By Joshua D Glawson, Strategic Communications Adviser for the Libertarian Party of North Carolina
Learning how to raise money for a cause can be a major game changer, especially when it means a possible win for you, your team, and your political party. Without having proper funds, a win can be next to impossible, especially against well-funded opponents.
It is quite common that local groups would like to accomplish certain tasks, but feel that they are unable because of a lack of funds. With being a political party that has not yet seen large-scale wins across the state or country, I can only imagine that the Libertarian Party of North Carolina as well as the National Libertarian Party are usually in need of such funds.
According to The Almanac of American Philanthropy by Philanthropy Roundtable, around two-thirds of households across the country donate 4 percent of their annual gross income to a charitable cause.
There are a multitude of ways to raise money for your cause, chapter, state party, and the national party. In this article, I will provide 3 easy ways to raise money while building awareness for your cause, chapter, state party, and national party.
Cause-Based Merchandise
There are several causes for liberty in need of serious attention in the state of North Carolina. Such examples include but are not limited to, ending the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage Control System (ABC, ABCC), legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana, ending Certificate of Need laws, privatizing federally owned land, ending state income taxes, and eliminating bureaucratic red tape and laws that make housing less affordable.
Solutions to gaining greater public awareness and understanding, political traction, and making a difference will require extra work while raising necessary funds. Creating merchandise that people in your city, county, or even the state and beyond would be interested in buying will help with your causes.
Some cause-based merchandise ideas include creating stickers, t-shirts, mugs, and shot glasses that call for the banning of the NC ABC System while promoting the Libertarian Party of North Carolina (LPNC). Or for marijuana legalization or decriminalization, create t-shirts and stickers that appeal to diverse audiences. Both of these would be perfect for setting up a booth at a city social district that allows for open containers, or while tabling at a college or university.
For Certificate of Need laws, make pens to sell and give away to local doctors’ offices that have a link to an online petition that calls for the end of such overreaching laws. As for privatizing land, find creative ways to make shirts, posters, and other merchandise that highlight successful private organizations in North Carolina that take care of significant amounts of land or have done better with the land since acquiring it from the government. These do not have to be outright blasting the federal government, they could instead just focus on the positive side of privatization. These organizations may even join in on our causes.
To make housing more affordable, consider networking across architecture schools, wood companies, builders, and shipping container manufacturers to construct more affordable housing options. Shipping containers were invented in North Carolina, so there is a higher chance to find a local company that would want to assist in such a project.
Consider finding out how much a tiny home will cost as a group and find a way to Airbnb it out to raise funds to build homes for the severely disabled, mentally ill, and elderly homeless. Making shirts and hoodies that donate a percentage of total sales to such a cause will likely cross political boundaries while promoting a reduction in bureaucratic red tape that makes housing so much more costly in North Carolina.
Your cause-based merchandise does not need to be restricted to cups, mugs, t-shirts, hoodies, bags, pens, or stickers. It can go far beyond these ideas, but hopefully, this gets your imagination jogging.
Fundraiser Events
Another easy way to raise money for a Libertarian candidate, cause, chapter, state party, or national party is to host fundraiser events. With these events, they can be a number of different types of fundraisers, but one thing they all share in common is that they have a specific number in mind for the funds they wish to raise. By having a target number in mind it is easier to strategize.
Show your audience how much you have raised and how much you need to raise. As you begin to fill the gap between where you are and where you need to be, keep your audience informed and engaged.
Some examples of fundraiser events may include a series of speakers, lectures, comedians, singers, performers, or people in the group explaining their projects and why they need the money, and what they will accomplish with it.
Be sure to get each attendee’s name, zip code, and email address to stay in contact with them. Just because they don’t give on that day does not mean they won’t on another. Staying in contact with each person who attends increases the chances of donors giving later.
Auction
There are likely people in your group or network who have things they want to get rid of and would be willing to give away for a noble cause. There may be things in your home that you’d be willing to donate.
By having an auction, either a percentage or all of the money raised could go to the respective cause. The items auctioned could be themed which would get people more excited about it, and it would likely bring out a larger group of people interested in the types of items being auctioned. Some examples may include jewelry, coins, cars, furniture, tools, kid toys, paintings, instruments, books, clothes, etc. It may also be more themed like retro, mid-century modern, western, bohemian, Hawaiian, Renaissance, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, patriotic, liberty, etc.
Just like the fundraiser, the auction and its continued successful results would be contingent upon communication and persistence. By having each guest’s name, email address, and zip code, you can best optimize the chances of further success. They can be regularly emailed or notified of the next scheduled events, their themes, the causes, and the money needed to be raised.
All three of the listed ways Libertarian groups can raise money for their chapter, their candidate, their cause, the state party, or the national party. These ways include selling cause-based merchandise, hosting a fundraiser event, and hosting an auction. Each of these ways can help raise money and help with the success of those missions.
Don’t let the lack of money stop you from achieving your goals. Instead, calculate an exact amount, set a deadline, and make a plan while incorporating one of the listed methods for raising the required amount of money.
Originally Published on Libertarian Party of North Carolina.
