Asking for money is the necessary evil of every political campaign. The trick is to do it concisely, politely, and—most importantly—effectively. So before you write an email to your supporters to ask for funds, consider the following guidelines.

1. Be clear. One email should convey one message. In a fundraising email, the message is “give me money because X.” Of course, the email does not—and should not—be as crude as that, but don’t let rhetorical decoration obscure your point. If, when the email is done, you cannot condense its point to one sentence, you are trying to say too much, no matter how prettily you are doing it.

Very clearly ask for a donation. Ask then ask then, possibly, ask again as the email progresses. Do not be shy about listing an amount, but think carefully first about who is receiving the email. Deep-pocketed donors can be tapped for big donations; everyone who signed up to receive your emails cannot.

2. Be concise. Make sentences direct, make paragraphs short, and make the body of your email as brief as possible. Your email is competing with an untold number of distractions, so it needs to be able to be read quickly and understood easily. But remember that short does not mean sparse, stilted, or half-finished. Channel Ernest Hemingway or even the authors of the Constitution. Make every word count.

3. Be compelling. There are two simple options: use emotion or a sense of urgency. Emotional emails tell a story and oftentimes include a video link; alternatively, they can encourage supporters to share their stories (hello, Obama 2008). These emails fall flat, though, if there is nothing truly moving or remarkable about the story you are sharing. Your campaign is the center of your life, but sadly, that’s not sufficiently interesting to your neighbor, your mailwoman, or your local dog catcher. So be wary of using this method and, above all, don’t fake it. Readers can tell, and you will be stung. Badly.

You can also use your fundraising appeal to highlight tasks your campaign must accomplish. Such tasks often include boosting numbers before an FEC filing deadline, readying your GOTV efforts, or getting the money for last-minute ads. Giving deadlines and, preferably, quantifying the effect of a contribution (e.g. $50 will equip one Election Day volunteer) will give supporters more reason to give you some of their hard-earned cash.

Finally, remember that you must be professional to be compelling. Proofread your email carefully for distractions: misspellings, improper grammar, and awkward sentence structures. It’s always okay to break rules for style or emphasis, but it’s always apparent when you know the rules and break them deliberately, and when you’re just winging it.

4. Most importantly, be honest. Supporters are not ATMs. Supporters cannot be tricked into giving money. So “speak” to your supporters candidly, get them excited and invested in your campaign, and you will be well-rewarded.

Unfortunately, the North Carolina Democratic Party is always on-target with its use of microsites. That means it’s time for North Carolina Republicans to listen up and gear up for the next election cycle.

What are microsites? Microsites are one-issue websites that highlight one idea or message. Think of them as the glossy brochure of campaign websites: they are usually eye-catching and colorful, and what they lack in in-depth analysis they make up for in “punch.”

What are examples of microsites? On the right, Americans for Tax Reform recently launched What is Card Check?, a microsite that features an online game to teach visitors about the Employee Free Choice Act, commonly referred to as card check. The North Carolina chapter of Americans for Prosperity also created NoNCTaxHike.com, a microsite that encouraged grassroots activists to stop the proposed General Assembly tax hike.

The North Carolina Democrats have also used microsites in senatorial elections. In the 2008 election, the site WheresLiddy.com (now defunct) tracked Elizabeth Dole’s time outside the state to push Kay Hagan’s message that Dole was out of touch with North Carolinians. Now, gearing up for the 2010 election, a North Carolina Democratic Party employee has created GradeBurr.com, a site that encourages visitors to grade Senator Burr on various issues. The result is overwhelmingly unfavorable.

Why should I create a microsite? A microsite is useful when you have a specific idea that you want to spread or a specific action that you would like visitors to take. This idea or action is related to your campaign, but it can stand on its own without needing the context of your campaign website. To explain with a concrete example, NoNCTaxHike.com is related to the mission of Americans for Prosperity, but the message of the microsite does not require the visitor to know anything about Americans for Prosperity (or even like the organization!) to take action. This is why a microsite devoted to fundraising for your campaign would not work.

But a microsite is incredibly effective to highlight the shortcomings of your opponent without bogging down your own campaign website with negative news. Create a catchy name, start tracking what your opponent is doing, and share the news with the voters. BJ Lawson did just that when he ran for the NC-4 House seat in 2008: he started DavidsPrice.com to document the many problems of his opponent, Congressman David Price.

Today’s tip is a two-for-one special involving GOTV (Get Out the Vote) strategy and the popular social networking site Twitter:

1. Every campaign should dispatch volunteer poll watchers to as many voting locations as possible (especially strategic ones). The poll watcher should note how long the lines are, writing down the names of voters and reporting back to campaign headquarters throughout Election Day. Campaign HQ monitors the reports from the poll watchers to see if turnout is high or low in the various precincts, checking off supporters’ names in the campaign database along the way. In this way, the GOTV operations director (whether he or she is the official campaign manager or someone else) has a 30,000 foot view of Election Day turnout and knows when and where to dispatch other volunteers helping with GOTV efforts. The traditional way of doing this is by phone at regular intervals during the day: morning, mid-day, and afternoon reports. This is where Part 2 of the tip comes in…

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Thanks to the 2008 election, “social networking” is the buzzword of political campaigns today. Consider this your crash course on getting started, doing it right, and—eventually—reaping the rewards for your campaign.

Lesson #1: Specialize. It makes sense in economics and it makes sense in politics. Aside from the major social networks, there are a rapidly growing number of niche networks. You cannot be part of them all and, if you were, you would never have time to keep up with all of your profiles. So, unless you are running a statewide race, pick two or three social networks and do them well. “Doing them well” means that you should fill out your profile completely, log in and participate daily, and always, always, always respond to your supporters and reach out to new ones. If you aren’t sure which to select, Facebook and Twitter will give you a sound foundation.

Lesson #2: Do it yourself. You wouldn’t send a stand-in to give a speech, so don’t use a proxy to be you online. A social networking profile is your chance to create a personal connection with another person using the internet. But you cannot make a personal connection if it’s your staff or a volunteer doing the connecting. So make a commitment to spend at least 15 minutes each day logging into your social networking profiles. People will notice the difference, and the advantage to your campaign will grow as a result. If you don’t believe me, compare the Twitter profiles of Marco Rubio, a Republican who manages his own profile, and Arlen Specter, whose profile is manned by his staff.

Lesson #3: Be genuine. The temptation to use your social networking profile as a soapbox is nearly irresistible. But you must behave online as you would at a neighborhood party. You would share interesting information about yourself, but you wouldn’t monopolize the conversation. You might ask a friend (or, as a politician, a supporter) for a favor, but you would do so graciously, and you would listen to feedback when it was offered to you. Participating in a social network is your chance to have a one-on-one interaction with a supporter—many times over. So be genuine, affable, and interested in other people, just like you would away from the computer.

Lesson #4: Connect your social network profiles to your campaign. Your social networking profile should drive supporters to your campaign site, and your campaign site should drive supporters to your social networking profile. So connect the two pieces of your online campaign, so visitors can find you in both places.

Lesson #5: Use your social network communities. Generating a mass of followers on Twitter or a slew of friends on Facebook may look great on paper, but it’s useless on Election Day if you cannot mobilize these people to work on your behalf. So set goals for your communities on different social networks, and see how they respond. You may ask Twitter followers to pass on a link to an important news story or Facebook supporters to “donate” their profile picture to display your campaign sign. But asking people to take easy, in-network action before Election Day will help you identify the most motivated supporters, who will be your go-to group for GOTV efforts.

Today we’re wrapping up a series of posts on The 15 Questions You Must Answer Before Running for Office. This is in response to the top vote-getter on our poll question, “What is the biggest obstacle to running for local office…and winning?“ That answer was: “Where do I start?!?!”

Questions 1-5 were:

• 1.) Have I done anything to distinguish myself?
• 2.) Do I want this job?
• 3.) Can I win?
• 4.) Do I legally qualify to run?
• 5.) Can my ticker take it?

And Questions 6-10:

• 6.) Can I devote the time needed to win?
• 7.) Am I ready for bloodsport?
• 8.) Do I want to put my family through this?
• 9.) Would the outcome of the election, win or lose, box me into a corner?
  
• 10.) Am I willing to ask people for money (repeatedly)?

If you are still with us at this point, answering in the affirmative to each of these ten questions, you’re ready to move on to the last five questions in our list. But these questions are not “simple” Yes/No determinations; they’re short-answer to essay:

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On Tuesday we looked at Questions 1-5 of The 15 Questions You Must Answer Before Running for Office. Quickly recapping our list, here are Questions 1-5:

• 1.) Have I done anything to distinguish myself?
• 2.) Do I want this job?
• 3.) Can I win?
• 4.) Do I legally qualify to run?
• 5.) Can my ticker take it?

If you can honestly answer “Yes” to each of these five questions, you’re ready to move on to 6-10 in our list:

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Last week I announced a new feature on RunSmart2Win.com: Tuesday and Thursday Campaign Tips. Today’s tip comes from the current leading answer in our poll question, “What is the biggest obstacle to running for local office…and winning?“ And that answer is: “Where do I begin?!?!”

This is a huge topic — especially for first-time candidates.  It’s so important, in fact, that today’s tip will be the first of three posts on getting started in politics. Here are questions 1-5 of The 15 Questions You Must Answer Before Running for Office…

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We are beginning a regular feature on the RunSmart2Win blog: Tuesdays and Thursdays will be Campaign Tip Days. We will post practical tips: straight-forward and simple, yet proven and powerful tools to add to your campaign toolbox. Just remember, if the day starts with “T”, a Tip is on the way!

Today’s tip deals with online video…make that YouTube.

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