How to Solicit Donations from Politicians

If you are involved with one of the hundreds of liberal, progressive or democratic organizations across the country, then you will most likely be in a dire need of obtaining money. One of the best ways of obtaining money is by asking for your local and state politicians for money. However, let me give you a heads up before you start venturing on asking for money: it is a very difficult road that requires much persistence and hard work.

The first step that you should do is to come up with a sales pitch that you will give to the campaign office. You should know what the money you are asking for will be used by, if your organization has asked for money from the politician in the past, if your organization has any connection or relationship with the candidate from the past.

You should be persistent with politicians and contact them via email, fax and phone. The letter, email or fax to the politician should be addressed to their campaign headquarters which is where the campaign manager is located. The campaign manager would be the person to talk to regarding receiving payment from the campaign. The campaign is the most likely area to get money from a politician since neither their state office nor their Washington office can give you money.

In creating the fund-raising letter, it is important that it looks as professional as possible. You should have your organization name at the top of the letter with your organization's contact information listed including an email address, fax number, phone number, and website. If your organization has a motto, logo or slogan you should also include that at the top of the letter.

The next few lines at the top of the letter should have your organization or your own address and then followed by the politician's campaign headquarters address.

The body of the letter should detail your request for a donation from the politician's campaign and also detail what exactly you need the money for. You should also describe your organization and what your organization does, as well as why your organization is worthy of a donation. Finally, ask the politician for a stated amount, rather than just a general request for the money. The more specific you can be in your request, the more likely you will be successful in soliciting money.

Politicians can be rather hard to track down to get money so I would suggest asking for money well enough in advance. You want to give yourself enough time for a follow up call with the campaign office to ask a second time about the status of your request for a donation from the campaign. The best and most likely form of money that the campaign will give you is a check. Ask them to address the check to your organization, instead of a personalized check.

The last part of the letter is the conclusion paragraph in which you should thank the campaign for his or her time in reviewing the request and that you hope to hear back from them. At the end of the letter, include a number that you can be reached at for questions that they might have about your financial request. Sign the letter at the bottom of the letter and include your position in the organization. Good luck!