The party’s telemarketing strategy has been straight forward and consistent, pretty much every year from 2015 to now: a Year-End program in December and a PAC drive in Spring (exception: in 2019 the PAC drive was conducted in the fall due to the Spring election). Additionally, since the 2019 election, the party has asked Stratcom to run a handful of monthly conversion programs to new donors when large batches of new donors come through their door. These new donor conversion programs have generated a significant number of new monthly donors and long-term revenue. We have also conducted some lapsed reactivation and acquisition programs, and will likely launch a digital lead to phone conversion campaign this fall.
- Between the 2015 and 2019 Elections ANDP’s tele fundraising generated almost $3 million in 5-year-net-revenue.
- From the last election—in May 2019—to present, from a list of approximately 25,000 active donors, the party’s tele fundraising program has generated more than $4 million in five-year-NET-revenue.
- $84,000 per month was added to ANDP’s PAC file: resulting in more than $1 million per year.
- The total cost of calling, from May 2019 to present was $809k. The value of one-time gifts generated by phone over the same period was more than $500k.
- The majority of the cost of phoning was offset by one-time-gifts and the vast majority of the $84,000 per month in PAC Revenue went straight to the bottom line.
Step 1:
PAC program
The annual PAC drive entailed calling everyone who made a one-time gift to the Alberta NDP over the last 24 months and asking them to become a monthly donor. We also called all active monthly donors and asked them to increase the amount of their monthly gift. We called all new one-time-gift donors within 6 months of that initial gift to ask them to become a monthly donor. Finally, we called all lapsed/inactive monthly donors and asked them to reactivate their monthly support. In all cases, when the donor declined to give monthly, we asked for a one-time-gift.
Step 2:
Year-End program
The annual Year-End program involved asking all active one-time and PAC donors for a year-end one-time gift. Thanks to decisive and effective internal leadership from Provincial Secretary Brandon Stevens and assistance from longtime NDP fundraising specialist Heather Wilson—and a strong independent fundraising counsel helping guide their program—Alberta NDP has employed an exceptionally successful tele fundraising strategy to ensure they have the funds to wage a winning election campaign in 2023.
The ANDP:
- Hired a qualified, unionized call centre with NDP and fundraising experience;
- Ran a consistent annual program with enough budget allocated to call all of their active donors on each round of programs, and
- Built in sufficient time for planning to ensure the data selections were correct and the messaging effective.
Our
Work
Step 1:
PAC program
The annual PAC drive entailed calling everyone who made a one-time gift to the Alberta NDP over the last 24 months and asking them to become a monthly donor. We also called all active monthly donors and asked them to increase the amount of their monthly gift. We called all new one-time-gift donors within 6 months of that initial gift to ask them to become a monthly donor. Finally, we called all lapsed/inactive monthly donors and asked them to reactivate their monthly support. In all cases, when the donor declined to give monthly, we asked for a one-time-gift.
Step 2:
Year-End program
The annual Year-End program involved asking all active one-time and PAC donors for a year-end one-time gift. Thanks to decisive and effective internal leadership from Provincial Secretary Brandon Stevens and assistance from longtime NDP fundraising specialist Heather Wilson—and a strong independent fundraising counsel helping guide their program—Alberta NDP has employed an exceptionally successful tele fundraising strategy to ensure they have the funds to wage a winning election campaign in 2023.
The ANDP:
- Hired a qualified, unionized call centre with NDP and fundraising experience;
- Ran a consistent annual program with enough budget allocated to call all of their active donors on each round of programs, and
- Built in sufficient time for planning to ensure the data selections were correct and the messaging effective.
Stratcom provided excellent strategic recommendations then delivered the large volumes, short turnaround times and high response rates needed in effective political fundraising.
Heather Wilson,
NDP Fundraising Strategist
The Results
Stratcom prides itself in being one of the only call centres with qualified unionized staff who have experience with fundraising and the NDP. Apart from its extensive knowledge and experience working with the NDP provincially and federally across Canada, Stratcom has effectively performed time and time again under tight deadlines and is well-versed in campaign processes.
The $84,000 per month the Alberta NDP has added to their fundraising program since May 2019 won’t disappear on election day. It will continue to generate approximately $1 million per year indefinitely, without the party having to spend another cent. The Party plans to maintain their PAC phone program between now and the 2023 election, and in so doing could more than double the revenue generated since May 2019. Indeed, we’ve already raised more in the 2 years since the last election than we did in the 4+ years between the last elections: this kind of exponential growth is the by-product of the systematic and consistent approach ANDP has taken to our tele fundraising campaigns.
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