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Democratic donors don’t need experts to tell us that many Democratic fundraisers use manipulative and misleading fundraising tactics. All we have to do is open our email.
But, while Princeton researchers found in 2020 that “manipulative tactics” are the norm in fundraising emails regardless of party, not all Democratic or Democratically-aligned fundraisers stoop to that level. While most of us are flooded with fundraising emails geared to manipulate and/or deceive us, there are Democratic and progressive campaigns and organizations that strive to act ethically. And there are actually candidates and campaigns out there that have created good email fundraising programs.
So, how do we define a “good” fundraising program? While some measures of a “good” program or a “good” email are obviously subjective, the principles of ethical fundraising include emphasizing substance over emotional hyperbole and treating recipients like respected members of a community.
In addition to knowing a good thing when we see it—in this case, an email from a Democratic campaign or organization that treats us like thoughtful adults—experts in the field who are pushing for positive changes in Democratic fundraising strategies also have a wish list of standards they’d like to see adopted by the field as a whole. We spoke to three such experts: Murshed Zaheed, founder of strategic communications firm Pacifica Strategies and a digital campaigning veteran; Beth Becker, founder of Becker Digital Strategies; and Josh Nelson, CEO of Civic Shout and co-founder of The Juggernaut Project. Their input is summarized in the following top five standards for Democratic fundraising email programs:
1. Send emails only to those people who have opted-in, or subscribed, to receive them. Democratic entities and campaigns that respect potential donors first earn that support by refusing to spam them. Further, programs with integrity don’t rent, sell, or otherwise share supporters’ contact information except under limited circumstances which include transparency and disclosure upfront—for example, a program might send a message from a related organization to its own list, but it’s then up to that email’s recipients to sign up to receive further emails from the new organization.
2. Be truthful and factually accurate. Democratic candidates and organizations are competing against the disinformation and outright lies spread by Republican candidates and Republican-aligned organizations. The least their fundraising arms can do is stop being part of the problem.
3. Avoid using fear or anger alone to inspire action. Instead, outline the facts for supporters. Tell us when we’re losing and when we’re winning. While we live in frightening, maddening times, good email programs talk about the positive changes they want to make—not only, and always, the negative changes we need to oppose.
4. Don’t just contact supporters asking for money (or more money). Whether the sender is a Democratic campaign or a progressive organization, good programs use emails as an informational tool to inspire their audience and provide them with substantive, accurate information. Good programs also invite supporters to take actions that don’t involve taking out their credit cards. Or, as the New Democrat Coalition Action Fund, an organization of self-described moderate Democrats, said in its 2021 pledge to supporters: “You are NOT an ATM!”
5. Tell supporters what their money will be used for. Campaigns and organizations that respect supporters give them specifics about how our donations will be used—how many people will be hired as canvassers, for example. They don’t ask us to give because “Your donation will drive Donald Trump crazy!!!”
The bottom line is that “really good email programs treat the recipients of all of their email communications with reverence,” said Zaheed.
The good news is, that there are campaigns, Democratic, and progressive organizations that treat supporters and potential supporters with that reverence. That list includes the following:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: Becker and Nelson both recommend AOC’s email program. Becker noted that Ocasio-Cortez’s program isn’t limited to asking donors for money and uses an “authentic voice,” in other words, the messages sound as though they were written by AOC herself. Nelson called AOC’s program a “thoughtful, substantive email program that frequently inspires people with compelling email copy and uses its massive reach to engage in advocacy efforts.” Granted, AOC’s pockets are so deep that giving to her campaign may not be the best use of small donors’ money, with the possible exception being occasions when Cortez’ program engages in “split” campaigns where donations are shared with progressive candidates who don’t have her reach or budget. But signing up for her program’s emails will give readers a taste of what we should be able to expect from every Democratic or Democratically-aligned fundraising campaign.
Take Back the Court: TBC is working to break the conservative stranglehold on the U.S. Supreme Court, and was cited by both Nelson and Zaheed as an exemplar of good email strategy. Zaheed called Take Back the Court’s emails “very thoughtful,” and Nelson admires the way the organization has called out deceptive fundraising tactics. Blue Tent published a quick profile of Take Back the Court in 2021.
Beto O’Rourke, Democrat from Texas: Zaheed paid O’Rourke’s email programs—beginning with O’Rourke’s 2018 campaign for U.S. Senate against Ted Cruz—a high compliment, saying “I enjoy getting his emails.” Our analysis of O’Rourke’s current campaign, and reasons it may be a good idea to support it, can be found here.
Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, Democratic candidate for US Senate: If Fetterman succeeds in his race for this open Senate seat, it could strengthen Democratic control of the chamber. His campaign emails should help, which Nelson described as “Quirky, relatable… lets the candidate’s personality shine through and gives people a behind-the-scenes look at what’s going on with the campaign.”
Demand Progress: Demand progress works on issues of government accountability and concentrated corporate power. Zaheed listed it among the groups whose email fundraising programs he recommends. Blue Tent did a profile of this organization in 2020.
Indivisible: Nelson told Blue Tent that Indivisible “send(s) some of the most substantive and detailed email communications I’ve ever seen,” while Zaheed calls Indivisible’s email program “very, very good.” And while Blue Tent doesn’t rate Indivisible as an urgent priority for donors at this time, we do recommend giving directly to local groups, which in some cases donors can do through a program run by Indivisible’s national arm.
In addition to the above, the experts also rated several other email programs highly, including those run by Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s and Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaigns, the Democratic Attorneys General Association, and the campaign for Rep. Peter Welch, a Vermont Democrat who’s currently running for Senate.
Stop being afraid to open your email inbox. We do have choices, and they’re not limited to either holding your nose and hitting “donate” or eliminating political donations from our budgets altogether in protest. We can choose to donate to Democratic campaigns and organizations that treat their communities with respect, and even reverence. Limiting our support to the latter won’t just punish bad actors—ultimately, our goal can be to create a Democratic fundraising landscape that’s successful and sustainable.
CORRECTION: The original version of this piece included Demand Justice, not Demand Progress, whose email fundraising program was recommended by and Zaheed. Blue Tent apologizes for the error.