Most political advocacy groups are formally nonprofits, but that doesn’t mean that they care any less about their budgets than corporations — most end up having to spend a ridiculous amount of their time raising money. Turns out, the best time of year to rake in those fat checks is at the very end, when most people do holiday gift-giving and also take advantage of the charitable donations tax exemption. Want some actual evidence of how important the year-end fundraising effect is? Take a look at these two articles suggested by Democracy in Action’s in-house blogger Jason Zanon:
Several interesting reads today on the email advocacy front. First, the latest article to predict the demise of email, though in this case the author makes a good point that future computers/cell phones/convergence gadgets will probably combine email, text and IM into a single interface, leaving us free to use the right medium for a given message.
In the meantime, plenty of us are using email all the time to spread nasty rumors, raise money and maybe even do a little advocacy. Once in a while it actually works, as this article from the One campaign shows: the International Monetary Fund has acknowledged that emails from the public played a role in the Fund’s moving ahead with Liberian debt relief. If that’s not enough, perhaps Chuck Norris can convince you — not only has he endorsed Mike Huckabee, but the karate expert/movie hero/star of the single most violent show on television is also raising money for the Republican candidate via email. Never let it be said that Huckabee’s campaign lacks punch…
Thanks to MSNBC for digging up a clip from a true classic — if I remember right, Chuck choreographed that fight (down to the chest-hair rip — ouch).
