Christopher David
Member
- Joined
- Dec 8, 2007
- Messages
- 225
Hey folks. I'm here to announce the formation of the grassroots Violet Victory PAC -- and to ask for your feedback and help with our first project, Operation Iowa Air Support.
Below you will read general information about the PAC, details about our Iowa plan, and a request for your support. We've got some cool prizes to give away to our top supporters. Read on!
Contents:
ChipIn Links:
Operation Iowa Air Support: http://violetvictory.chipin.com/operation-iowa-air-support
VVPAC General Fund: http://violetvictory.chipin.com/vvpac-general-fund
The Idea:
There's been a lot of talk about the need for a grassroots PAC. It would indeed be a huge help if we had a credible vehicle for raising and spending money on large projects the grassroots thinks worthy of support.
I've read a lot of RPF threads where a strong idea is fleshed out, interest is expressed in implementing the idea, then someone asks, "Who wants to make the ChipIn?" That seems to be where a lot of projects stall: the transition from planning to execution, where questions about trust and transparency slow the thread's momentum until it drops off the forum's front page and the idea is put on hold.
That's where a grassroots PAC could come in. With recognized administrators committed to transparency and clear communication with the grassroots, various teams working on various projects could feel comfortable using the PAC as a vehicle to raise and spend money.
What kind of project would justify using a PAC?
Our first project, Operation Iowa Air Support, gives one example of how the grassroots could collaborate to significantly increase Ron Paul's chances of victory. This project will be a mass marketing campaign designed and funded by the grassroots, with the dual aim of educating and mobilizing voters thousands at a time.
An RPF thread posted a few months ago, How to Market Ron Paul in 2012, laid out a great blueprint for such a project. Though the OP there sought support from the official campaign, I believe the grassroots can do a better a job if we take the initiative ourselves.
A PAC would be the perfect vehicle to raise and spend the funds needed to launch such a serious marketing operation. And by harnessing the decentralized dynamic of the Ron Paul grassroots, we could build the needed structure in a very short period of time -- provided we could secure enough support for our plan.
Hence the urgent need to form this grassroots PAC now: so we can implement these marketing ideas in time to impact the crucial Ames straw poll.
And why name it Violet Victory?
Many revolutions have an associated color. Though our movement's main electoral strategy is to influence the GOP, the message of liberty is transpartisan. And what includes but transcends red and blue? Violet!
Whether Ron Paul wins or loses the GOP nomination, our movement must be prepared to build a massive transpartisan coalition to maximize our impact in the general election. How better to communicate to the American people that our movement is most passionate not about partisan victory, but the victory of a philosophy that transcends party lines?
The Legal Stuff:
As of about a week ago, Violet Victory PAC is officially registered with the FEC and the state of California.
We are a non-connected 'super PAC', meaning we can raise and spend unlimited money on independent expenditures related to federal elections -- including the direct advocacy of specific candidates -- as long as we report where the money is coming from.
Oh, the possibilities.
The Team:
The sole legal officer needed to operate a PAC is a treasurer. Someone who can navigate the hundreds of pages of regulations and who is willing to be personally liable for any deviation from those regulations.
Our treasurer is Tim Maher, a liberty guy with over 25 years of experience as a certified public accountant. Tim was active during the Ron Paul 2008 campaign as Chief Financial Officer for BreakTheMatrix. Tim is also a longtime business associate of Rick Williams, the co-founder of BreakTheMatrix and the founder of Ron Paul Club. (Side note, Rick is strongly considering a 2012 run for Senate in California against Feinstein.)
The only other administrator of the PAC -- for now -- is yours truly. A little about me: I campaigned for Ron Paul in Iowa in 2007, helped launch Young Americans for Liberty, served as YAL's Northeast Regional Director, co-founded Year of Youth, helped merge YoY into YAL, spearheaded the launch of Ron Paul Club, and now I'm working hard to prepare for the summer launch of RPC's first entrepreneurial venture, the forthcoming liberty-oriented media company RevoluTimes.
For the PAC I'll be coordinating with the grassroots to design and execute multiple projects geared toward supporting Ron Paul 2012 and other liberty efforts. I'll make sure we keep open lines of communication with the RPF community, so the PAC's efforts always reflect grassroots ideas and feedback.
This can and should be a PAC for the grassroots, by the grassroots. It will be great to see multiple project teams grow out of the RPF community, each team designating a point person to work with the PAC in raising and allocating funds to their project.
We will make sure all those project teams have access, if they want it, to the communications infrastructure of Ron Paul Club (private forums, wiki, conference calls). The Club is meant to be an incubator for grassroots project management, an environment in which political, educational and entrepreneurial ventures progress rapidly from concept to execution.
The main (initial) coordinator of Operation Iowa Air Support will be Patrick Warner (fcreature on RPF). I'll ask him to respond to this thread with specifics on exactly how the grassroots can help build the needed marketing infrastructure. More details below.
Operation Iowa Air Support:
As mentioned above, the initial idea for this project grew out of the How to Market Ron Paul in 2012 thread from a few months back. Here's an excerpt explaining the basic idea:
Though the OP was hoping to get hired by the campaign, I think the grassroots should take the initiative and do this ourselves. It's not too late to get this up and running in time to impact Ames -- if we take massive action starting now.
As I suggested in that thread:
We've since gotten some momentum behind that idea. You are now reading that proposal and request for support. Patrick Warner (fcreature in that thread) has begun assembling a team of internet marketers and copywriters who can get everything up and running very soon -- and have our first campaign ready to go just a few days after we see that the grassroots is willing to support the project.
So the final missing piece of the puzzle, before we start rapidly building the marketing infrastructure, is gauging the depth of grassroots support for this project.
Why focus on a Facebook ad campaign first, instead of a TV ad campaign?
With Facebook, we can easily build an email list. People who click our ad and watch the video will be encouraged to sign up for email updates. That can tie them into an email autoresponder sequence that over the course of a few weeks will educate each person about Ron Paul, give them information about the Iowa straw poll, and ask them to donate to our PAC if they support that issue. Those donations can be channeled right back into the ad campaign.
The idea is to approach the point where every $1 invested in advertising results in $1 or more donated to the PAC. Constantly reinvesting that money back into the advertising funnel will produce a huge bang for our buck. That $1/$1 ratio is the holy grail of pay-per-click advertising, but the closer we get, the more power we will have to saturate various niches -- first in Iowa, then in New Hampshire and beyond.
Not to say we can't also expand this project to include TV ads as well. One recent thread has some great ideas in that regard, and we can certainly use the PAC as a vehicle for that project idea.
The broader point is, we need a marketing infrastructure that can easily broadcast the message of Ron Paul to highly targeted demographic groups and geographic areas in accordance with what the grassroots identifies as the best strategy for allocating our resources.
As to how we allocate those resources...
The Financial Stuff:
We'll be raising money from the grassroots via ChipIns tied to the PAC's PayPal account, which is itself linked to the PAC's bank account run by our treasurer Tim Maher, introduced above.
Each project will get its own ChipIn. Every penny raised through project-specific ChipIns will be spent on that individual project, minus transaction fees.
In the case of Operation Iowa Air Support, we already have a domain name (iowaforpaul.com) and web hosting donated to us. So unless the grassroots decides we should purchase any additional domains, there will be no need for any expenses other than the advertising itself. In that case, every penny of the money we raise for Operation Iowa Air Support will be spent directly on advertising. Screenshots of our Facebook ad account will be posted here so everyone can see how much money is being spent and when.
We will also maintain a ChipIn for the PAC's general fund. That will be used for the general growth of the organization. For example, we'd love to be able to hire a team of dedicated fundraisers. But for now, the immediate need is raising money for the advertising budget of Operation Iowa Air Support.
Lastly, every penny raised through RPF will be accounted for in regular reports to RPF. In the meantime, I will be around to answer any specific questions about where the money is going. And I want to decide on an allocation of resources that the grassroots thinks makes the most sense. This can and should be a team effort.
What We Need From You:
1. Ideas and Feedback - If you have any comments or suggestions about any of the above, especially including how to run Operation Iowa Air Support, let's hear them.
2. Money - This project won't go anywhere unless we raise money. I think $1,000 will be enough of an advertising budget to get us off to a good start, though obviously we can put any amount of money to good use. Please give what you can, even if it's just $5 or $10 to show your support. We've all given to the money bombs. But what if this project could make the difference between first or second place in Ames, or between first and second place in the Iowa caucuses? Isn't it worth a few dollars to find out? Isn't worth a few dollars to see if the grassroots can pull off such a huge project on our own initiative?
3. Referrals - After donating what you can, we'd appreciate any promotional support you can give to this effort. Any donations you raise for the PAC, you'll be eligible to receive the below prizes as if you yourself donated. Even if you yourself are financially tapped out, you know people who aren't!
The Prizes:
Current prizes are in two categories: 1) Ron Paul Club membership levels and 2) expenses covered for FreedomFest, where we want to maximize the presence of friends and members of Ron Paul Club.
Any prizes added later will apply retroactively. If you donate $600 now and we later add a prize to a $500+ level, you'll receive it too.
Until we get a solid referral system in place, you can claim referral credit by PM'ing me the names of people you raise money from.
To make it easier to get referral donations, we will release video presentations or whatever else will help you find support. If you want to request any specific kind of marketing material that would help you raise money, please post below. If you want specific help marketing our effort to your rich uncle, shoot me a PM.
Without further ado, the ChipIns (also linked at the top of this post) and prizes:
Operation Iowa Air Support: http://violetvictory.chipin.com/operation-iowa-air-support
VVPAC General Fund: http://violetvictory.chipin.com/vvpac-general-fund
Anyone who donates will receive email updates chronicling the progress of the PAC, and will be entered into raffles for various prizes to be announced later on.
Anyone who donates or refers $100+ to either ChipIn will get Donor access to the Ron Paul Club private forums.
Anyone who donates or refers $500+ to either ChipIn will receive Silver Donor access to the RPC forums, as well as inclusion in the planning process for our forthcoming for-profit media company.
Anyone who donates or refers $5,000+ to either ChipIn will receive all of the above, as well as a private briefing on various investment opportunities related to the entrepreneurial ventures in the works at Ron Paul Club.
Anyone who donates or refers $1,000+ to the general fund will receive a ticket to FreedomFest ($499 value).
Anyone who donates or refers $2,000+ to the general fund will receive a FreedomFest ticket and $250 travel voucher to/from the conference.
Anyone who donates or refers $3,000+ to the general fund will receive a FreedomFest ticket, $500 travel voucher, and free hotel lodging during the convention.
We would love to see lots of money flowing into Iowa, lots of other projects starting through the PAC, lots of people raising money for the PAC, and lots of people partying with us at FreedomFest next month.
The Future:
Our 'super PAC' has no contribution limits. We can raise and spend unlimited money on virtually any project that advances liberty into the mainstream.
The sky really is the limit.
If this gets off to a strong start, we can seriously increase Ron Paul's chances in Iowa, beginning with the Ames straw poll in August.
If we win Ames, this will all snowball and grow very fast.
Supporting the campaign's Iowa efforts is important, but personally I'm not okay just 'trusting the campaign' and sitting on the sidelines.
There's a lot we can do -- so let's do it.
Please post below any feedback, ideas, questions, comments, suggestions, insults, rants, and/or metaphysical speculations. Let's make this a great discussion that results in massive action.
Below you will read general information about the PAC, details about our Iowa plan, and a request for your support. We've got some cool prizes to give away to our top supporters. Read on!
Contents:
- ChipIn Links
- The Idea
- The Legal Stuff
- The Team
- Operation Iowa Air Support
- The Financial Stuff
- What We Need From You
- The Prizes
- The Future
ChipIn Links:
Operation Iowa Air Support: http://violetvictory.chipin.com/operation-iowa-air-support
VVPAC General Fund: http://violetvictory.chipin.com/vvpac-general-fund
The Idea:
There's been a lot of talk about the need for a grassroots PAC. It would indeed be a huge help if we had a credible vehicle for raising and spending money on large projects the grassroots thinks worthy of support.
I've read a lot of RPF threads where a strong idea is fleshed out, interest is expressed in implementing the idea, then someone asks, "Who wants to make the ChipIn?" That seems to be where a lot of projects stall: the transition from planning to execution, where questions about trust and transparency slow the thread's momentum until it drops off the forum's front page and the idea is put on hold.
That's where a grassroots PAC could come in. With recognized administrators committed to transparency and clear communication with the grassroots, various teams working on various projects could feel comfortable using the PAC as a vehicle to raise and spend money.
What kind of project would justify using a PAC?
Our first project, Operation Iowa Air Support, gives one example of how the grassroots could collaborate to significantly increase Ron Paul's chances of victory. This project will be a mass marketing campaign designed and funded by the grassroots, with the dual aim of educating and mobilizing voters thousands at a time.
An RPF thread posted a few months ago, How to Market Ron Paul in 2012, laid out a great blueprint for such a project. Though the OP there sought support from the official campaign, I believe the grassroots can do a better a job if we take the initiative ourselves.
A PAC would be the perfect vehicle to raise and spend the funds needed to launch such a serious marketing operation. And by harnessing the decentralized dynamic of the Ron Paul grassroots, we could build the needed structure in a very short period of time -- provided we could secure enough support for our plan.
Hence the urgent need to form this grassroots PAC now: so we can implement these marketing ideas in time to impact the crucial Ames straw poll.
And why name it Violet Victory?
Many revolutions have an associated color. Though our movement's main electoral strategy is to influence the GOP, the message of liberty is transpartisan. And what includes but transcends red and blue? Violet!
Whether Ron Paul wins or loses the GOP nomination, our movement must be prepared to build a massive transpartisan coalition to maximize our impact in the general election. How better to communicate to the American people that our movement is most passionate not about partisan victory, but the victory of a philosophy that transcends party lines?
The Legal Stuff:
As of about a week ago, Violet Victory PAC is officially registered with the FEC and the state of California.
We are a non-connected 'super PAC', meaning we can raise and spend unlimited money on independent expenditures related to federal elections -- including the direct advocacy of specific candidates -- as long as we report where the money is coming from.
Oh, the possibilities.
The Team:
The sole legal officer needed to operate a PAC is a treasurer. Someone who can navigate the hundreds of pages of regulations and who is willing to be personally liable for any deviation from those regulations.
Our treasurer is Tim Maher, a liberty guy with over 25 years of experience as a certified public accountant. Tim was active during the Ron Paul 2008 campaign as Chief Financial Officer for BreakTheMatrix. Tim is also a longtime business associate of Rick Williams, the co-founder of BreakTheMatrix and the founder of Ron Paul Club. (Side note, Rick is strongly considering a 2012 run for Senate in California against Feinstein.)
The only other administrator of the PAC -- for now -- is yours truly. A little about me: I campaigned for Ron Paul in Iowa in 2007, helped launch Young Americans for Liberty, served as YAL's Northeast Regional Director, co-founded Year of Youth, helped merge YoY into YAL, spearheaded the launch of Ron Paul Club, and now I'm working hard to prepare for the summer launch of RPC's first entrepreneurial venture, the forthcoming liberty-oriented media company RevoluTimes.
For the PAC I'll be coordinating with the grassroots to design and execute multiple projects geared toward supporting Ron Paul 2012 and other liberty efforts. I'll make sure we keep open lines of communication with the RPF community, so the PAC's efforts always reflect grassroots ideas and feedback.
This can and should be a PAC for the grassroots, by the grassroots. It will be great to see multiple project teams grow out of the RPF community, each team designating a point person to work with the PAC in raising and allocating funds to their project.
We will make sure all those project teams have access, if they want it, to the communications infrastructure of Ron Paul Club (private forums, wiki, conference calls). The Club is meant to be an incubator for grassroots project management, an environment in which political, educational and entrepreneurial ventures progress rapidly from concept to execution.
The main (initial) coordinator of Operation Iowa Air Support will be Patrick Warner (fcreature on RPF). I'll ask him to respond to this thread with specifics on exactly how the grassroots can help build the needed marketing infrastructure. More details below.
Operation Iowa Air Support:
As mentioned above, the initial idea for this project grew out of the How to Market Ron Paul in 2012 thread from a few months back. Here's an excerpt explaining the basic idea:
Ryan Moran said:
Though the OP was hoping to get hired by the campaign, I think the grassroots should take the initiative and do this ourselves. It's not too late to get this up and running in time to impact Ames -- if we take massive action starting now.
As I suggested in that thread:
We've since gotten some momentum behind that idea. You are now reading that proposal and request for support. Patrick Warner (fcreature in that thread) has begun assembling a team of internet marketers and copywriters who can get everything up and running very soon -- and have our first campaign ready to go just a few days after we see that the grassroots is willing to support the project.
So the final missing piece of the puzzle, before we start rapidly building the marketing infrastructure, is gauging the depth of grassroots support for this project.
Why focus on a Facebook ad campaign first, instead of a TV ad campaign?
With Facebook, we can easily build an email list. People who click our ad and watch the video will be encouraged to sign up for email updates. That can tie them into an email autoresponder sequence that over the course of a few weeks will educate each person about Ron Paul, give them information about the Iowa straw poll, and ask them to donate to our PAC if they support that issue. Those donations can be channeled right back into the ad campaign.
The idea is to approach the point where every $1 invested in advertising results in $1 or more donated to the PAC. Constantly reinvesting that money back into the advertising funnel will produce a huge bang for our buck. That $1/$1 ratio is the holy grail of pay-per-click advertising, but the closer we get, the more power we will have to saturate various niches -- first in Iowa, then in New Hampshire and beyond.
Not to say we can't also expand this project to include TV ads as well. One recent thread has some great ideas in that regard, and we can certainly use the PAC as a vehicle for that project idea.
The broader point is, we need a marketing infrastructure that can easily broadcast the message of Ron Paul to highly targeted demographic groups and geographic areas in accordance with what the grassroots identifies as the best strategy for allocating our resources.
As to how we allocate those resources...
The Financial Stuff:
We'll be raising money from the grassroots via ChipIns tied to the PAC's PayPal account, which is itself linked to the PAC's bank account run by our treasurer Tim Maher, introduced above.
Each project will get its own ChipIn. Every penny raised through project-specific ChipIns will be spent on that individual project, minus transaction fees.
In the case of Operation Iowa Air Support, we already have a domain name (iowaforpaul.com) and web hosting donated to us. So unless the grassroots decides we should purchase any additional domains, there will be no need for any expenses other than the advertising itself. In that case, every penny of the money we raise for Operation Iowa Air Support will be spent directly on advertising. Screenshots of our Facebook ad account will be posted here so everyone can see how much money is being spent and when.
We will also maintain a ChipIn for the PAC's general fund. That will be used for the general growth of the organization. For example, we'd love to be able to hire a team of dedicated fundraisers. But for now, the immediate need is raising money for the advertising budget of Operation Iowa Air Support.
Lastly, every penny raised through RPF will be accounted for in regular reports to RPF. In the meantime, I will be around to answer any specific questions about where the money is going. And I want to decide on an allocation of resources that the grassroots thinks makes the most sense. This can and should be a team effort.
What We Need From You:
1. Ideas and Feedback - If you have any comments or suggestions about any of the above, especially including how to run Operation Iowa Air Support, let's hear them.
2. Money - This project won't go anywhere unless we raise money. I think $1,000 will be enough of an advertising budget to get us off to a good start, though obviously we can put any amount of money to good use. Please give what you can, even if it's just $5 or $10 to show your support. We've all given to the money bombs. But what if this project could make the difference between first or second place in Ames, or between first and second place in the Iowa caucuses? Isn't it worth a few dollars to find out? Isn't worth a few dollars to see if the grassroots can pull off such a huge project on our own initiative?
3. Referrals - After donating what you can, we'd appreciate any promotional support you can give to this effort. Any donations you raise for the PAC, you'll be eligible to receive the below prizes as if you yourself donated. Even if you yourself are financially tapped out, you know people who aren't!
The Prizes:
Current prizes are in two categories: 1) Ron Paul Club membership levels and 2) expenses covered for FreedomFest, where we want to maximize the presence of friends and members of Ron Paul Club.
Any prizes added later will apply retroactively. If you donate $600 now and we later add a prize to a $500+ level, you'll receive it too.
Until we get a solid referral system in place, you can claim referral credit by PM'ing me the names of people you raise money from.
To make it easier to get referral donations, we will release video presentations or whatever else will help you find support. If you want to request any specific kind of marketing material that would help you raise money, please post below. If you want specific help marketing our effort to your rich uncle, shoot me a PM.
Without further ado, the ChipIns (also linked at the top of this post) and prizes:
Operation Iowa Air Support: http://violetvictory.chipin.com/operation-iowa-air-support
VVPAC General Fund: http://violetvictory.chipin.com/vvpac-general-fund
Anyone who donates will receive email updates chronicling the progress of the PAC, and will be entered into raffles for various prizes to be announced later on.
Anyone who donates or refers $100+ to either ChipIn will get Donor access to the Ron Paul Club private forums.
Anyone who donates or refers $500+ to either ChipIn will receive Silver Donor access to the RPC forums, as well as inclusion in the planning process for our forthcoming for-profit media company.
Anyone who donates or refers $5,000+ to either ChipIn will receive all of the above, as well as a private briefing on various investment opportunities related to the entrepreneurial ventures in the works at Ron Paul Club.
Anyone who donates or refers $1,000+ to the general fund will receive a ticket to FreedomFest ($499 value).
Anyone who donates or refers $2,000+ to the general fund will receive a FreedomFest ticket and $250 travel voucher to/from the conference.
Anyone who donates or refers $3,000+ to the general fund will receive a FreedomFest ticket, $500 travel voucher, and free hotel lodging during the convention.
We would love to see lots of money flowing into Iowa, lots of other projects starting through the PAC, lots of people raising money for the PAC, and lots of people partying with us at FreedomFest next month.
The Future:
Our 'super PAC' has no contribution limits. We can raise and spend unlimited money on virtually any project that advances liberty into the mainstream.
The sky really is the limit.
If this gets off to a strong start, we can seriously increase Ron Paul's chances in Iowa, beginning with the Ames straw poll in August.
If we win Ames, this will all snowball and grow very fast.
Supporting the campaign's Iowa efforts is important, but personally I'm not okay just 'trusting the campaign' and sitting on the sidelines.
There's a lot we can do -- so let's do it.
Please post below any feedback, ideas, questions, comments, suggestions, insults, rants, and/or metaphysical speculations. Let's make this a great discussion that results in massive action.
Last edited:
