Andrew Blumenfeld:   0:06
This is Andrew Blumenfeld. You're listening to the money in politics podcast. I hope you had a chance to listen to the conversation. I have not too long ago with Kelly Dietrich, the CEO and founder of the National Democratic Training Committee, about how campaigns are navigating fundraising and campaigning more generally during the Coronavirus pandemic. If you haven't, definitely go back and take a listen to that now. But I also wanted to just take a few minutes to discuss some of the best practices and takeaways that we've been gleaning from that conversation and elsewhere as we're talking to fundraising professionals and campaigns across the country, the things that we've seen that have begun to prove to be successful when it comes to managing a fundraising program during an unprecedented crisis like the one we're in now. Money and politics is brought to you CallTime.AI.

Sponsor:   0:57
You're listening to money in politics brought to you by CallTime.AI. Campaigning is hard. Why not make fundraising easy? Using automation and artificial intelligence, CallTime.AI  lets you fundraise five times faster with easy to use tools like instant donor research, automated voice mail drop, and donor scoring. So you're always calling the right person at the right time. With the right ask, go online to CallTime.AI to schedule a demo and start your free trial. Today

Andrew Blumenfeld:   1:28
it's important to understand that the challenging circumstances that we're all facing actually put the importance of leadership front and center. And so these elections actually do take on even greater significance in light of the pandemic. And so, while it can seem crass or small to think about fundraising at a time like this, it also is a reality that elections and campaigns have major consequences on all areas of life, not least of which public health and the very kinds of crises that were experiencing now. But of course, nothing is gonna proceed as normal. So what are some things that were advising folks to do from what we're seeing on the ground? One thing that we're encouraging campaigns to do is make sure that they are a resource and a comfort to those that they are engaging with, at times like these, people have really varied experiences and the way that they are being impacted by the virus and the closures and the economic disruption. It is rightly perceived as a test of leadership. How campaign is rising to meet this moment and the ability to help your community find, identify resource is and solutions during this tough time. So that's why we are really encouraging our campaigns to communicate in a highly personalized manner. It can be really tough to send out marketing emails, blast communication at a time like this. Even ads really tough to communicate to people in Mass because if you're communicating to them in a mass way, it's hard to capture nuance or to understand how this epidemic this pandemic is impacting any individual person that you're speaking to and how that ought to inform how you communicate with them. And so we definitely encourage more 1 to 1 interactions that can be highly personalized. But no matter what the means of communication, the first and thing that we are encouraging campaigns to do is make sure that their communication is something that adds value, that they're not just asking for something that could mean providing helpful information, amplifying local advisories, sharing useful tips, whatever the form it takes if you're able to serve is a resource and a comfort in your messaging and not just come at them with an ask. It will be far better received by those with whom you are communicating. We also encourage our campaigns to not underestimate the power of just checking in. We often talk about how having different kinds of asks when you're talking to donors and prospective donors is really important. And this is one of those moments. If you're building a strong relationship with your donors and your donor base, it means that you're getting in touch with them on occasions that are not just opportunities to ask them for money. And this is a time where a lot of people are not going to take well to having a hard ask made of them at this time there. Displaced. They're anxious. Their lives are disrupted. They will almost certainly welcome a light touch check in where they can share how they're feeling. They can give feedback as to the response to the crisis in their local community. That kind of engagement builds goodwill. The last thing we are asking campaigns to consider is what the genuine implications are of their election. On a moment like this, there is likely not a single elected officeholder in the country whose leadership is not being implicated by the current crisis. So whether you're running for re election and sharing all that you're doing to manage this moment or you're running for an election to a new office, and you can project forward how you would handle a moment like this, how it will inform how you will address future crises, this is highly relevant. And this is certainly the context that donors appreciate having when seeing how important it is that their dollars get behind people who are able to step up in a moment of crisis. The last thing I'll leave you with is that you really need to consider your own well being. Unfortunately, the well being of the people who make up a political campaign usually take a back seat to the campaign itself. They are often all in breakneck-paced endeavors. But for yourself, your team, and for everyone else in your community, you do need to remember to take care of yourself.  

Sponsor:   5:47
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