Fundraising Through Change
Online Fundraising • List Building • Social Media Management • Text Messaging • Online Advertising • Small-Dollar Fundraising
Coach Tuberville’s $185,289 March Blitz
Going into March 2020 looked more or less like a typical March to the average American. By the end of March, American life had changed substantially. The impact of COVID-19 on health, livelihood, and daily life for Americans is profound.
In Alabama, Tommy Tuberville had March 2020 circled on his calendar after announcing for U.S. Senate the April before. March would hold a primary on the 3rd and a likely GOP run-off on the 31st.
The Playbook
With two elections in one month, we developed a fundraising playbook focused on setting Tuberville up for success. The playbook leveraged all the digital channels available, including SMS, social, organic, email, list rentals, and revenue shares. There wasn’t a medium available we didn’t access.
With the primary results in, Tuberville surprised pundits, up 33.4% to 31.6% over Jeff Sessions. During March business and markets slowed, several candidates across the country hit pause, and campaigns worried about fundraising. Tuberville’s small-dollar fundraising continued to perform.
Spending more time at home, Americans were online, changing spending habits, and concerned for the future. Tuberville’s fanbase continued to grow, opening their pocketbooks to show support.
Americans responded to compelling stories by donating $5, $20.20, and even $100. When Tuberville surprisingly finished first in the primary, we shared the story, and donors responded online. When President Trump endorsed Tuberville, we shared that story, and donors responded digitally.
Keeping Score
With depleted campaign funds from a hard-fought primary, raising $176,029 from 2,463 online donations paid for voter contact to continue into the run-off. Alabama postponed the run-off to July 14th.
Online Fundraising
March Run-off (3/4/20 - 3/31/20)
• Raised: $176,029
• Donations: 2,463
• Donors: 2,186
• Avg. Donation: $71
• ROI: 631%
Amidst all the change, Tuberville had a record-setting March online, raising a total of $185,289, or 3X February’s record of $61,001.
Prosper Group helped give Tuberville the end-of-quarter edge with small-dollar donors, raising $228,984, or 29% of his total contributions, online. In April Quarterly Reports (2/13/20 to 3/31/20), Tuberville outraised Sessions $785,513 to $743,652, a difference of $41,861.
