Hugh Hewitt notes a change in the McCain approach to fundraising:

Drawing on some of the successful fundraising techniques of President Bush’s two campaigns for the White House, the McCain campaign now plans to mirror the Bush-Cheney campaign’s Pioneers, Rangers and Mavericks with the McCain 50s, McCain 100s, McCain 200s and other elite designations for top fundraisers who agree to raise $50,000, $100,000, $200,000 or more.

I guess he looked at Romney's $20+ million and said... wow, that worked... I should try that.

Come on in John... the waters fine!

You see Romney realized the value of this approach sometime last year. In January, Spencer Zwick, Ben Ginsberg, and the finance team put in place 3 fundraising levels: Founder, Statesman and Patriot. Each level corresponds to a committment of fundraising before the year is out.

There were other bonuses for fulfilling your promise within the first 30 days (a ski trip with the Governor). On top of that Team Romney put in place incentives to match your lifestyle:


Let me give you an analogy: I have a very good friend in the midst of a start-up. His product is a unique remote control with 5 "On" buttons. When you press the button for "Family" it sorts through all of the shows that are playing on your cable or satellite box and filters the choices for you that your family will like. When you press the button for "With the spouse" it does likewise. When you press the button for "Just Me" it grabs the latest sports team you like to watch and so on.

Team Romney has brought the best of the business world to campaign fundraising: know your customer and cater to them.

By creating a myriad of well-honed programs for the specific incentives and needs of a specific audience, Romney can maximize his fundraising effort. Which is exactly how he raised the $23 million.

One example: last Monday Team Romney sent out an email to people who subscribe to MittLink:

Today, as an extra special reward for your efforts, you can earn two tickets to the NCAA College Basketball Final Four. Just earn the most points using MittLink from today, Tuesday, March 27th through 11:59 p.m. EST, Thursday, March 29th, and the tickets are yours!

You earn points on MittLink by inviting people to join the network or fulfilling donations through the system. You can redeem the points for Mitt Gear. This is all part of the extreme and innovative way that Team Romney has literally re-invented fundraising.

Labels: fundraising, McCain