US Politics: How much do fundraising deadlines matter, really?

July 1, 2022 8:18 AM

Since the overturning of Roe, I’ve received a frantic influx of fundraising messages from political candidates I support. Many referenced the “quarterly fundraising deadline” last night.

I ended up donating more than I usually do, because *gestures wildly at the everything*. Please assume I was going to donate either way, so this is just a question about timing and how marketing works.

I’d like to know what the concrete impact of $X before midnight last night is, compared to $X this morning. Is there a non-marketing reason for the emphasis on the deadlines? Or is it just a pressure technique?

posted by Alterscape to Society & Culture (9 answers total)

It is the end of the financial year on 6/30*, so presumably whatever annual donation limits are in place, they can hit you up twice before the midterms.

* (In my state government job, anyway)
posted by Ardnamurchan at 8:22 AM on July 1, 2022

Best answer: 99% of the time, it's a pressure technique. Also, if you actually want to help make "everything" less sucky, don't give your money to politicians. They get a ton of money from corporations. They're fine. Give it to actual causes that help people (food pantries, community mental health services, abortion funds, reentry services orgs, animal shelters, whatever moves you). If you absolutely have to give to politicians, give to local candidates you've personally looked into and who are not taking corporate funds. Nancy Pelosi does not need your money, I promise.
posted by decathecting at 8:24 AM on July 1, 2022 [19 favorites]

Best answer: if you actually want to help make "everything" less sucky, don't give your money to politicians.

It depends on which politicians. Government is huge, so even a small change in government policy swamps a huge increase in private giving. For example, "SNAP [the major U.S. food security program] actually delivers nine times more food to people than all the food banks in the country." - more than $100 billion in 2021. Imagine you spent $100 million to elect politicians who would increase SNAP by 10 percent. That's 100 times more effective than giving the money to food banks.

Of course, along with a tiny chance that your donations make a huge difference, there's a huge chance that your donations will make no difference. Still, some people who think hard about these issues are giving money to elect politicians who they think will do good.

That raises the usual questions about political donations giving too much power to the rich, even the ones you might agree with. So while you're at it, maybe give money to politicians who will fight against money in politics?

Full disclosure: All my charitable donations go to organizations that provide goods directly. So I ultimately do come down on your side, but it's not a simple question, and I'm glad there are people supporting politicians and political causes I believe in.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 9:12 AM on July 1, 2022 [8 favorites]

Deadlines don't matter to you. Ignore them.

Personally, the first time I get an email like this from a campaign, I unsubscribe, and attach a note explaining why (i.e. please stop writing emails that read like a ponzi scheme in order to confuse your boomer donors, I don't care if they A/B test well, how do you sleep at night, etc.). I think doing that is probably about as valuable as sending more money to politicians with a national profile (and national marketing overheads).
posted by caek at 10:30 AM on July 1, 2022 [6 favorites]

Best answer: The deadline is important to the politician for reporting purposes. They want to use their ability to raise money as an intimidating factor to their opponents or anyone thinking of running against them. The MSM seems to use it as a scorecard. This candidate raised this much more than that candidate so this candidate must be doing something right. They want small donations too because when the number of donors is made public it looks like they have broad support.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:44 AM on July 1, 2022 [4 favorites]

Best answer: One of my local candidates who actually understands the internet explained the logic in one of their (still irritating) emails. They say the end-of-quarter fundraising is particularly important now because it is used by opposing PACs to determine which races they should pour more money into. PACs will fund candidates that look like they can win, and they make that decision using the numbers in this quarterly report because the next one is too late to matter. So if you were going to donate money anyway, and you care about one candidate more than others, then donating before the deadline does make sense.

But honestly most of the politicians who are making these appeals aren't even in competitive seats so your individual donations really don't matter at all and will just turn into more political ads.
posted by JZig at 11:51 AM on July 1, 2022 [5 favorites]

Best answer: Right, sometimes deadlines matter insofar as it allows a politician to raise $ from major donors (See, I was able to raise X$ all on my own, I'm a good investment!) and sometimes if there is a donor match program happening, so then your money does go further if you donate within a certain time frame. But a lot of it is just a pressure technique.
posted by coffeecat at 12:14 PM on July 1, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: “…don’t give your money to politicians“
Politicians as a class encompass a large number of people, some of whom are ‘fine’, and some of whom need/could use your money. The latter tend to be local ‘down-ticket’ folks running for things like city council, school board, county commissioner and the like. This is *especially* true is smaller town/districts.
This is really where “politics” start, and it it’s worthwhile getting involved and maybe even doing some doorbelling or phone banking for a candidate you really like - or one who is running against someone you really DON’T like.
I’m locally active, and have been for over 20 years. It’s a great way to get plugged in to your community on the Things That Matter.
posted by dbmcd at 8:37 PM on July 1, 2022 [3 favorites]

Best answer: I strongly agree with dbmcd. Donating to politicians is like donating to anything else - you want to be sure whatever you're donating to is both worthwhile and can use the money, but there are cases where the answer is yes to both. I was briefly (on the scale of a few years) involved in local politics where I lived and budget figures weren't huge in absolute terms but the marginal dollar was helpful. Also I feel like my preferred side on the main issue of contention was basically successful which is helpful in making me feel good about it, haha.
posted by Whale Oil at 9:56 PM on July 1, 2022