Elizabeth, 59, from Austin, Texas wanted a way to get involved in the Obama campaign but as a busy English professor, she didn’t find herself with a lot of time to spare. “I’m a guilty supporter,” she says. "I would like to be out registering voters, but I don’t have much free time. So donating money is the best thing I can do – it’s easy and takes almost no time. "Elizabeth set up a grassroots fundraising page on her My.BarackObama.com account in order to get friends to donate as well and to do as much as she could for the campaign. She emailed friends and family to donate and was pleased with the enthusiastic results. “The ‘remind’ feature was especially helpful. People liked getting the reminder to donate.”One things that Elizabeth found especially effective was posting a diary on DailyKos with a link to her donate page. She posted the diary on August 4, Barack’s birthday, and challenged people to donate $47 as a birthday gift to Barack. She’s hoping to do another Kos fundraiser soon.She just started her personal fundraising page just three weeks ago and has already raised over $900.Elizabeth has one important tip for people starting their own personal fundraising pages:
Re-write the message and personalize it. I wrote the email differently for different people, so it looked like an email from me rather than from the campaign. It’s all part of the grassroots idea.
Elizabeth supports Barack because she like his ideas.
My politics are more ideological than personal. My biggest concern is the war. His speech about not being again war but being against this dumb war really resonates with me. I have a 22-yer-old son, and if there was a draft, my son could be drafted. So the war matters to me. I’m also concerned about the environment and like Barack’s ideas on that issue. And the economy as well – his tax plan is going to help a lot of people. Everything else he wants to do is just gravy.
Elizabeth is just glad that she had a candidate to stand behind. "I’ve had a severe case of political depression," she explained. "And Barack Obama is the first thing that’s cheered me up in eight years.”Setting up a personal donor page is a great way to get more involved in the campaign and bring others into our movement. You can join Elizabeth and supporters like her by starting your own personal fundraising page on my.barackobama.com.
Faye, 49, is a fire department captain in Miami, Florida who usually spends her free time playing basketball. But after Barack won the Democratic primary, Faye decided she needed to find time to get involved in the campaign.
After what has gone on in our government for the past eight years, our country needs a change, and Obama seems to be the right person to bring us that change.
Faye had done some volunteering for her local congressman before – mostly taking people to the polls on Election Day – but had never donated to a political campaign before. But when she learned about the personal fundraising pages of My.BarackObama.com, she thought it sounded like an easy way for a busy firefighter to get involved.
It was clear to me that in order for Obama to compete in this election, he was going to need money. And it was time for the rest of us to get to work and help him our as much as we can. If you can spare $25, it’s easy to do and makes a huge difference for the campaign.
“Most of the donors are my friends, and the majority are other firefighters.” To get people to donate, Faye sent emails to everyone she knew, made some phone calls, and talked to a bunch of her friends at the fire station. “I convinced them that now is the time for them to get involved. And they did!”Faye set a personal goal of $1,000, and has already reached and exceeded her own goal, raising $1,145 from 19 contributors.Faye found the online donor system so easy, she took it to the next level. Faye is part of the International Association of Black Professional Firefighters, and the association decided to help the campaign’s efforts. The firefighters association created a pin which they now give to their members who donate to the Obama campaign. Thanks to her efforts, she has donations from not only friends in Miami, but firefighters across the United States.Faye says she will continue with her grassroots fundraising through the election.
It’s easy, it’s important, and it’s a great way to get involved.
You can join Faye and supporters like her as a member of the Grassroots Finance Committee. We've set a challenging $1,000 goal for GFC members, but our team of fundraising experts will be available to give you personal advice and the support you need.
