Guest Post by Joe Clements
For many of America's wealthy, politics is a central part of their identity.
A recent study by Pew Research revealed that 60 percent of wealthy American's give money to political campaigns and causes. A 2011 University of Chicago study further showed radically disproportionate political participation levels among the wealthy. Whereas only 26 percent of Americans follow politics "most of the time," 84 percent of the wealthy attend to politics daily.
Evidence also suggests that America's wealthy are politically polarized. Pew Research shows that 44 percent of highly engaged Democrats and 51 percent of highly engaged Republicans view the other party as a "threat to the nation."
Maybe you remember grandma's advice not to discuss politics at the dinner table? Well, today's politically engaged classes don't really have to worry about such "mixed company". About a third of partisans report that they prefer to live in close proximity to and befriend people who share their political view.
For many of your donors, politics is a part of their identity and daily lives. In fact, you are competing directly for their dollars with presidents and governors.
If your research only includes information about wealth, then you are not flagging some of the most intense passion points of your prospects. Worse, your development officers may be inadvertently stepping on political landmines they never knew existed.
Fortunately, if you know a prospect's federal and state level donor history and some basics from her voting record, you can convert even the most intense ideologues into lifelong donors. Below are a few tips for approaching politically engaged prospects.
- Send like-minded fundraisers to develop the prospect. If you've got a Koch brother to prospect, make sure a conservative leaning development officer is assigned the file. The same goes for introductions. Ask for introductions to new prospects from politically like-minded current supporters.
- Try to avoid using political "dog whistle" words like "fairness," "social justice" or "personal responsibility." You want to avoid accidentally suggesting ideological purpose to your organization.
- Highlight ideologically appropriate aspects of your organization. Left leaning donors tend to be interested in environment and social programs, whereas right leaners gravitate to business and economics issues.
You'll find additional benefits from political persuasion research. For example, in voter records we often find useful information not only about political participation but also vacation home address, family members in the prospect's household and leads on whether the prospect has children in college or the military.
The good news is that most of the data you need to determine political identity is public record - from political contribution records to voter files. Researchers can find political information manually or use a tool like CivicBridge that analyzes a prospect's political and civic engagement.
When it comes to a prospect's political passions, a few moments of research can mean the difference between losing a prospect because of a political faux pas during the ask and winning a major contribution because the development officer connected on an issue important to the prospect.
About the Author
Joe Clements is a Florida-based political data analyst and founder of Strategic Digital Services (SDS) and CivicBridge. CivicBridge is a platform for helping researchers evaluate the civic engagement of prospects and connect those prospects with their relevant public records. Connect with Joe via email at Joe@chooseSDS.com
