New Ways to Ask for Money in 2022

Politics has changed a lot over the last few decades, and so has the way campaigns ask for money.

Although checks and direct mail are still mainstays for a lot of campaigns (and donors!), political fundraising is constantly evolving to make chipping in quicker and easier.

Need a hand navigating this ever-changing tech? IMGE is here to help.

We outlined a few new ways you can ask for money in 2022.

Not that long ago, everyone paid with cash or checks. Then credit and debit cards entered the scene and changed everything.

Crypto is the next frontier of currency – it’s entirely digital, decentralized, and harder to hack.

The FEC authorized campaigns to accept cryptocurrencies – like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Lightcoin – back in 2014. But here we are 8 years later, and only a few campaigns are encouraging crypto donations.

Cryptocurrency typically has lower processing fees than credit cards, which could help save your campaign precious resources. Just make sure you aren’t in one of the states that doesn’t currently allow crypto fundraising.

Not sure where to start when it comes to crypto? Check out our guide.

You are probably already asking donors to chip in on Facebook and Twitter, but are you doing the same on emerging social media platforms?

Conservatives have left traditional social platforms in mass exodus. These potential campaign donors are now using Rumble, Parler, Gettr, and Truth Social – so it might be worthwhile for you to do the same.

As an added bonus, you will have to compete with a lot less people for their attention than you would on Twitter or Facebook.

Anyone can sell bumper stickers, shirts, and hats. Let’s face it, basically every political campaign already does. But this is 2022, and you should consider selling NFTs too.

Unlike traditional merchandise, NFTs aren’t physical items that requires a lot of overhead to produce. They are digital collectibles stored on the blockchain that your campaign can produce and sell at MUCH higher margins than physical merchandise.

Skeptical about these non-fungible tokens? Learn more about how Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters hauled in more than $500,000 in less than 36 hours by selling NFTs.

SMS fundraising has been particularly successful for many campaigns in recent years, thanks in part to the lack of text message regulations and censorship. It can be tempting to spam this list with one donation ask after another, simply because you can.

Housefile SMS has overtaken housefile email as a revenue source for many of our clients. It’s not “new” tech, but it’s leveled up in a big way this cycle. It needs to be treated with the same seriousness as an email program.

Crafting a winning SMS strategy is like building a relationship – it takes time and care. Sending donation asks via SMS can have amazing returns, but only if you do it thoughtfully.

If all you ever do is send messages that look like this, people are going to opt out of your SMS list or just stop opening your messages altogether.

Upsells aren’t a new way to ask for money, per se. Instead, it’s a way to maximize the impact of people who are already donating to your campaign in the moment when they are making a donation. It’s how campaigns can get every possible penny out of each ask, and no one does it better than our preferred donation platform WinRed.

Think of it like a string of “extras” that donors can tack onto their purchase – from covering transaction and processing fees to setting up a recurring payment to buying a piece of merch.

An additional $10 t-shirt sale or $3 in processing fees may not seem significant, but when you multiply that over months of fundraising emails and SMS sends, the dollars start to add up.

Want a team of pros to help you navigate the constant changes in political fundraising? Reach out today and find out how IMGE can help.