1. Valuable lessons from the Fundraising Guru
The Obama Factor
Valuable lessons from the Fundraising Guru

2. About Obama
‘I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements’.
-Obama giving his acceptance speech 

3. About Obama (contd.)
Born in 1961 to a teenage mother and Kenyan Luo Father
Abandoned by his father at age two

4. About Obama (contd.)
Both his Kenyan Father and Step Father were Moslems
Raised largely in a small apartment by his middle-class maternal grandparents

5. About Obama (contd.)
His wife, Close counselor and best friend Michelle raised in a one-bedroom apartment on the south side of Chicago.
Relied on food stamps sometimes
Virtually unknown first time Senator
Has a calm and steady personality

6. About John Mc Cain About 25year’s older than Obama
Son of a high ranking naval officer
An original American.
Both him and wife Cindy were rich and had been so for their entire lives.
Impulsive and hot headed

7. Facts and figures

8. Facts and Figures
Obama’s USD 250,000,000 was invested in TV airtime and grassroots communication.

9. Lessons from Obama’s FR Success
‘There’s nothing more valuable than a human being talking to a human being’
-David Plouffee,
Obama’s Campaign Manager

10. The Discipline To: Develop and stick to best practices
Send content that supporters will value
Adhere to a consistent brand and ‘stay on message’.

11. The Right People
170 people out of who about 90 were volunteers and the rest paid.
Professionals and experts eg. David Plouffe (campaign manager), Kate Akbright Hanna from CNN (Director of Video), staff from google, etc.

12. Focus on supporters & Relationship Building
Valued his ‘small’ supporters and got as little as USD 5, 10 and 20 from his supporters.
Campaign team nurtured a one on one relationship with its online supporters
Instead of putting Obama in the spotlight, focus was on the people who made the movement, soliciting their stories, comments and questions.

13. The power of s

14. What made emails special
Obama had an list of 13 million people
Large volume of messaging but no more than 3 s to one individual a day.
Language and content was exceptional and consistently grounded in campaign narrative
Focus was squarely on what supporters cared about.
Rotation of signers by Michelle Obama, David Plouffe, Barack Obama, Joe Bidden & occasionally staff level campaign staff.

15. Authenticity Tone was personal and informal
Raw and unproduced original videos
Communications signed with first name
Supporters given credit for campaign’s success and made them an integral part of the story.

16. Nimbleness and Timing
‘The Community Organiser’ raised a whopping USD 11 million only .

17. Timing Contd.

18. Special offers
Small Mechandise items in association with a donation. E.g. Mugs, t-shirts
Free bumper stickers just for signing up.
Chance to win exclusive experiences eg. Dinner with Obama, joining Obama on election night, etc.

19. Testing Again and again, team tested what worked and what didn’t. eg.
Design and presentation of special offers
Style and content of graphics
Versions of s
Layout and language on web pages
Special appeals,
etc

20. -Obama’s Email and Fundraising Campaign Team philosophy
Asking for more
‘Never ask a donor for less than the amount they donated previously’
-Obama’s and Fundraising Campaign Team philosophy
After testing all kinds of ask amounts, the campaign team decided not to ask for less than what someone had previously donated.

21. Video
Obama had a 15 people Video Strategy Team directed by a former CNN staff.
By October 2008 over 1800 videos had been posted on the campaigns YouTube account as opposed to Mc Cain’s 330.
These were watched by 889 million viewers world wide.

22. What made the videos special
The Journalistic Approach:
Not selling the candidate as a product but the Movement around the campaign.
Inviting people to tell their own stories and talking directly to other people
Goal was to engage people, draw in viewers and make them feel they were part of something big.
Highlighting local real world stories ‘from the horses’ mouth’
Exclusive one-on one reports

23. External Social Networks
Face book, Twitter, myspace, etc gave people a tool to share enthusiam.
Over 5 million people were engaged in the campaign on the external social networks.

24. My.Barack.Obama.com
This was online community toolset provided for community to form own groups and run fundraising campaigns.
Using self fundraising tools, 70,000 people raised USD 30 million

25. Targeted Mobile text messaging
E.g.
‘Watch Barrack debate tonight live on CNN. Reply with your thoughts during and after the debate’
Sent on July 23rd 2007

26. Appreciation To his opponent
I just received a very gracious call from Senator McCain.  He fought long and hard in this campaign, and he's fought even longer and harder for the country he loves.  He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine, and we are better
off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.  I congratulate him and Governor Palin for all they have achieved, and I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.

27. Appreciation contd. To his family:
I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last sixteen years, the rock of our family and the love of my life, our nation's next First Lady, Michelle Obama.  Sasha and Malia, I love you both so much, and you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us to the White House.  In his acceptance speech

28. Apprciation contd. To the campaign team
To my campaign manager David Plouffe, my chief strategist David Axelrod, and the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics - you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.

29. Appreciation contd. To the People of America
…But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to - it belongs to you.

30. Conclusion
Obama had wise judgement of his voters’ needs & priorities and so had not only a convincing but real ‘case’
He identified with his voters
The Timing was favourable
He had the right team
His personal attributes and the X-Factor gave him a boost.
Much of the campaigning took place before the worst of the economic crisis. FR climate now more challenging.
Use this presentation to identify what methods need to be tested because not all may work for you.
Very importantly, Obama believed in himself with the support of his wife and best friend Michelle.

31. Yes we Can !
-Thank you -