Looking for help for new congressional campaign

[chiefsmurph]

Hello liberty lovers,

My name is John Murphy and I am looking to run for Congress in California's 15th district.
I have a made short promotional video intended to introduce myself to voters and get my name out there.
I need to raise substantial funds - specifically $1740 for the declaration of candidacy and another $9243 to get my candidate statement in the ballot - by this upcoming March 11th. I want to harness the power of liberty voters everywhere.
Looking for all the help I can get particularly someone with experience fundraising online for liberty candidates.
I intend to win if I can just get on the ballot.



Donate to the cause at https://www.gofundme.com/xeskmptw

 

[invisible]

So you decided against running for the Town / City council first? That's a good chunk of change to come up with, to even get into the Congressional election. I'm thinking that you might have a bit of trouble with that, especially with no record to run on - potential donors will only have your platform and position statements to go on. How do your odds look for this race, compared to the local office? Why do you feel that this election will be more winnable? $11,000 is a pretty big gamble, I'd make sure that your odds are excellent before dropping that much just to get on the ballot.

 

[thoughtomator]

If you lose 6-1 you can at least be someone's resume item, so there's that.

Good luck in the race. If you need technical support feel free to mail me.

 

[Matt Collins]

First off, start here:

https://www.leadershipinstitute.org/training/

 

[Bryan]

John,

Great to see the initiative to get things done. I think you have an excellent message, which is something that you talked about previously. I agree with invisible it's going to be hard to raise the money in a short time however, not that it can't be done or you shouldn't try, but don't be disappointed if you don't hit the deadline.

From my experience, to be successful with fundraising you need to develop both a local network within the party and a national network within the movement. These are the people that should help provide the seed money and get foundational work done before you launch the campaign. It can take several years of work to get these networks in decent shape. If your goal is to win you need to have a complete campaign strategy worked out before you launch. Also as said and discussed, running for a lower level position can really help set the stage for a bigger campaign, it shows you can win, it helps to build your networks (and donor base) and you'll gain a lot of experience both running a campaign and being in office.

All this said, you will be able to better gain support and donations if you can share your campaign assets at this point, things like:
- How much money does the campaign have?
- What is your network strength like?
- Do you have any campaign advisers willing to work for cheap / free?
- Do you have a website in the works?
- Do you have any other aces-in-the-hole that can help you win?
- What's the status of the incumbent? How is his support? Has he done anything to put himself in a hole?

Please don't get me wrong on anything, I am beyond thrilled that you're stepping up!!

 

[erowe1]

What party are you running in?

 

[invisible]

John,

Great to see the initiative to get things done. I think you have an excellent message, which is something that you talked about previously. I agree with invisible it's going to be hard to raise the money in a short time however, not that it can't be done or you shouldn't try, but don't be disappointed if you don't hit the deadline.

From my experience, to be successful with fundraising you need to develop both a local network within the party and a national network within the movement. These are the people that should help provide the seed money and get foundational work done before you launch the campaign. It can take several years of work to get these networks in decent shape. If your goal is to win you need to have a complete campaign strategy worked out before you launch. Also as said and discussed, running for a lower level position can really help set the stage for a bigger campaign, it shows you can win, it helps to build your networks (and donor base) and you'll gain a lot of experience both running a campaign and being in office.

All this said, you will be able to better gain support and donations if you can share your campaign assets at this point, things like:
- How much money does the campaign have?
- What is your network strength like?
- Do you have any campaign advisers willing to work for cheap / free?
- Do you have a website in the works?
- Do you have any other aces-in-the-hole that can help you win?
- What's the status of the incumbent? How is his support? Has he done anything to put himself in a hole?

Please don't get me wrong on anything, I am beyond thrilled that you're stepping up!!

This. We can still turn 2016 into a win, there is still time to get Liberty Candidates on the ballot in various places. Forget the Presidential race, our efforts need to be focused on down-ballot races.

 

[Chester Copperpot]

John,

I dont have any online fundraising experience for politics but I do have plenty of fundraising telephonically for non-profits. That sort of appeal, however would take longer than march 11 to generate those funds IMO. But if you need funds after that or some sort of GOTV/outreach to the public, then telephone is a quick economically way to reach your constituents.