“The biggest problem in GOP fundraising is that we don’t treat donors well”
It rings true to me. We’ve endured three years of abusive Republican text and email solicititations after a single donation through WinRed.
We made a mistake.
We once donated to a Republican Senate candidate through WinRed back in the 2020 cycle. We have endured three years of non-stop, abusive, insulting, and threatening text message and email solicitations from a wide variety of Republican candidates, some we had never heard of. Yes, a lot from people soliciting for Trump, but that’s a minority of the messages. I received two today that were borderline profane; I wish I had screenshot them, something about a candidate having “balls”.
There’s no way to turn off the texts, blocking doesn’t help because they keep coming from different numbers. I’ve “unsubscribed” from more email lists than I can count, but they keep coming from new lists.
I’ve posted about this problem several times on Twitter.
Wonder if fundraising disparity is people refusing to give through @WINRED – made that mistake once two years ago, still hounded with hyperaggressive borderline threatening texts/emails from dozens of campaigns – and yes, I am ashamed that [candidate] is disappointed in me https://t.co/yhLkH39o2A
— William A. Jacobson (@wajacobson) August 21, 2022
.@NRSC @GOP @NRCC Need to consider how @WINRED has turned people off from donating. Made single donation in 2020 that only accepted donations through Winred, since then bombarded with hyper aggressive offensive text messages and emails from numerous campaigns. https://t.co/TURcHEcVr9
— William A. Jacobson (@wajacobson) September 4, 2022
We once made the mistake of donating to a Senate campaign through @WINRED, endured a year of non stop aggressive texts and emails, couldn't block them they came from so many numbers/accounts, then went mostly quiet until a few days ago, now non stop 'Save Trump' soliticitations https://t.co/1Oudeoig1g
— William A. Jacobson (@wajacobson) April 3, 2023
So it was no surprise to me when I saw this article at WaPo, How Republicans texted and emailed their way into a money problem (archive) about how abuse of online donors is hurting Republicans this cycle:
In the years after Donald Trump lost the presidency to Joe Biden, Trump sent so many emails and text messages asking for money that Republican consultants warned his mailing lists could become useless. The former president’s friends told him that they were being asked for too much, too often, and Trump himself ordered aides at one point to slow the solicitations. Some of his fans, pockets emptied, mailed handwritten letters apologizing for not being able to give more.
Now, as Trump and Biden prepare for a rematch, Trump’s vaunted small-dollar fundraising operation is not bringing in as much money as it once did….
The Republican National Committee also raised much less money from small-dollar donors in 2023 than it had in 2019, contributing to budget problems for the party. Officials at the National Republican Senatorial Committee were shocked by the low returns on their investment in the strategy ahead of the last midterm elections….
“The biggest problem in GOP fundraising is that we don’t treat donors well,” said John Hall, a Republican small-dollar fundraiser who runs the digital firm Apex Strategies. “Sending eight emails and texts a day that promise an artificial match, threaten to take away your GOP membership, or call you a traitor if you don’t donate doesn’t build a long-term relationship with donors.”
Small-dollar fundraising firms have warned some GOP clients to lower their expectations. When former vice president Mike Pence launched his presidential campaign, officials at Targeted Victory, a small-dollar digital firm, warned him that “returns were way down because of oversaturation,” according to Marc Short, his former chief of staff.
It rings true to me. It was my ‘lived experience”.
I made that mistake, but only once. Not going to make it a second time. That’s a big problem for Republicans.
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Why give to the Republican Party when the obvious result is we get RINOs and Democrats in Republican Clothing shit talking is?
Kinzinger, Cheney, Graham, Pence, and many more treat Republican voters before an election as bad as Democrats treat black voters after an election.
“Just shut up and give us money.”
For our donations, we get trillion $$$ spending bills, absolutely no effort to control illegal military aged men running across our borders, more money for Ukraine than for our own veterans, and much more!
Even my own Senators, federal and state, basically told me they couldn’t do anything against the Biden administration and democrats because they didn’t have control of both houses and the presidency.
Yet we gave it to them, and they screwed the Republican president worse than Barrett Blade boning Stormy Daniels in a PornHub video.
That has been why I don’t give to the RNC. They ask for money to support conservative values but give the money raised to candidates that are wishy washy at best that don’t have the spine to stand up for the issues that they claim to support. And when a real conservative wins the nomination the RNC gives the bare minimum of support that they can get away with and occasionally even acts to sabotage the conservatives campaign. Why fund an organization that at best doesn’t work to advance your cause and is too often hostile to conservative causes.
What I don’t understand is why Republican politicians don’t work together to achieve goals that Republicans want? Like universal shall issue CCW and ending restrictions on firearms that have no purpose except to make exercising our 2nd amendment rights more difficult. Like the stupid California drop test and the ban on silencers. Then there is the. persecution of people who use firearms to defend themselves lie George Zimmerman. Another example is how California discourages hunting by making landowners liable for the actions of the people they allow to hunt on their land. The key point is that Republicans never deliver for their supporters unlike Democrats.
I also want the Republican Party to advocate forg gun control where criminals who abuse the 2nd amendment by using firearms to commit crimes get 30 years in federal prison and death if they use them to commit murder.
The biggest problem is the GOPe promotes policies that GOP donors HATE.
That was then, this is now. John Paulson is Raising $43 Million tonight for Trump at his Palm Beach home. You may remember his name. John Paulson is the man who famously made the big short bet against subprime mortgages at his former hedge fund.
Obama-Clinton-Biden single-night event = $25 million. Trump = $43 million
My point is anything that drives the leftist media totally nuts and beside themselves over the fact that Trump’s war chest may eclipse Traitor Joe’s campaign funds is, well, wonderful.
I never donated, but I’m still getting similar spam texts of late.
Tell that to Jenna Ellis.
I get up to 20 texts a day from R fundraisers, most are Trump oriented but plenty from candidates I’ve never heard from. Lots of emails as well but I haven’t bothered counting them.
They are all blocked and unsubscribed but the onslaught is ceaseless.
I personally will not give to a candidate that only uses Winred and I will never EVER respond to these moronic solicitations.
More proof that the R’s are the Stupid Party.
>>They are all blocked and unsubscribed but the onslaught is ceaseless
Clicking on the “Unsubscribe” link on the emails does no good. You’re just confirming that your email address is valid and active when you click on it. And that just gives them more incentive to send you more spam fundraising emails. Just set-up a email rule and divert it all to your “Junk” folder and you won’t have to deal with it flooding your Inbox.
Never click the “unsubscribe” link. As Lucifer attests, it just verifies your email address, so you’ll get even more unwanted email.
There’s a program for your PC called “Mailwasher” that previews your email before you download it. I’ve used it for years, and it has a feature called “bounce” that returns the email to the sender with a message that your email address no longer exists. The problem is, many of these spam/solicitor originators don’t monitor bounces, so it might have only a limited effect. Still, you can select the email for deletion before you download it, so it never actually gets to your inbox. Don’t know if it works on Gmail or other web-based accounts. (Disclaimer: I have no connection — financial or otherwise — with the “Mailwasher” app.)
Oops downvoted Navyvet in error
“There’s a program for your PC called “Mailwasher”
Mailwasher, like Bondo and JB Weld, is a wonderful thing.
They did the same thing before email. I donated $20 in 1984 to Reagan’s second campaign. For the next 20 yrs or more got at least one letter a week from them asking for money. Even at bulk mail rates they spent my $20 and probably 2 or 3 other people’s $20 trying to get me to donate again. They just overload you. I am at the point now that any political text I get I block and report as spam even if it is a candidate I like.
I used to mail those solicitations back, filled with other junk mail I received. I did it to AARP, too. After a few of these, it stopped.
Now, texts are a different story, and with geo fencing and “Constant Contact” the texts can be endless.
Did you know that if you go to an event like a conference or a rally, the event can get your phone number and text you?
I’ve been getting a similar volume of dead-tree begging letters without ever donating. Sometimes I wish I still used a wood stove, because then I could thank them for helping feed it! And I was very glad I don’t hand out my phone number.
But I finally mailed a check last week in celebration of the firing of Rino McDaniels, as well as reaction to the intensifying persecution of the orange billionaire. I’ll probably get double the flood of junk mail, but they still don’t have my phone number or e-mail.
yup. soooo sick of the spam just because i made a donation. Ive unsubscribed 3x today alone. “stop” “stop” “stop” “stop” “stop” “stop” “stop” “stop” “stop” “stop” “stop” “stop”
I used to get endless campaign and fundraising texts and replying “Stop” never actually did any good. You just confirm the number is valid and they spam you with even more. I simply delete & block the number. Yeah, it’s a pain at the beginning as they seem to have endless numbers to use (they actually don’t) but eventually the spam texts stop coming in.
this is so ridiculous
both parties will have plenty of money
and the super pacts like the Koch Bros will come into play
however, no amount of money can overcome incompetence
the dims have a bad hand to play and no amount of chips in front of them is going to change that
Yep I gave over $4000 to several Republican candidates between 2016 to 2020.
Not a dime more now that I almost daily receive unsolicited emails from someone running for dog catcher in Mount Pilot.
I gave a $1000 to Trump the other night but lied on most of the form for phone number and email address buy using 867-5309 [email protected]
They still took my money.
Now I’m going to have that song running through my mind all day. It could be worse, tho.
I have been infuriated by the onslaught of texted solicitations. I exoect one any day that snarls, “We know you have more money in your account. Send it to us!” As Prof. Jacobson says, masny are from candidates whose names I don’t recognize. But they have access to the Republican cell phone lists. I’ve donated a limited amount to select candidates, including DJT, through their individual campaigns. But I would never again have anything to do with WinRed.
Last person I donated to was Brandon Herrera. You know, the one who takes 2A rights seriously.
Most of us realized this was a Rona production. In 2018 a lot of $ went to people who could not get elected which proved our theory. Here’s hoping something changes with Lara
More to the point, their money went to exactly the ones I least wanted to see elected.
I bought a damned hat once. Been bombarded with texts, calls, emails, etc. ever since. All obviously RNC related so you know it’s on purpose.
Most recently some numbnutz is trying to sell me a Trump bobblehead via e-mail. So far they have used a dozen or so IPs to sent the posts so it’s like whack a mole. You just can’t kill it off no matter how many IPs you block,
.
Chances of me donating anything after dealing with that silliness? NIl.
The biggest problem is you all are Democrat/Deep State/Money Whore fakes.
Absolutely. It is insane. I give as much as I can to the specific candidates I like but the email and text tsunami is overwhelming and infuriating. The day after I give someone money I get texts trying to shame me for not giving more money right now. I finally stopped giving any money to anyone.
Furthermore, it is almost impossible to find out where a candidate’s actual campaign donations are. I don’t trust any of the emails or text messages _who knows what those sites are they are touting – but when I try to look up something like “official campaign donations” to make sure the money is going to the person I want, it’s almost impossible to find it. Just tons of different sites somehow connected, apparently, to the candidate, but I can’t tell what is legitimate and what isn’t.
I have donated to a few people this year and I can’t take any more of this abuse. I am done with that. Whoever is running that system is a moron who hates Republicans (and I’m talking about the good ones). Begging, near-suicidal, complaining, berating … just the worst sorts of messages they can come up with to make people sorry they ever gave a penny to any of these people. They are just lucky that they have the totally insane, nihilist, deranged commie turds on the other side. We, on the other hand, are pretty much screwed.
” I finally stopped giving any money to anyone.”
That’s right. And it’s not just politics, it’s everything else.
I wonder how many worthy causes have seen donations fall due to the obnoxious TV ads, e-mails, and texts?
If you follow them, you’d figure that there should be few folks left alive in the world due to all the critical problems and the lack of washing machines in schools.
I’m sure the Swiss bank accounts that get the dollars from dictators in Africa are not lacking in deposits.
You can usually find the candidate’s official website by searching for it, but they all use the same payment services for contributions (winred or anedot). Most regular payment services won’t work for political campaigns.
I give to the candidates in my own State. Then to a few candidates I like in neighboring States who I have more familiarity with. Occasionally I will contribute to Senate Candidates in a swing State if I think they have a shot and don’t seem Cray Cray. Doing this seems to keep me off the donor lists that the party sold/sells/gives to others looking to raise funds.
Doing that does NOT keep you off the spam lists. Most of them use the same vendor (winred or anedot) for contributions. I have done the same thing and get 20 pieces of spam/day.
“The biggest problem in GOP fundraising is that we don’t treat donors well”
When you finally realize that the RNC works for the DNC, it makes sense.
No. The bi9ggest problem with GOP fundraising is that it’s all oriented on fundraising. Which involves payback to the donors.
I understand the need for fundraising. Ad time needs to be bought, etc. But quite simply there is an entire donor “class” out there who gives money entirely to get some regulation or de-regulation or a cutout or an earmark.
All which means that lots of people supported by that money see it as in their vested interest to get the donors what they want, instead of the principled limited government we need.
If we could reduce the power of the gov’t, we would reduce the selling of political indulgences significantly.
I contributed to a Senate candidate two years ago with a one-time contribution and clearly marked the “One Time” box. Winred continued to take my money for another three months before I caught them and made them repay me. Roona McDaniel was also a strong reason why people were not donating because they all knew she was a disaster. Once on the donation list, you are an unending target treated like a fool.
Still remember back in 2009, when the stimulus package was being finalized, I received a donation request from the RNC, along with their “issue list” of things to check off about which issue was your concern.
I didn’t do any of that, Instead, I wrote, “Until the GOP grows a spine and actually fights for their constituents, I’m not donating one red cent.” and mailed it back in their pre-paid envelope.
16 years on, have not received anything from the RNC since then. Must be off their Christmas Card list.
What annoys the crap out of me is the continuous clickbait texting clearly aimed at the low-IQ Maxine Waters voter, presuming I (and every other contributor) am one. “Trump just dropped a bomb that defeats Biden forever!!” Eat my shorts. The 2000% match, the end of the world threat, 26 candidates all claiming to be “THE pivotal seat we need to retain the house” (or capture the senate).
When Kari Lake asked for my money, I wrote her back and said I was willing, but not if all her donation links (not to mention her campaign’s very homepage) were hosted at WinRed. I reminded her how thoroughly WinRed had screwed her over last cycle. I must not have been the only one, because shortly afterwards, she had an independent campaign website. Maybe we need more of that.
The texts seem never ending. Delete and block. Received a call from Ted Cruz’s campaign. Told the guy the Senator has already received my check and my primary vote. He will receive my general election vote and that is all the Senator will receive from me this year (absent some issue demanding a letter as there’s no sense in writing Cornyn).
I hate getting robocalls from Cruz. He is one of the worst. I gave him a contribution in 2018 when he was endangered, but never again.
The biggest problem with GOP fundraising is that it is ultimately fundraising for its own sake.
The various promises we receive during such fundraising are almost never kept or delivered.
WinRed misused my donation. After I found out that they don’t apply the funds as they claimed, I stopped donating to them at all, and yeah, some of their texts sound more like threats.
Who the hell has been in charge of this mess? If it wasn’t Ronna, then that person needs to go, too.
When there is no evidence the money is used for a good purpose, then why contribute? As a senior citizen in a competitive Congressional district, I expected that in the 2022 cycle I would get contacted in some direct manner to counter the ballot harvesting, mail-in edge the Dems have. Crickets.
I only donate money to my local Republican Party at the county level. They run a terrific get out the vote effort, (I’m on the Republican Central Committee so I know). it is all volunteer work (no one gets paid) and they show you the books so you can see exactly where the money was spent — down to the very last penny (I kid you not.)
I’ve complained about since giving to trump in 2016. Non stop. Multiple times a day, can’t stop it. Pretty much ignore every single text and email from them. Sometimes I respond with a snarky reply. Annoying AF. I feel like a chump. And they are full of lies. So much so, I think they must be coming from Dems. If I sent emails to my clients like that every day, I’d be out of business in no time.
I get all kinds of political spam, and have for years. I ignore all of it.
“We’ve endured three years of abusive Republican text and email solicitations after a single donation through WinRed,
* * *
“I made that mistake, but only once. Not going to make it a second time..”
Same here. Even if it were only the polite texts and email messages, it’s too much and for way to many candidates. So sad.
Karl ‘Turd Blossom’ Rove has got to be getting 5% off the top, probably a shareholder in WinRed…..
I give to individual candidates by setting up their campaign on my bill pay with my credit union and have a check mailed. I never give online.
They are just figuring this out? I tried to address it with the GOP in late 2020.. I told them they should fire those workers who sent out nasty text messages. I said, if you insult prospective donors, you’re going to poss them off, and they won’t give..
I wonder if it was hacked.