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Overwhelming majority of Atlanta voters agree traffic
congestion is a serious problem, and if un-addressed, we will
lose jobs, economy will suffer.
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Large majority of voters plan their day to avoid congestion.
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200,000+ citizens participated in outreach efforts to develop
the 157-project list.
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Consensus among Governor, Speaker, Mayor Reed, majority
of local elected leaders, biz community, 100+ org. coalition
 501 (c)(3) MAVEN
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$2.0 million budget
Neutral, non-partisan education, research, etc.
No limit on contributions
Generally tax-deductible
 501 (c)(4) CTM
$6.8 million budget
 “Vote Yes” activities, persuasion and advocacy
 No limit on contributions
 Not tax-deductible
 Subject to state campaign disclosure requirements
 MAVEN Donors
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$2.0m of $2.0m committed
Community Improvement Districts (BIDs)
Corporate and family foundations, universities
Individuals
 CTM Donors
$4.2m of $6.8m committed
 Public and private companies
 Associations, membership & industry organizations
 Individuals
 Major targets: companies who “get it”
(engineering, consulting, construction, real estate, banking,
technology, supply chain/logistics, etc.)
 Finance Committee: peer-to-peer asks, targeting,
triangulation
 Geometry is important: associations, targeting
within industries, special events, connectivity, etc.
 Seth Godin, author of TRIBES:
“best donors are the ones engaged in working toward the
mission of the enterprise”
 Signature gifts-Set the bar high
 Special events- Create deadlines
 Fill up the room- Use peer pressure to your benefit
 Start at the top- The $ get smaller as you go down
 Don’t ask for no’s- Get the right person to ask
 Don’t get snoozed- Be persistent
 Water the flowers- Turn your donors into askers
 Win.
 The ultimate currency of your campaign is VOTES,
not dollars.
 Use the fundraising effort to secure VOTES, not just
dollars. (sell shares)
 TransformMetroAtlanta.com
 AtlantaRegionalRoundtable.com
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@TransformATL
Transform Metro Atlanta
Dave Williams
VP Transportation, Metro Atlanta Chamber
dwilliams@macoc.com
770-846-9000