Online Campaign to Get More Bang for Buck
Running against a 14-year incumbent, Chris Haugen was seeking the California 14th Congressional Seat.
The Challenge
As a long-time incumbent, Chris Haugen’s opponent had an enormous campaign war chest. Compounding the issue, the 14th Congressional district is so gerrymandered that it’s long narrow boundaries stretch across three counties and ensure that GOP voters are in the minority. On a limited budget, Chris Haugen’s campaign needed to:
- Look professional.
- Get the word out.
- Reach out to the independent voters.
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Raise money.
Our Response to the Challenge
Red State New Media began by replacing the two-page amateur website with a professional one highlighting Chris’ achievements and stand on the issues. Planning to raise money through fundraising events, we set up a flexible online contribution service that enabled us to sell tickets, as well as, accept contributions. Without a budget large enough to support traditional media, we focused efforts on an online campaign to get the biggest bang for the buck.
Highlights of the Online Campaign:
- Collected email addresses. Started with those that Chris had and added to them from events.
- Identified email champions who would forward campaign emails to their lists (our Virtual Volunteers!)
- Created a "Call to Action" online newsletter to inform voters and establish Chris Haugen as an authority on issues.
- Engaged declined-to-state voters with online surveys.
- Used the email list to raise money.
- Concluded with an online GOTV effort.
Summary of Results
In a four month period of time, we grew Chris Haugen’s email list by 50%. Email tracking software enabled us to determine that most tickets purchased online for fundraising events and most online contributions were a direct response of an individual receiving a Call to Action Newsletter or email invitation to a fundraiser.
