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© Liberal Party of Canada, 2011.

All rights reserved.

Riding Fundraising Guide

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Table of Contents

Ch. 1 The Principles of Fundraising 1

Ch. 2 Fundraising Programs 4

a) Victory Fund 4

b) Laurier Club 4

Ch. 3 LPC Resources 6

a) Liberalist 6

b) Help Desk 6

Ch. 4 Fundraising Tools 7

a) Phone Solicitation 7

Virtual Phone Bank 7

Sample Phone Script 8

b) Direct Mail 10

Donation Form 11

Sample Direct Mail 12

c) Email 13

Sample Email 15

d) Canvassing 16

e) Events 17

Ch. 5 Lead by Example 20

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The Principles of Fundraising

Donation Limits Compared to years past, fundraising must be more focused on a grass-roots level. The amounts allowed are – except where otherwise noted – adjusted annually for inflation. Any eligible individual can make the following contributions in a calendar year:

National: Up to $1100 to a registered political party (e.g. the Liberal Party of Canada). Riding: Up to $1100 in total to any combination of constituency associations, candidates, and nomination contestants.

Leadership Contestants: Additionally, eligible individuals are able to donate up to $1100 per leadership contest to any combination of leadership contestants. This is retroactive and cumulates over calendar years. As such if you donated over $1100 to a leadership contestant last year, you will not be able to donate any further amount to help them settle their debts.

Most Canadians can give up to $3,300 this year.

Ways to Donate Donors can donate either by cash, cheque or credit card.

� Cash donations can not exceed $20 at one time. � Cheque and Credit Card donations of any size up to the limit of $1100 per

riding, national or leadership. Donors may give bank account information (transit, account, and bank number) to make direct monthly withdrawals.

Tax Credits

Income tax credits are available for donations to the Liberal Party of Canada, a registered Electoral District Association, or a registered candidate. They are available on the following scale:

� 75 percent of the first $400 � 50 percent of the next $350 � 33½ percent of an amount over $750.

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Tax credits are unavailable for non-monetary contributions, donations to leadership contestants or nomination contestants.

Donation Tax Credit Chart Total Contribution $25

Tax Credit $18.75

Actual Cost $6.25

$50 $37.50 $12.50 $100 $75.00 $25.00 $250 $187.50 $62.50 $500 $350.00 $150.00 $1,100 $591.67 $508.33

Who Can Donate

� Any individual who is a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident. � Individuals residing in Canada on other visas, trade unions, and corporations may

not make political contributions.

Per-vote Subsidies

Parties currently receive $1.95 for every vote they receive in a federal election, provided they win at least two per cent of the nationwide popular vote.

Fundraising Miscellany

� A Candidate may donate an additional $1000 to their own campaign. � There is no limit to the amount of money bequeathed to the Liberal Party or an

Electoral District Association provided it is willed unconditionally and is non- discretionary.

Past Donors are Future Donors

Once somebody has donated to the Liberal Party of Canada, they are far more likely to donate again in the future. With that in mind, think of your fundraising strategy as two pronged:

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1. Request additional donations from those with a history of contributing to the Liberal Party.

2. Acquire new donors from your broader list of prospects. Acquiring new donors is a challenge, but many resources for finding them are already available for you. Check to see if your riding associations executives are all donors. Ask your volunteers and general membership to make small donations. Use the results from your last election’s canvass to find your Liberal voters and see if they would be willing to donate $10 per month. Most importantly, utilize Liberalist to track people with affiliations to the Liberal Party who may also like to donate.

Aim for Monthly Donations Whenever possible request monthly donations, as opposed to lump sum donations. Not only is $20 a month more palatable to many people than a $240 donation, it creates a reliable income stream for your constituency and helps your budgeting. This is best accomplished by enrolling donors into the Victory Fund. This is also a way to ease volunteers into the donor circle. If you have a Board of 25 people, and each commits to just $10 per month, you’ve found $3000 for your Electoral District Association. Monthly donations can be set up either via credit card or pre-authorized chequing.

General Fundraising Tips

� When requesting donations from previous donors, thank them for their previous support.

� Suggest the Victory Fund as a means of obtaining a source of steady donation. � Make your initial pitch and then follow up on it later. Do not inundate the

prospective donor with requests. � Give people a list of suggested donations. The Liberal Party of Canada national

organization recommends an emphasis on $100 and $400. (The recommended amount often contributes to the receiptable amount)

� Provide multiple avenues for payment as well as prepared responses to address specific concerns over certain methods of payment.

� Give specific reasons for fundraising. E.g. Election readiness, event hosting, fundraising target.

� Keep information on donors and prospective donors current. E.g. Change of address, that couple is divorced, etc. This can be done through Liberalist.

� Once someone is identified as a donor, keep in touch with them. � Utilize both Extranet and Liberalist for online resources and help.

� http://extranet.liberal.ca/ � http://liberalist.ca

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Fundraising Programs

The Victory Fund The Victory Fund was introduced as a new fundraising product in May of 2008 and has become the Party’s primary grassroots donor program. The program is based on the simple premise that the Party needs to have sustainable and predictable revenue streams month over month in order to be in a better position for election readiness. To participate in the Victory Fund, donations must be made monthly, through automatic withdrawal either from a credit card or bank account. The Victory Fund is designed to support the Liberal Party of Canada at both the national and riding level. To participate, it is highly suggested that monthly donations of $5 or more be directed to both levels. Donors who have already given full contributions to either level (such as Laurier Club donors) can contribute $5 or more a month to the other level. You can give to any riding in Canada, regardless of where you live. You can also give to more than one riding, provided you give at least $5 per month to each. Victory Fund donors will have their party membership automatically renewed and their membership fee will be taken from their donation. However, because membership fees are considered a non-receiptable donation, the amount of the membership fee paid will be deducted from the tax receipt issued at the end of the year.

The Laurier Club The Laurier Club is a donation program and fundraising strategy that was started by Sir Wilfrid Laurier in 1918. He sent out 600 letters to his closest supporters in various communities and industries in the hope of gaining their support. In many ways, the Laurier Club has not changed from its early roots. The Laurier Club remains a gathering place for community and industry leaders, professionals and involved Canadians, all of whom have come together to continue supporting the Liberal Party and its role as a leading democratic institution. To become a Laurier Club donor you are required to make a donation to the National Party of $1,100 or $550 for those 35 years old of age or under (or monthly at a rate of $91.67 or $45.84). Laurier Club status does not apply to contributions made to local

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ridings, candidates, leadership and nomination contestants. Laurier Club status is provided for one year beginning on the date of donation. Tax receipts are issued at the end of the year, and, pursuant to Revenue Canada rules, are adjusted for the goods and services received by Laurier Club donors at Laurier Club events. For a gift in the amount of $1 100 a donor may receive up to a credit of $591.67. For a gift in the amount of $550 a donor may receive up to a credit of $375. The benefits of being a Laurier Club donor include:

� Invitations to functions across the country, attended by prominent members of the Liberal Party, including caucus members and the leader;

� Free observer status at the 2011 Ottawa Biennial Convention (with membership active prior to June 1st, 2011), where the Liberal Party’s policy and constitutional amendments will be made.

� The coveted Laurier Club lapel pin, symbolizing your commitment and support of the Liberal Party of Canada;

� Our new Laurier Report, informing readers about developments, activities, election news and individuals within the Liberal Party.

The Laurier Club strives for the highest level of donor interaction. The annual garden party at the Party leader’s residence and the various leader’s dinners held in many major Canadian cities are good examples of the kind of successful events hosted by the Laurier Club.

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LPC Resources

Liberalist www.liberalist.ca

Liberalist is our brand-new voter identification and relationship management system. Jointly developed by the Liberal Party of Canada and Voter Activation Network (VAN), Liberalist will allow our party to meet the demands of a 21st Century campaign and greatly increase our national voter tracking and messaging capabilities. Liberalist is based closely upon VAN’s immensely successful VoteBuilder application, used by both Barack Obama and the Democratic National Committee to identify and track voters throughout the United States.

At your earliest convenience please visit www.liberalist.ca and familiarize yourself with training tools, contact information and the all the data organization you can handle!

Liberal Help Desk

The Liberal Help Desk is currently accepting requests for MP, candidate and riding association websites. These websites are free for Riding Associations and utilize modern social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Youtube. If you are interested in having a site created, please contact the Liberal Help Desk for more information.

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Phone Solicitation

Phone solicitation as a means of fundraising benefits from being low-cost and works as an excellent supplementary tool to “follow up” with donors; however it relies heavily on someone being on the other end of the line picking up the phone. Actually phoning members to ask for donations can often lead to conversations with unanticipated questions, so it is advised that a phone script be prepared according to likely questions posed by members of your specific riding. Before we continue here are some general tips to consider before proceeding to setting up your phone campaign.

General Phone Solicitation Tips � Keep it brief.

� Provide information about tax credits available.

� Give a list of suggested donations. � Solicit monthly donations. (Victory Fund)

� Provide multiple avenues to donate.

� If the individual is not willing to donate, inquire as to whether they would like

further involvement with the party.

With those tips in mind, next you should be made aware of the online help available. In order to utilize phone fundraising during an election there are a certain number of steps that must be taken. A step-by-step process follows, or you can simply follow the link to the Liberalist user guide there is information on setting up everything that you will need to get started. From registering for a Liberalist account to creating a unique script for your riding, the tools necessary to utilize the latest technology for your campaign are available at the click of your mouse.

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1. Firstly, you will need a level 3 account in order to create a list on Liberalist. This can be done by simply following the instructions contained in the following link:

Request an Account

2. To create a phone bank you will first need a list to call. A call list can be crafted according to specific criteria, such as the specific interests of individuals, which can better help create a script tailored to those being called. For further information on this process please consult the link here:

Create a List

3. To actually use this list in the Virtual Phone Bank, follow the instructions in the following link and select the list you drafted in Step 2.

Create a VPB List

4. You will need to write a script for the specific individuals on your call list. A sample phone script has been provided on page 8.

Create a Script

5. Once you have written your script, compiled your call list and have setup the Virtual Phone Bank you have to actually get started.

Using the VPB

Phone Script Sample

1. Greeting→ 2. Evoke Emotion→ 3. Direct Emotion→ 4. Collect/Inform

1. “Hello Mr./Mrs. , my name is (First name) and I’m calling on

behalf of (Local Candidate)/Federal Liberal Party of Canada.”

� If a previous donor, registered Liberal, etc. thank them for their support. Acknowledge previous relationship if one exists,

� If no previous relationship does exist, proceed.

2. “Mr./Mrs. …” [Emotionally involve the caller]

� Cite negative actions by opponent, (e.g. Local issue, Conservative attacks ads, irresponsible spending, the Oda scandal, etc.)

� Contrast to positive action (e.g. candidate involved in local community, actions taken by federal Liberals, etc.)

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3. “Mr./Mrs. …” [Offer them an avenue to become involved through

donating (possibly, voting, volunteering with campaign.) to a specific goal (e.g. funding for political advertisements, campaign expense, etc.)] � Via donating:

� Offer specific amounts with corresponding tax credit values (e.g. 25$ donation yields a tax credit of 18.75$, total cost to individual 6.25$).

� Offer multiple avenues of donating (e.g. credit, cheque, online, etc.) � Bring up the VF as an avenue to support Liberals on both a local and

national level.

4.a. If Mr./Mrs. says they will donate: � Thank them, then… � Process donation… � Thank them again.

4.b. If Mr./Mrs. says they can not/will not donate:

� If they cite a specific concern stopping them from donating, address it if possible; if you can’t…

� Refer them to the Ideas and Issues section of the Liberal.ca website or search for the specific issue on Liberal.ca.

� Politely say that you will look into the matter and reconnect with them at a later time and thank them for their time.

� If they show interest, but hesitate, bring up the tax credits, present offer to become more involved in the Liberal community.

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Direct Mail

The benefit of direct mail is that it establishes a tangible presence with the recipient because it is seen as a more “personal” form of communication as opposed to email or telephone calls. In addition to this direct mail is not as easily disposed of like a phone call that has been screened or an email that is deleted. A direct mail campaign has the potential to establish a narrative with an individual, which makes it an invaluable tool with donors. However, direct mail campaigns are costly and rarely turn a profit. Therefore, direct mail campaigns targeted at already identified donors are the most effective use of this form of donation.

A direct mail campaign package should include three key pieces:

� Mail merged letter on letterhead (A letterhead template is provided for you with other visuals on the Extranet, under the Campaign Tools tab, Candidate Visuals,

Templates and Samples of Communication Products or at the following link):

http://extranet.liberal.ca/party-resources/candidates/visuals-download/

� Donation form (Provided on page 11)

� Business reply envelope. If your riding can afford the cost, privately printing business reply envelopes with a return address in your riding is more convenient. If, however, your riding can not afford the private option, it is advised that you order envelopes from the LPC with a return address in Ottawa. (Prohibitive cost for ridings to print on their own, can’t change the return address on LPC envelopes)

LPC Print Services is an excellent resource available to you that is currently offering a wide range of products and services. If you have decided which services you would like for your riding in a direct mail campaign there is a three step process to ordering materials from the LPC:

1. Fill out the Print Services Form

2. An estimate of the cost will be submitted for your approval.

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3. LPC Print Services will prepare the order. Shipping costs apply; alternatively orders can be picked up at LPC Head Office.

Provided below is a standard donation form which only requires your specific EDA in the two required fields (Single Gift Donation to the riding of…; I have enclosed a cheque payable to Liberal…EDA)

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Direct Mail Sample Return Address

February 1st, 2011 John Donor 123 Anystreet Lane City, Province A0A 0A0

Dear John Donor,

[Local Riding] has great appreciation for its donors, and we want to thank you. Because of your past support we have been able to: send our youth delegates to convention, complete two successful membership drives, and continue the operations of the constituency association throughout a very busy year of Liberal events. (Thank past donors for their support, explain tangible results of those donations.)

I am writing you today in the hopes that you will continue your financial support of our riding association. (Quick segue to the “ask”.)

Harper has run up massive deficits to pay for prisons, planes and give tax cuts to corporations. He chooses to launch personal attack ads rather than engaging Canadians on the issues. He has chosen to permit unethical behaviour in his cabinet by not reprimanding Bev Oda for lying to Parliament. (A narrative to get people involved, negative in this case (Harper is unable to govern justly and ably).)

Stephen Harper has a big podium, and he has decided to use it to attack the Liberals rather than the issues of the day.

We are on a push to raise $10,000 so we’re ready to fight the next election whenever Stephen Harper forces it. I’ve attached a schedule of the tax credits available to donors as well as information on how you can make a contribution. (A target ($10,000) and a reason (Election readiness) are set, as well as including a description of tax credits available.)

I hope you will take the time to consider a one-time donation of $500 or a $50 monthly contribution plan through the Victory Fund to the [Local Riding] – your continued support ensures we are able to meet the challenges of tomorrow head on. (Specific amounts based on past donations are suggested; the Victory Fund is an excellent means of obtaining monthly donations to your riding.)

Sincerely,

(Signed by highest ranking Liberal in the riding)

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Email

A major advantage of fundraising through email as a means of garnering support is that there is virtually no cost of drafting and sending an email. Recipients of emails can answer an email at their convenience which makes it a less intrusive means of contacting prospective donors. Email also gives the opportunity to offer a wide variety of donation options most of which are instantaneous. The major drawback of email is that it is easily deleted/ignored as well as the fact that it is frequently filtered out by anti-spam operations.

Helpful Hints in Drafting an Email:

� Be brief! Almost to the point of single sentences.

� Include a catchy subject line to grab the attention of the reader early, but do NOT give away the content. Tease the reader into opening the email.

� Do NOT include links within the email that could navigate the reader away from the donation page.

� Frame your message. E.g. Incentives to donate, anecdotes of opposition members behaving unethically.

� Demonstrate familiarity with the reader. Use “you” for a more personal-sounding message.

� Put your “ask” twice. Once high in the message and again low in the message.

� Do NOT use images. They are not shown in email.

If you wish to send out a mass email to a specific list of prospective donors in the riding Liberalist has an easy function to create a list specific to riding, interest or other criteria. Follow these simple instructions in order to create and send out an email to a group of people of your choosing:

1. Firstly, you will need to purchase an email plan in order to get your email campaign started:

Setting up your Email Plan

2. Your preferences specified in the next step determine how your subscribers opt out of your email blast:

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Setting up your Blast Preferences

3. Setting up a proper template allows your email blast to have a uniform and professional look. There is an email template provided within this guide (page 17) or the Liberal CRM team is eager to help you get started and can be reached via the following email address (assistance@liberal.ca).

Your Email Templates

4. All email blasts need to be in a standard form. Form emails can be created in advance or drafted during this process.

Setting up a Form Email

5. Finally, you need to actually send out the email blast to your targeted list of people.

Sending an Email Blast

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Sample Email Content

From: Adam J. Smith, Liberal.ca Subject: Watch our new TV ads

{FirstName} —

Just 72 hours ago, Stephen Harper launched a new TV ad campaign.

Today, we hit back — the way you’d want us to. While Stephen Harper is attacking people, we’re attacking problems.

(You can watch our two new TV ads “Fighter Jets” and “Corporate Tax Cuts,” and donate to keep them on air, here).

Their ads — a series of personal attacks — are the clearest sign yet the Conservatives are gearing up for a February or March election.

Ours ads — which ask Is this your Canada? Or Harper’s? — put the concerns of Canadian families first, instead of his: $16-billion on fighter jets, and $6-billion on corporate tax cuts, paid for entirely with borrowed money. Your money.

We need your help to make sure every Canadian sees these ads. And we need your help to make sure the Liberal Party of Canada has the resources it needs to fight and win an election — whenever it comes.

Please consider making your first — or next donation now. Invest in a message that puts the concerns of Canadian families back at the centre of Canadian politics.

It’s a winning message. Let’s make sure it gets heard loud and clear.

Thank you.

Adam J. Smith

National Director, National Liberal Fund Liberal Party of Canada

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Canvassing

Going door-to-door as a means of fundraising has its benefits and its drawbacks. The benefits of canvassing are: firstly, it is harder to say “no” in person to someone making a donation request; secondly, it can be combined with literature and other fundraising material drops; lastly, it provides many of the benefits of a direct mail campaign with none of the associated cost such as envelopes, stamps, etc.

The major drawback of going door-to-door is that it is volunteer intensive and requires a large expenditure of human resources. Thus knowing the political landscape of an area before canvassing is essential. If the area has sparse Liberal support, it is a waste of both your time and theirs if they are unlikely to lend the Liberal Party support.

Before you begin canvassing you should be made aware of the tools that are available to you on Liberalist. You can draft a script which canvassers use to solicit donations, create a canvass sheet to manage information of households being visited and upload the data to Liberalist at a later date.

1. So, let’s get started! Firstly you’ll need a script to use, which can be drafted by following the link below:

Creating a script

2. Secondly, creating a canvass sheet which works as a tool to both collect and upload the data collected during a canvassing operation.

Creating a canvass sheet

3. Once your canvassing script has been drafted and your canvass sheet is complete, you will need to print these materials.

How to print a canvass sheet

4. Once you have completed your canvassing of an area you can upload the data you have collected to Liberalist.

Upload data

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Events

Events are an excellent way of creating a sense of community amongst Liberal Party members, supporters, volunteers and donors. It is important for volunteers and donors to the Liberal Party not see it as a chasm claiming their time and money, but rather a cause to be championed and funded. Events are an excellent way of cultivating these feelings. In addition to this, events tend to draw a crowd that might not usually donate directly.

The cost of hosting fundraiser events renders many events less effective than the other means of fundraising listed within this guide; however, the benefit of establishing community within the Liberal Party is crucial to maintaining relationships.

Events present an opportunity to strengthen ties to the Liberal Party among past supporters as well as foster new ties among prospective supporters. In the spirit of supporting this community spirit, when events are organized it is a good practice to discount the cost for LC members and VF members. At the entrance to these events offer attendees the option to join the VF, don’t forget to mention the discount available to VF members for the event!

Ottawa-Vanier can confirm that incentivizing VF membership at the entrance to functions is a great way to increase membership and explain the benefits of the VF to an audience that is likely to join. (See Lead by Example section on page 19)

Tips from Top Organizers

Denis Joanette, the candidate for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, maintains that face-to-face contact with constituents is the single most important aspect of his position. An excellent way for M. Joanette to fulfill his obligation to his constituents is to host an event which allows him to be involved in the community, meet the people of his riding and use the event as an opportunity to raise money for his campaign.

Tyler Banham in Hamilton Mountain maintains that the key to great events and retaining engaged members is to allow your executive and volunteers to run with their ideas. If someone suggests an event and wants to champion it, let them go!

In Calgary-Centre North, they piggyback member-only events on fundraisers. A recent outing to the Calgary Philharmonic attracted 77 people. The riding association bought the tickets at a group discount, charged the members regular single ticket price and received a discount for buying over 50 tickets. Their members had a great time and the Riding Association made money.

� Center your fundraiser events around interesting venues, activities, festivals,

etc.

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� Ensure that the cost of the event is less than $200.

� Try to include a top-notch Liberal speaker.

� Discount the cost of LC or VF members. The discount is typically $50 or 25%-35% of the ticket price.

� Establish a core fundraising committee chaired by the Chairman of Fundraising or VP. The committee would be responsible for coordinating all the ticket sellers, choosing the venue and menu, selecting and inviting the speaker and organizing the program and volunteers. This is an excellent way of creating a clear structure of responsibility for members and will enhance the effectiveness of your event.

� Please see the Lead by Example (see page 19) for other great tips.

Online resources are available to aid in the organization of events as well to help network and organize contact information of attendees.

Firstly, the planning stage of an event can be greatly helped by consulting the following link. The My Calendar function can be used to plan out events, manage volunteers, see upcoming events, and assign Liberalist users to events as needed. Planning out Events using My Calendar Once the planning stage of an event has been completed, Liberalist has the added benefit of being able to coordinate volunteers and record invitations. Please click this link for further information:

Linking Volunteers and Attendees to Events

Even if you do not use Liberalist to help plan an event, every event should be registered through Liberalist! Why…?

…because the benefits of registering your event with Liberalist include:

� Attendees can register easily for your free or ticketed events and pay using secure online payment system.

� Attendee registration information can be uploaded directly to Liberalist and made easily accessible to you. This information can later be used for follow-up information such as thank you letters, emails, etc.

� Event promotion is simplified by cutting out PDF forms, simply fill out the information in the link provided below to get your event started!

Submit your Event

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Robocalls are a brand new feature that allow the event organizers to advertize an event directly to potential guests’ phone lines. This has so far had great success when employed for national office events.

The “Robocall” typically has the guest speaker, or organizer of the event inviting potential guests to participate in a short voice message.

With the success of the “Robocall” feature it will be coming to Liberalist shortly. However, it is still in its early stages and instructions on how to manage using this are not yet formalized through Liberalist.

If you are interested in using “Robocalls” for one of your events, please contact someone at the Liberalist help desk for help setting it up.

Liberalist Help Desk:

1 (866) 574-5131

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Lead By Example

Fundraising Best Practices Suggestions from the Ottawa

Vanier Federal Liberal Association (OVFLA) 1. Commitment by MP or Candidate and his or her team

The first and most important “best practice” is the commitment of the MP and his or her team. The MP must set achievable fundraising goals that are based on principles of importance to the MP. Here are the key principles that have been laid out by our MP and implemented by his team and volunteers.

� Take advantage of the Victory Fund (VF) structure and opportunity. Migrate as much as possible from large fee-based events to VF contributions and smaller events and smaller fees.

� Set VF membership goals. Work hard to achieve them. Set up value-added events to give back to the contributors and volunteers.

� Involve the whole organization in these principles. Make sure they are understood and that as many volunteers as possible get involved in helping to achieve them. Ensure that these goals are internalized as part of the culture of the Organization.

� Maintain a campaign war chest. Make it an accepted principle of the organization that the MP will leave funds for at least one campaign to his successor.

2. Organizing a fundraising event The OVFLA history and commitment is to have one large fundraising event every year. We ensure the event is set at the same time each year. We also have the event in venues that support businesses in the riding. Since the VF was established, the cost of the event has dropped by approximately 25%. We also ensure that the cost of the event is less than $200 and that it includes dinner and a first rate Liberal speaker. We also discount the cost of a ticket to Laurier Club and Victory Fund members. The discount is typically $50 or approximately 25-35% of the ticket price. We have a core fundraising committee chaired by the Chairman of Fundraising or Vice President that is responsible for coordinating all the ticket sellers, choosing the venue and menu, selecting and inviting the speaker and organizing the program and volunteers for the event. The President of the Association is directly involved as a member of the committee. We work to ensure that we attract at least 100 participants and that we have approximately 20 ticket sellers in the organization. The goal set for the event is to net approximately $15,000 per event. We have not raised our fundraising goals for the event for a number of years. This is directly related to the success of the VF contributions and a concerted goal by the MP and his team to reduce the dependence on large fee events and increase dependence on the VF.

� Events Section information: http://liberalist.liberal.ca/how-to-submit-your-event-on-liberal-ca/

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� There is a shift in fundraising that should be steering event-based fundraising away from large infrequent donations towards smaller more steady grassroots contributions (e.g. the Victory Fund).

3. The Annual Solicitation Another feature of past fundraising practices is to rely on past contributors lists and then to mail solicitations to past contributors every year, in late November or early December. The point of this initiative is to take advantage of year-end tax planning, particularly for contributors who may make an annual contribution but who might not be regular participants in Association events or the annual fundraiser. Given the VF emphasis in the past year, the annual solicitation initiative has recently been curtailed. We found that the cost of the solicitation did not justify the effort, particularly since all past supporters had been contacted through the VF solicitation process.

� The prohibitive cost of the annual solicitation is less effective in the OVFLA, however, your riding may respond more positively.

� End-of-year is an optimal time to solicit due to tax credits. 4. The Victory Fund The MP and his team set the goal of a minimum of 200 VF members and to be the most successful Liberal EDA in the country. The first step was to organize volunteers to make the calls to ask for the membership and the contribution. For a period of 4-6 months; volunteers manned the phone banks every 2 weeks. We relied on the Liberal Party lists and updated the information as necessary (e.g. if someone has moved, etc.). Scripts were followed and the initiative has been successful. Once all the names on the lists were called and the contact information was updated, we discontinued the telephone solicitations and moved to event-driven VF solicitations. Currently, the organization is holding value-added VF events on Saturday mornings at local businesses where guest speakers are invited to speak to VF members and prospective members invited by members of the Organization, the MP and his team. Speakers are non-partisan and speak on topics of national interest. These events have been successful in the recruitment of another 25 VF members. These events will be considered for the future.

� Organize volunteers to call prospective donors with appropriate script every 2 weeks for a 4-6 month period using Liberal Party lists.

� Once those prospects have been solicited, stop calling Liberal Party lists and move on to value-added VF functions.

� Speakers at functions should be non-partisan and speak to national issues/interests.

� For further information on setting up a Virtual Phone Bank please consult either page 7 of this guide or follow this link: http://liberalist.liberal.ca/learn/user-guide/

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5. Setting Financial and Participation Targets While the VF membership goal is set by direct numbers, it is also driven by financial results. Currently, our VF contributions are almost sufficient to fund a campaign, assuming a 4 year election cycle. The longer term goal would be to have sufficient VF contributions to fund an election in a 3 year election cycle. We will be continuing and increasing the number of events for contributors, while reducing the dependence on contributions from the annual fundraiser. At the same time, we will continue the fundraiser as there are a number of strong supporters that value this event and appreciate the networking and participation benefits associated with it.

� Ideal to have a fundraising base capable of funding an election every 3 years. � Participation in events should be geared towards networking as well as

fundraising. Creating a sense of community and participation within the Liberal Party and its supporters.

6. Special Events A key fundraising principle is to give back to contributors and volunteers as much as possible. The OVFLA does this by organizing regular policy and social events to provide for networking opportunities and to give contributors and members an opportunity to influence policy. The OVFLA Policy Committee organizes a minimum of 4 policy events annually. These events follow a current and topical theme and often involve the related Parliamentary critic as the guest speaker. Volunteer OVFLA moderators ensure there is ample time and opportunity for debate and questions. Additionally, team members and volunteers organize a minimum of 2 large free of charge social events annually. Typically, there is a summer BBQ and a winter or spring event at Canada’s only urban “sugar shack”, located in the heart of the riding.

� Opportunity to give back to volunteers and contributors is the key principle. � Engage in local issues, community landmarks as a way of establishing MP within

the riding and its constituents. 7. Special solicitations and events during the writ period Donors recognize the expense of a campaign and the need for funds during the writ period. This affords an opportunity for volunteers to call or write supporters asking for campaign donations. A number of special fundraising events are held in the homes of local supporters. Financial targets can be set during this period and it can be a relatively easy time to raise critical campaign funds. The issues are hot and the emotion can be high. In our experience, when necessary, it is possible to raise half the cost of a campaign during the writ period.

� Strike while the iron is hot (i.e. during a writ period).

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8. Planning for the future We will continue our objective to increase VF memberships. VF events will be the main drivers for this goal. We are also reviewing the possibility of increasing contribution amounts per member. We estimate that our contribution per member level is about half of that of the Conservative Party. In this respect, we are examining the use of cause-driven solicitations, possibly attached to calls for an increase in monthly contributions tied to a known issue of concern by creating lists using Liberalist activist codes. We also are planning to review and improve our email lists, to attempt to identify issues of importance to specific members and/or contributors. In this way, we can target our cause-related fundraising.

� Activist codes are a function of Liberalist.ca that allows individuals to be selected based on select criteria.

� Sync email lists to activist codes on Liberalist.ca in order to develop issue-specific donation lists.