If you asked me a year ago whether I would be doing political fundraising today, I would have said no way. I have perceived such activity as an unsavory form of selling. I have always been uncomfortable asking people for money. I hated selling raffle tickets for my elementary school as a child, and even now wince at the thought of helping my own children with their wrapping paper and cookie sales. I have been fairly apolitical and have given very little in time or money to political candidates or causes. Yet here I am today asking friends, family and co-workers for significant contributions for the Obama for President campaign.
It started innocently enough when a friend invited me to an Obama event that she was co-hosting in San Francisco soon after he announced he was running for President. We were all classmates at Harvard Law School, though I was in only one class with Obama and would say hi in the hallways, but that was about it.
However, he made a huge impression on me as he spoke that day and I came to believe that as president he would take this country in a direction that which desperately needs to go. Still, I slowly became more involved in the campaign. I brought my wife to meet Obama at another San Francisco fundraiser and she was also impressed. My eleven year old daughter was talking about Obama in her fifth grade class constantly and became engaged politically for the first time in her life. I attended local campaign meetings and eventually became a neighborhood precinct captain to encourage my neighbors to vote for Obama in the California primary. I have given speeches, organized phone banks and canvassed in a few state primaries.
I also took what was for me an unusual step. I created a mybarackobama.com account and started internet fundraising. I was actually shocked at how easy it was to raise money. As a fundraising newbie I often found it easier to send e-mails to my network. People's responses were surprisingly encouraging and appreciative. And people gave money. Some gave as little as $10, but I was thrilled to get it.
And when Obama came back for a fundraising event, I began inviting people to come meet him. My contacts were excited to be invited. Many could not afford it, but they liked being asked. My network is not full of wealthy people who can easily make big dollar contributions. Most of the people whom I asked to donate never made any significant political contributions.
Much has been written about the huge amount of small contributions made to Obama, where a significant portion of his money is coming from donation of an average of less than $100. Much has also been made about the traditional bundler money Obama gets from lawyers, investment bankers and such. I am somewhere in between those two constituencies. I have donated and ask others to do the same, but I am not bundling millions of dollars.
This middle story is important -- people who are actively supporting as fundraisers, but not the mega-fundraisers. There are many people like me who do are not experienced at raising campaign funds, but who are doing so for the first time, because of a newfound belief in politics, the candidate and the urgency of the situation.
People donate for a number of reasons. What is true of a number of my friends and colleagues is that they are excited by Obama candidacy in ways they have never been excited about an election in their lifetime. Most are thrilled with the idea of meeting him for the first time, being a part of history and contributing towards something they believe in.
As a person who is concerned about big money and politics I certainly pondered about whether I should raise money or not. Yet over and over, I was struck about the strength of my own passion and those that I was trying to persuade. And today I am very proud of that work. The Obama campaign needed that money to counter the Clintons brand, organizational and financial advantages going in. If Obama did not raise the money he did, Super Tuesday and the end result would have turned out differently.
I do notice that in the general election so far, my fundraising efforts have not been as successful as they were in the primaries. Again most of my network is not wealthy. Those who could afford to do so came to see Obama earlier, so the motivation to see him again is lessened. The fact that the economy has worsened has also seemed to make people less inclined. There may be some contribution fatigue. The events are more expensive now as well, which I understand given the tightness of Obama's time, but that is challenging for me as well.
Even though I have now achieved some success, I still do not quite see myself as a political fundraiser. Maybe it is true that it is much easier to sell something if you truly believe in it. I have never supported a political candidate as much as I support this one. Today, I am inspired that my donors have felt privileged and honored to give money to his campaign. It does not feel like selling in any negative sense. I was fortunate to serve as a conduit to making an important connection for these friends, family and colleagues. Like the donors, I have gained something that I will treasure for the rest of my life.