This article originally appeared here at FreedomGulch.
It’s that time again. Time for Libertarians to upgrade their campaigning skills and renew our memberships to our local, state, and national LPs. Even if you aren’t actively helping out on a campaign or with organization, you may find some value in this article.
One premise must be established before I go any further. Every skill needed to run a successful campaign or to build a thriving political apparatus can be learned with practice and persistence.
Robert’s Rules of Order or Parliamentary Procedure are needed to run political meetings and are very easy to learn by going to youtube and searching “roberts rules of order lessons.” I did this while I was trying to get elected as the Libertarian Party of California and subsequently when I was elected as Chairman of the Libertarian Party of Washington.
Press Releases/email blasts/articles are essential tools for leaders to grow our party and campaigns. Writing them are very easy once I googled, “how to write a _____.” I even wrote my first book by googling, “how to write a book.” Now I have 2 more books set to come out soon.
Fundraising is also a skill that can be learned if effort and persistence is applied. When people say, “I’m not good at fundraising” or, “I don’t feel comfortable asking for money.” They are basically saying, “I’m a little bitch and unwilling to learn the skills necessary to be successful.” By saying these phrases they are cementing their inner limitations and giving in to past failures instead of learning from past failures and mistakes and continuing to seek success and mastery. The key is continual practice. Just because someone says no the first time you ask, doesn’t mean they will say no the 2nd, 3rd, or 10th time. “No” doesn’t mean never, it means “not right now.”
There are essential aspects of a campaign that rely on fundraising. There are some ways to market and advertise which are free, but if we are going to compete with the 2 major parties who have dominated the political arena we need to get good at raising money. For years many Libertarian campaigns and the national, state, and local parties have forsaken advertising. Not necessarily because they didn’t want to, it’s primarily because they didn’t have the funds to try anything new and then maintain the efforts.
If you are running for office, helping a campaign, or in a leadership position, you must learn how to fundraise. However, when you decide to fundraise, do it to support marketing or advertising efforts and definitely not to spend all or most of the money on salaries.
At my first national Libertarian Party convention in Las Vegas in 2012 I was reading through the schedule and saw a breakout session titled, “How to Raise $10k in 4 Days.” I attended the breakout session and I learned how to quickly raise money for a project or campaign. Below is the link to the entire presentation. Although the presentation doesn’t cover every aspect of raising money, it does provide a great start. Make a commitment to upgrade your fundraising skills.
This presentation is by Michael Cloud author of, “Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion,” and, “Unlocking More Secrets of Libertarian Persuasion.” He is also a regular contributor at The Advocates for Self-Government. Watch this video in its entirety:
C. Michael Pickens is the CEO and Co-Founder of Cannaire, Inc. (www.Cannaire.com), former Northern Vice-Chairman of the LPCA and Chairman of the LPWA, author of the book, “Libertarian Leadership” and co-author of the upcoming book, “Libertarian Lion.” (www.LibertarianLion.com) Speaking inquiries, questions, or general comments- [email protected]