There are a few lessons I WISH that progressive groups and politicians would learn.
1 - Daily emails asking for money get old. QUICKLY. I donated money to Truthout sometime in January. I have received a “desperate for money” email from them every single day since. I decided on Wednesday to unsubscribe. Enough.
The same goes with the daily petitions from this site and others that inevitably redirect to Act Blue. Can’t we add our voice in support of something without being dunned? And for the most part, do those petitions do ANYTHING other than provide an opportunity to redirect us to Act Blue? Excuse me for being cynical on this point, but I have been trained, enrolled if you will, by those seeking my money to be cynical in this regard. I have also not seen ANY difference made in the real world by these online petition-fundraising drives.
2 - Using fear as a fundraising weapon largely makes progressives angry and resentful AT YOU, not at the boogeyman you are trying to use to scare us. Those games work well in the conservative universe where fear is the ruling coin of the realm, not so much in progressive circles.
It is also part of what has made conservatives so crazy. To keep the money coming the grifter cons need to keep upping the threat level. It is like drug habituation, their marks become inured to having the living shit scared out of them, and need to have their entire intestinal system frightened to get them to spring with the bucks. And so the crazy from the right kept ratcheting higher and higher to the point of QAnon baby eaters and blood harvesting.
We don't want you trying to take progressives down this path, and few will follow because we aren't fear-driven like most conservatives. So just knock it off. It is bad for the country, and just doesn't work with the population you are targeting.
3 - In addition to not using fear, so not use SHAME as a weapon. I got an email today from Chuck Schumer's director of campaign finance informing me that I was deficient in providing monetary support.
According to our records, you haven’t donated to our Senate Majority Fund before our February deadline on Sunday. Can you chip in $1 or more to protect the Senate Majority?
I responded telling him to stop trying to use shame to raise money. It is ugly and manipulative. All these tactics do is make me resentful and determined to NOT send them money.
4 - Inspire us. Tell us your vision, what you are looking to create. Focus on positive emotions and lift the nation from the disagreeable state we are currently experiencing. Use this approach to gaining financial support, not manipulation and slick marketing techniques.
5 - DO hold Trump and his enablers accountable for their attacks on democracy. Just don't try to use it as a money-maker as that cheapens the effort, and makes it look to be more about partisan advantage and less about pursuing justice.