These are great questions. Do we know if the DPG opened their books to the candidates so they could see just what they were getting into as far as operating expenses?

If not, this may be why we have not seen any proposed budgets from the candidates.

Tennessee has a 10 for Tenn program for small donors. 10 bucks a month to help with operating costs.

I see posts here every once in a while about people not being solicited to contribute to the DPG. I really hope that changes very soon. While $200 for the JJ Dinner is steep for quite a few, I think a good percentage of folks here could handle $5 or $10 a month.

sndeak, here's a scary concept - any person that is running for Chair and DIDN'T ask the DPG to open their books before running for this job. I can't imagine how anyone could run for this seat without asking the amount of operating costs, previous year revenue generated, liabilities, loans and debts. They may not tell you where all the bodies are hidden, but to omit asking the basic questions is cause for leadership concerns.

Damned if I would walk in there on Jan. 28th and not know anything about the financial history of the organization.

sndeak,

What a great idea! Back in college, I participated in a similar program with the ACLU. They asked for a large donation (and well, all my money went to other things in college) so instead we set up monthly drafts in the amount of $15.00.

I'm not sure if this answers your questions, but it is from Berlon's website.

http://www.dpgchair.com/more/index.cfm?Fuseaction=Fundraising§ion=more_22347

a quick note, it takes at least 1M to keep the doors open at SPring street and everything running. Every year prior, the JJ Dinner has raised at least 1M. This year it raised 600k-ish.

So, grassroots, small donor whatever, has to honestly go, what is easier; soliciting hundreds of small donors, or 3 or 4 big ones to cover what remains.

We have to be able to do both, IRE. I don't think any "grassroots" advocates want to shun big donors, or even big donor input. But as so many have said, small donors aren't even being asked.

By also soliciting smaller contributions from many individuals, you create many more stakeholders in the party. In the long run, it's healthier for the organization to be more inclusive.

I call BS. With a vibrant, active party that had two-way communication with everyone we should be able to get the equivalent of $10 a month from 10,000 people which is $1.2 million a year.

Granted, it may take a year to get it going - which is why we must have a chair who understands the current financial circumstances.

Just like a business that must diversify it's customers - our party must diversify it's donors. Just look at all the businesses that crumble whenever GM has a bad year because GM is their biggest (sometimes only) customer.

Think long view people. Chances are that ten years from now we will not be able count on the same large donors that we count on now.

JerryT - Exactly. They are not mutually exclusive. We all travel in different social circles and fundraising is no different.

It's all about targeting the right audience for the right event. We had 3 events a year at the county level. 1 was a black tie (optional) that was $100 with sponsorships up to 5k. 1 that was $50-150 in a more casual home setting. And the last was the harvest dinner in oct for the volunteers that was $25-75. We always set aside a handful of tickets for volunteers as a reward as well.

I said; which do you think is easier

What's easier isn't always best.

If we're always thinking about what is easiest - we're screwed.

I have looked at budgets for a number of non-profit organizations in Georgia.

There are non-profit organizations with less than 10 staffers that operate on a $1-2 million annual budget that have a purely *regional* focus. The question isn't: 'how can anyone else raise $1 million?' The question is: 'why has no one been able to raise more than $2 million for this *statewide* organization?'

I don't have the answer to that question. What I can say is that anybody's fundraising plan needs to be significantly different from previous plans, and not just "we're going to ask the same people we always ask for money, but better."

One thing that has always frustrated me is how easily the RNC can line up big names - elected officials,former party leaders, former cabinet members - and send them all over the country to help state and county parties raise money while Democrats have to beg, borrow and steal to get even a local congressman to show up at an event. The DNC does a very poor job at this.

With the Presidential race off and running so early, I doubt that many of the candidates will be willing to sacrifice any time or money by coming to 'small' events.

"Chances are that ten years from now we will not be able count on the same large donors that we count on now." - yeah cause they are going to be all dead from having to fend off the begging people at the DPG.

In today's news: Ford Motor Co. lost $5.8 billion in the fourth quarter amid slumping sales and huge restructuring costs, pushing the automaker's deficit for the year to $12.7 billion, the largest in its 103-year history.

yeah that's gotta hurt for their large shareholders.

sndeak, it's not the DNC's fault that elected Democrats will not support other Dem candidates - that all about the elected Democrat. Maybe the DNC, DSCC, DCCC, and DPG can slap a few around and say "cut the crap, get over your egos, and help a fellow Democrat out." What they all do is remember how shitty they were treated when they started in the game and instead of being leaders they just sulk and hold on to the past and screw the next guy/girl coming up.

Once you have worked with a few new candidates you start to build a nice "ED-DTM" list - Elected Democrats that are Dead To Me.

"By also soliciting smaller contributions from many individuals, you create many more stakeholders in the party."

Agreed. It'll get them more involved in the party and more likely to volunteer. Big donors are great - and we need them - but most of them will not be out there holding signs and licking envelopes.

Ann Cox C. and Lucy D. are two major donors that I know will hold signs and will go door knocking on a hot Georgia July day. Lucy D. can drop some yard signs in the driest Georgia red clay and keep going all day. If only they could inspire their other rich buddies.

Maybe the DPG can offer grassroots training classes to rich donors and have those 2 ladies teach the class.

Albright lives in my old county but would not attend a fundriaser as a key note because we were not "national". Now, with Jim Webb winning I hear she has pulled her head up out of the ground and may speak.

But litty ricky santorum lives there as well. I wonder if he moved back to PA yet. hehehe

granted whats easiest is not always best, but you still ignore a big problem with changing the donor structure...it is probably easier to get 4 large donors than 100 small ones. but, what happens if we court the small ones and can't make up the difference and then we can't even opperate. Is that better?

i know wed really like to change things from business as usual but, that might not always be the best thing to do.

This is tied in with messaging too. Our state Party seems to be built around candidates and campaigns, so perhaps it's not surprising that there is difficulty getting some of them to show up for anything else besides their own gig. Once you implement stronger party messaging, I would think that eventually you end up with candidates and party members who buy into the message and therefore are for the most part in it to see the ideas succeed as well as candidates. Not to say many don't feel committed already, this should just make it more so.

I'm glad the moritorium is officially over.

IRE,

Regarding this comment, "..but you still ignore a big problem with changing the donor structure.."

I don't think sending out emails to small donors or throwing a few DPG house parties - where the hosts bear the burden - will change the ability of the party to get those big donors as well. I could be wrong and perhaps chris has numbers on how much more time and effort that would take.

Nobody is saying to 'dis the big donors. We are talking about expanding the pool. The conventional ways of wooing big donors stays the say. There just needs to be a real effort to get money from the middle and lower tiers as well.

I had planned on staying out of these discussions, but the party’s lawyer emailed me and asked if he should send a bill for $100-150,000 in legal fees per year for the three years he has volunteered his services. Mike Jablonski has done a great job as General Counsel, and has been paid very little beyond expenses. He has handled a number of ethics complaints, including the one in which Sonny was fined. He also successfully defended us against a complaint filed for our efforts on behalf of Chief Justice Leah Sears. And, he has worked with numerous county parties on compliance issues and qualifying. The 2006 budget approved by the Executive Committee included $18,000 for legal fees. I believe we spent less than $10,000, mostly for a DC law firm which advises on FEC compliance. Don’t tell Mike we were under budget. Mike and others also volunteered a great deal of time dealing with absentee ballot and early voting problems, as well as election day issues.

Contributors to this blog have a lot of good ideas about fundraising. I have talked to most of the candidates for chair and other offices about fundraising and the party’s finances. They raised some of the same questions that are being raised on this blog, including the JJ and small donor fundraising. As to the JJ, I am hoping the days of the $1 million JJ will return, but we haven’t seen those numbers since we held the Governor’s office. As many have correctly pointed out, that is one of the problems resulting from over-reliance on a Governor to raise money. Lt. Gov. Taylor devoted 100s of hours a year to fundraising for the Party, and raised a significant portion of the JJ money, particularly in 2003 and 2004. He also donated some 500k from his Lt. Gov campaign.

Small donor fundraising is critical to the future success of the party. I am pleased to report that we have grown our small donor base from less than 500 to over 5000 in just over two years. We have built the list through a combination of phones, mail and the internet. Most of the growth has come from mining the voter file. Can more be done? Absolutely. But we didn’t grow from 500 to 5000 overnight, and we won’t go from 5,000 to 10,000 overnight either. Prospecting is not cheap, but in the long run, it pays off.

And, if any one sees Mike Jablonski, tell him Bernita’s check is in the mail.

"This is tied in with messaging too". 100% correct, Jerry. IF we are going to change how the party does business, then we have to get people to buy into the message of the "new" Democratic Party. One of the potential problems is that the erstwhile big donors are used to buying influence. Now we have to educate them to the fact that the party is one of primarily ideas, and the candidates have to buy into those ideas. I agree that small donors will be more easily attracted to this type of approach.

BK, let Mike know that Bernita will have to set up a payment plan for him. As soon as her mom restarts her allowance plan she will start giving Mike a percentage. In addition, now that Mike has some free volunteer time, Bernita might be able to keep him busy. She might need some legal services. Something about the federal government and wiretaps and Dick Cheney.

How many times I've been reminded of my wonderful childhood years, sitting in my Daddy's truck with my brother, making all our plans for what we were going to do when we got the keys.

Eleven year old boys have ambitious and detailed plans for that day when they get the keys.

Lucky for my brother and I, Pop had more than a little life experience. He didn't call our plans by the real name:

Daydreams.

He called them Dreams and talked to us about them.

Told us about growing our legs longer and stronger before climbing Mount Everest. Maybe even getting tall enough to see over the steering wheel before starting the motor. He never belittled our daydreams. Instead, he helped us grow into them.

Same thing happens over and over again. Kids make huge plans to scale Mount Everest before learning to drive the pick up truck. Every candidate also has huge plans during the campaigning.

Before we hand anyone the keys to the family pick up truck, why don't we give them a written exam and see if they even know the rules of the road?

Or, would you rather ask my brother about our plans to drive to Australia in a 1957 Chevy?

5000 small donors is great. No doubt that growing this number will take some time, and with a good plan, visionary leadership, and a consensus to succeed, we can build on that foundation and create the conditions for long term success.

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