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 3 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
Campaign Superstore began by replacing the 2-page amateur website with a professional one highlighting Chris’ achievements and stand on 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. Read the details.
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 were able to grow 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.
