Political donation letters are essential to your fundraising toolkit when campaign spending reaches an all-time high yearly. In 2020, the total election spending hit nearly $14 billion, more than in 2016.
In a scenario as competitive as elections, ensuring that you have adequate funds to put up a great fight throughout the campaign is vital.
One of the best ways to personalize your fundraising outreach to your supporters is to use political donation letters. However, writing a great political donation letter is a craft that is only mastered over time.
Having said that, we know time is fleeting, and you need to get that letter written soon. Don’t worry; we’ve looked up three excellent political donation letters from which you can derive inspiration. What’s more? We’ve also left a few sample political donation letter ideas for you.
With these samples, you can create:
| Note: Our list of political donation letters was written for an online audience, but you can modify them to suit direct mail. The difference? Online political donation letters allow you to add links and other data that recipients can access, which direct mail cannot facilitate. However, direct mail is very effective for communicating with high-net-worth individuals who can contribute significant sums of money to the campaign. |
We’ve selected the best political donation letters from campaigns over the years so you can learn best practices that uniquely suit your campaign—online or offline. Let’s begin.
During his reelection campaign 2012, Barack Obama raised more than $1.07 billion, compared to his opponent Mitt Romney’s $992.5 million. It all began with this small fundraising letter.
Here’s what worked during this fundraising appeal:
This political donation letter begins by eliciting the receiver’s curiosity. ‘Who is going to tap my shoulder?’ We immediately engage with this mysterious, guardian-angel-style person who will tap our shoulders.
Bonus points for personalization all the way in 2012 by adding the recipient’s name.
Take away: Generate Curiosity! Make the first line count.
The belief that drives this ask is that the Obama campaign viewed fundraising as a giant organization drive, organizing supporters and mobilizing them to fund the campaign.
While they can donate more, the ask begins at $5, a relatively small amount that small donors can easily afford.
The stress also lies on ownership, which the letter cleverly transfers onto donors – “It’s someone who’s already made a donation to the 2012 campaign — and who’s willing to give again if you’ll step up and take ownership of it, too.” As supporters and donors of the campaign, a $5 ask coupled with ownership of the fundraising campaign = an instant dopamine boost for doing something good.
The letter succeeds in making you feel that the effort you need to put into donating is minimal—get a tap on the shoulder, spend $5, and automatically double your donation!
Take away: Small ask, big responsibility. Involve donors through small first-time donations and make them feel good 🙂
The Obama campaign’s fundraising letters answer “What am I donating to?” concisely. They align the readers to a higher purpose to make the donation seem more than support for a particular candidate. The campaign aims to unite people– what a noble cause to spend $5 on!
Takeaway: Align the donation to a higher purpose.
Here’s a sample that includes key takeaways from the Obama political donation letter that you can implement:
There’s something YOU need to do.
I’m raising funds to run for office this fall. My campaign is not just looking at amassing power but one that believes that good things happen when people come together.
Your small $10 contribution to my campaign will enable our local communities to access services like safe schooling, teaching resources, and more that have been inaccessible to them for generations.
Will you contribute?
Donate using our link.
Bernie Sanders’ fundraising campaign gathered all the eyeballs during the last Presidential elections. Boldly moving away from Super PACs and declaring he would only accept donations from small, individual donors, this campaign’s risks were high.
But he was so popular that his appeal raised over $8 million in a single day after his win in the New Hampshire primary!
For a candidate without deep roots within Congress and no connection to Super PACs, Sanders’ campaign proves that you can still amass a large sum of money by establishing a grassroots network of individuals invested in your success!
At the end of the campaign, 1.3 million donors had made 3.25 million donations to Sanders. Political donation letters were among his popular fundraising channels.
Here’s what worked during this fundraising appeal:
Bernia Sanders’ personal brand is all about fostering a sense of community. Unsurprisingly, he does not personalize his fundraising letter to individuals, instead choosing to address recipients as ‘friends.’
His personal brand also shines through in the remainder of the letter, where he declares that he is choosing to gather donations from the community, not Super PACs or individuals with big money.
What does your personal brand stand for as a candidate? It may not align with Sanders’ focus on the community, which is okay. Find out what works for your brand and add that to your political donation letters.
Takeaway: Let your brand shine!
Sanders situates the reader in a current event, which gives them context about his intentions. Why am I being asked to donate? Well, because stuff happened last night, and you should know!
Working with your readers, supporters, or donors’ current emotions and beliefs is an effective strategy for moving them to action. Emotions drive action quicker than any other force!
Takeaway: Work with emotions and involve them in the here and now.
Bernie Sanders’ campaign does not miss an opportunity to reiterate its mission and goals, which is also evident in the design of its mail.
If you receive the mail and can do nothing but scan through it, you will still take back the campaign’s mission: it is not funded by billionaires but paid entirely by the Bernie 2020 campaign.
Even if the fundraising letter does not bring in funds, it leaves an impression in the readers’ minds by reinforcing the campaign’s beliefs throughout the email.
Takeaway: Love your brand and let everyone know.
Here’s a sample that you can work with by implementing the key takeaways from the Sanders’ campaign:
If you’ve been following the news, you know the recent bill against reproductive rights has hampered the progress women have made over the years.
I’m running the primary elections to ensure that women always have a choice when faced with any situation.
My mission is not just mine; it belongs to every woman who believes her voice needs to be heard.
Contribute $2 to help me work for you! The donation, unlike women’s reproductive rights today, is a choice.
It is my firm belief that Americans come first.
To ensure our businesses thrive, we must reduce taxes unfairly placed on our entrepreneurs.
I’m running for office to make lower taxes a reality. I need your support in making this a reality.
Help me run by contributing $20 to my campaign.
All contributions are tax-deductible. Contribute a small amount now, so our entrepreneurs don’t have to pay huge sums throughout their careers.
What does it take for a candidate to finally win the Presidential election after running for office multiple times? It takes $72,924,146 in campaign funds! For the Biden campaign, letters to supporters played a big part in getting to this sum.
Biden’s political donation letter might seem a little different—and it is! This fundraising letter aims to ask for additional funds and thank supporters for funds already raised.
What works for this fundraising letter:
Most repeat donors report being encouraged to donate more to a campaign once they know their donation makes a difference.
The Biden campaign does a beautiful job of thanking donors for their initial contributions and encouraging them to continue their financial support.
Even better, they give a comprehensive breakdown of funds and their utilization. It is like watching your child earn a degree and do well for themselves– you know that college fund was well spent.
Takeaway: Say thank you and let them know how you have utilized funds so far.
Adding an incentive is exciting. It motivates more people to give and encourages them to stay engaged with you longer. It shows donors how much you value their contribution.
You could recognize donors publicly or make personal calls as Biden promised.
Including an incentive in your political donation letters is a way to ensure more people are involved.
Takeaway: Reward intended behavior.
Here’s a sample letter with key takeaways from the Biden political donation letter:
We’re thrilled to inform you that we collected $125,000 during our last fundraising drive.
Your funds have made a big difference! With these funds, we have been able to:
Thank you; your faith and support greatly benefit our community and me.
Election day is just a month away; help us out by donating a small amount to our campaign so we can work to mobilize youth in our community to vote for the difference.
My team and I will contact the first 25 donors to express our gratitude.
We hope you are ready to take control of your fundraising initiatives through the sample political donation letters. Fundraising is a complex process that requires many elements to come together to reach the campaign’s financial goals.
Our team works hard to bring you helpful guides for your campaign’s fundraising process. Check out our article Donor Thank You Calls: Writing the Perfect Script (Script included!) to learn how to leverage the benefits of calling for your fundraising initiative.
