BUDGET DEVELOPMENT
A budget is the first step toward fiscal responsibility. It provides a list of expected expenditures to help you understand and address the financial needs of your organization and make good choices. After years of working with businesses, non-profits and political campaigns, the Smarter Campaigns team knows the best designs, common problems and things to avoid when creating a comprehensive budget for your organization. At Smarter Campaigns, we know budgeting is not an exact science, and so we create multiple budgets for your organization. This help you prioritize expenditures and makes sure that plans are not derailed in the event that revenue or fundraising targets are not met.
DIRECT MAIL FUNDRAISING
Although the Internet has largely reduced the use of direct mail fundraising, such campaigns remain a very useful tool for fundraising efforts, particularly in certain key target markets that still prefer direct mail to electronic forms. Smarter Campaigns can help you determine if your fundraising efforts could benefit from direct mail and can design comprehensive and effective direct mail materials for your fundraising efforts.
PAC FUNDRAISING
In the wake of the 2010 Supreme Court holding in the Citizens United case, Political Action Committees (PACs) have been granted immense new power to influence the political process. This new power has allowed PACs to expand at a rapid rate, which has led to an abundance of potential sources of money for candidates and causes. These days, everyone has a PAC - unions, corporations, candidates, billionaires, and even comedians. At Smarter Campaigns we work with you to identify the PACs most relevant to your goals and help you to reach out to those organizations.
FINANCE PLAN DEVELOPMENT
A finance plan is essential to structuring your fundraising efforts. It guides your organization along a well thought out plan, and allows you to easily adjust if necessary. Using the most effective methods and techniques, we help you write a finance plan that maximizes your outreach to potential donors and delivers tangible results to your organization. At Smarter Campaigns, our finance plans will simplify your path to success.
FINANCE COMMITTEES
A Finance Committee is essential to raising money for your campaign, as it is composed of the network of surrogates who will raise money on your behalf. The finance committee members are the only people within the campaign structure who can effectively raise money for the campaign - other than the candidate themselves. At Smarter Campaigns, we work with you to determine who should Chair your Finance Committee, who should serve, and what reasonable goals and expectations for Committee members should be. Let us help you simplify your path to fundraising success by developing a comprehensive and functional Finance Committee.
MAJOR DONOR RESEARCH
Who are the large dollar donors who might support your cause? What causes do they support? Are there any issues that they or their spouses care deeply about? Major donor research seeks to answer these questions and more in order to provide you with the best possible opportunities for fundraising success. Why waste your time talking about health care when the donor only cares about environmental issues? At Smarter Campaigns, our research will prepare you to approach these major donors and to maximize your fundraising returns.
ELECTION LAW COMPLIANCE
Campaign finance can be complicated. Not only does a campaign need to manage its budget and fundraising efforts, but it must also make sure that it follows and understands the laws that govern the process. Breaking the law, intentionally or not, carries a heavy cost, typically in the form of large fines or worse. Our team of legal experts makes sure you avoid unnecessary penalties for not filing the proper reports with the local, state or federal election commissions.
FUNDRAISING TARGETING
Which donors are most likely to support your cause? Once your current list is exhausted, where do you turn? Have you already maxed out the donors on your current list, but still need to raise additional funds? Are you concerned that cold-calling, or mailing, unknown donors might turn them off to your cause? Worry no more! At Smarter Campaigns, we can help you to identify new targets and potential donors. Using the most current data available and our cutting-edge targeting software, we can determine which people will be most likely to give money to your cause.
INTERNET FUNDRAISING
Raising money is an integral part of any campaign, and with the growth of the Internet, more money is being raised online than ever before. Our experienced Internet marketing strategists will help you to develop a plan that utilizes proven methods to pursue and raise money online. Whether your organization is a political or non-profit, if you aren’t utilizing the power of the Internet to raise money, your competition will leave you in the dust. With the right combination of well-executed strategy and custom-designed landing pages, Smarter Campaigns will help you maximize your online fundraising potential.
FUNDRAISING EVENT DEVELOPMENT
What is the ideal space to host your fundraising event? What should be the price points and fundraising goals for an event? Fundraising events should be varied: they shouldn’t all be low-dollar fish fries and ice cream socials, but they also shouldn't just cater to top-tier donors at the exclusion of everyone else. At Smarter Campaigns, our expertise will ease the stresses of event coordination and management. We work with your campaign or organization to make sure your event meets the needs of whoever you wish to serve, whether they are families, young professionals, wealthy donors or Members of Congress.
FINANCE STRATEGY
Unfortunately, running for public office has become an increasingly expensive venture. Successful campaigns understand that the single most important person to the fundraising process is the candidate. This means that successful candidates are therefore required to have a full understanding of the best, most effective practices for raising money. Smarter Campaigns will help you be successful, guiding you through the process of figuring out who to reach out to for money, how to prioritize them, and how to maximize their donation.
INITIAL FUNDRAISING SETUP
How do you raise the initial funds to start your campaign? What are the most effective early fundraising strategies? From a strategic standpoint, who should you be approaching for an early donation? Our team of finance and fundraising experts will work with you to set-up an effective early fundraising strategy, help set the early targets, and guide you to your goals.