Political Fundraising Scams and Donor Fatigue
In April, 2024, many Trump supporters received a phone call from “Patriots for American Leadership” (PAL). The call began with a clip of Donald Trump’s voice and then this message:
“President Trump needs your emergency support right now. With no time to waste and results coming in by the minute, do your part to help the campaign until the very end by pressing 3 right now to contribute to elect President Trump.”
“Patriots for American Leadership” reported raising nearly $1.4 million, but according to the legal watchdog group Campaign Legal Center (CLC) only 3% of it was donated to federal candidates. “Even this tiny amount appears to be falsified: no federal committee has ever reported receiving funds from PAL,” according to the CLC.
That was in April last year. We’ll never know how many other scams fooled well-meaning donors responding to the high-pressure 2024 campaign environment. Political donation scams are an epidemic infecting the entire political spectrum. And with AI now integrated into our digital lives, expect those scams to be more sophisticated and harder to spot this year and next.
Political money scams are illegal and people have been given serious jail time for running them. So, if you suspect you’re being targeted by phone or email, report them to the local FBI field office. That’s what the FBI itself recommends.
The very best way to avoid the donation trap is just not to donate to any email, phone or social media solicitation. If you want to donate, go to the candidate’s or organization’s official website or a trusted source such as actblue.com or winred.com.
The techy website CNET has more ways to protect yourself from scammers.
When Fundraising for Political Campaigns Becomes Too Much
That leads me to a personal rant about even legitimate political fund-raising.
According to the website PoliEngine there are 519,612 elected politicians in America. Some days I feel as if I’ve received emails and text messages from every one of them asking for political donations.
“Hey, Joe, this is _________ with exciting news. I’ve just filed for….”
“Hey, Joe, it’s _____. I’ll be quick…..”
“Hey, Joe, I wouldn’t bother you if it wasn’t important….”
“Joe, is there anything I can say to convince you to…..”
And so on.
I’m sure I am not alone in feeling overwhelmed by campaign money requests. Once you’ve contributed to a campaign or done anything at all online you’re on a list. And political lists are best-sellers for list brokers because of the increasing gusher of money elections attract.
I’ve been involved professionally in hundreds of campaigns. I know how hard it is to raise money if you are not rich. I sympathize with the effort. But antagonizing your supporters by constantly pestering them for more money is not only self-defeating for your campaign, with hundreds—thousands of other candidates doing the same it’s a turnoff for the entire political donor universe.
How Candidates Can Keep Donors Engaged
So, candidates, here are a few tips on how to raise money from me (and I suspect plenty of others) and keep us from tuning you out before the election.
Don’t text me at all. Call me old-fashioned, but I still consider texts a private refuge for friends and family and anything else I choose to use it for.
Don’t call me. I get so many unwanted calls I only answer to numbers I recognize. I assume if the call is legitimate the caller will leave a voicemail.
Email me, but not every day, or for that matter, every week. I know you’re there. I know how to contribute to you. If I’ve already sent you money I’m likely to do it again. But if I contributed today, don’t expect me to write my next check tomorrow.
Once I’ve sent you money, send me a thank you. My donation is not an invitation for you to unleash a barrage of more requests in return. I’m a supporter, not a mark.
As a supporter, I wouldn’t mind an update now and then. Maybe the results of a new poll. Maybe a link to one of your videos or notice of an important speech or debate. Give me reasons to keep supporting you. You’re competing with many other worthy candidates for a limited amount of my money.
Swatting away the avalanche of requests from those 500,000 or so other candidates I’m not contributing to keeps me very busy.
Comments? Criticism? Contact Joe Rothstein at jrothstein@rothstein.net
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