Next steps- after the TeaParty07.com donation day.

[SwordOfShannarah]

We're just under a week away from the big one. :)

We had no new drive in place for November 5th and lost a great opportunity to promote TeaParty07.com (with all the free publicity we were getting from the MSM). If we had been ready perhaps many thousands more would be on the pledge list today. So it's pretty important we get something in place now and not make the same mistake again.

For the next fund raising day I was thinking about Martin Luther King Jr. day which is on January 15th and is one month from TeaParty07.com. Perhaps the theme could be .. "Martin Luther King had a dream, Ron Paul will make it reality." Interestingly enough Mrs. Paul recently wrote this article about their family's American Dream: http://www.ronpaul2008.com/articles/331/the-american-dream/

I have the domain AmericanDream08.com. The idea was given to me by someone who emailed it in. I've also purchased FreeAtLast08.com.

Anyway these are just ideas. Perhaps there is another idea/date out there that someone wants to share.

If you have an idea for a domain name please do not buy it. You will not be able to transfer it to me and I cannot work with a domain I don't own because someone could buy something with the intent of hurting out movement (they would maintain control) and however unlikely that is I won't take that risk with our campaign again (TeaParty07.com is not my domain). Please PM me if you have a domain you think I should buy. (Thank you!)

One guideline...

We shouldn't wait longer than a month, and even a month is a long time. We don't want another letter from the campaign asking for funds now, and all the resulting confusion that came along with it. So I only suggest any other ideas should be before January 15th. Anything after the 15th can be considered for the next fund raising drive. Sound good?

Again it's critical we don't lose the momentum the press will bring by not having a new fund raising drive in place and ready to go for the TeaParty07.com website- so please share your ideas or show your support for MLK day. Thank you.

[MozoVote]

I'd like to see the next fund raiser after the tea party, provide links to the PACs for advertising.

I think it's becoming clear that the PACs do a better job of creating entertaining and eye-grabbing advertisements. The campaign is too timid and conventional.

[boondoggle]

I agree with each point, and, I definitely agree most with the concern of losing momentum. Let's not let that happen.

[jake]

I think the next big drive should be to a PAC for an Infomercial or Primetime TV special instead of a donation drive to the official campaign

[MozoVote]

The week after New Year's is a tough time to raise money - most people are pretty tapped out from Christmas. I'm thinking Jan 15th may be a little too late.

At the same time, Dr King's rally in Washington DC was about freedom. It's important to remind people of that, and how ANTI-freedom the Patriot act is.

Is Jan 15th early enough to be applied to Super Tuesday states?

[me3]

My concern is that Jan15th is too late for Super Tuesday.

Would it be possible to move the Fund raiser up to January 3rd? We know the Paul nation will have it's attention fixed on Iowa. And weekdays are better than Weekends for fund raising IMO.

[me3]

Could we get a PAC to commit to a major ad buy in large delegate Super Tuesday states on Jan 15th?

[stevedasbach]

IMO, after the 16th, the focus should turn to weekly targets, not single days. Set a target for the first week, exceed it, and then set a higher target the following week. It might also make sense to set a Q4 target once the results of the teaparty are known.

Once the voting starts, moneybombs aren't going to generate press. We need to generate as much money as possible, as quickly as possible, to get as much advertising on the air as possible

[hawkeyenick]

I'm hoping you'll adopt the times square idea...

Think about the effect of seeing ron paul signs and billboards everywhere on, for some people, the most emotional night of the year. Seeing the revolution happen on tv would open a lot of eyes.

[dante]

Come Jan 1st with primaries coming up every week for the next 4 months... I strongly feel that the best course of action will be to keep raising as much money as soon as possible so that the campaign can spend it.
Here's why:
The need for moneybombs for press will be irrelevant come mid january for at that point if RP is winning states he will be getting all the press he needs and if he hasn't won a state the media will completely ignore him regardless of how much money we raise.

I repeat for the reasons outlined above come Jan 1st the best thing to do is have everyone donate as much as they can as early and as often as they can.

[MozoVote]

Steve has a point. Plus, the race is much more fluid in January and February. It may be necessary to change message or focus on a different region of the country quickly.

[bgoldwater]

So lets say the campaign will get 20 mil. They will spend only 2 of it on low quality commercials. Very efficient indeed.

[rory096]

There's already one scheduled for New Year's Eve.

www.donate2008.org

[MozoVote]

bgoldwater: The tea party is the last donation I plan to make to the campaign. The bottle is broken, the ship is christened, bon voyage, good luck!

I may still contribute to good, efficient, PACs though.

[AlexMerced]

Jan 1st makes since cause we'd get media attention from a big 1st quarter start, but it's too soon after christmas and the teaparty

Marin Luther King day makes sense to rpomote Paul views on pacifism and civil disobedience but it's pretty close super tuesday


We should use the media attention to promote something, but not a money bomb, how about a million patriot march in DC

the people bomb on Martin Luther King Day, with Paul making a speech

[dante]

Jan 1st makes since cause we'd get media attention from a big 1st quarter start, but it's too soon after christmas and the teaparty

Marin Luther King day makes sense to rpomote Paul views on pacifism and civil disobedience but it's pretty close super tuesday


We should use the media attention to promote something, but not a money bomb, how about a million patriot march in DC

the people bomb on Martin Luther King Day, with Paul making a speech

Jan 1st will be impossible as I am fully expecting an end of the quarter push from the campaign to give a 3 million + boost to the campaign

[PatriotOne]

MLK day? What about us losing our so-called HUGE White Supremist base? LOL.

Kidding aside, I think MLK day is a great choice. We will need that month between money bombs to refill our coffers so we can refill RP's peacechest.

[cero]

I was thinking we let someone else run the site this time, don't get me wrong I appreciate all the work Trevor has done. We had so many people doing their own tea party site, so my suggestion is to have everyone that wants to create their own site DO SO and we the people decide which one we like. Its not good to have monopoly on something.

SO if when the idea comes together I suggest EVERYONE I MEAN EVERYONE that wants to create a site, to do so, so that we can then (do a poll on the forums) decide which one we like better, and if in the end we all agree on Trevor's site then fine, but I think we should give other people a chance.

[AlexMerced]

again, my suggestion is a large rally on MLK day, not a money bomb, we won't be able to out raise the teaparty and the campaign won't be able to use the money on such a short notice

[AlexMerced]

if we can get 100,000 people to be at a rally in DC, can you imagine the historicalness of that rally

[torchbearer]

want your opinion on this:
I've been looking at starting my official congressional campaign fundraising push online sometime after january 10... though, I believe the widget will be ready way before then... I'm trying to find a time where I can rely on my fellow online grassroots supporters to chipin in a little in-mass to get the graphic warmed up... once I hit $100,000 raising the rest will be easy.. it always that first $10,000, then the first $50,000 that will be the hardest... the more money I raise the easier it gets to raise more and so forth..

thoughts on strategies for making this a successful fundraising drive online? I've already thought about making a "mini-money bomb" day... but I want to pass the ideas around with everyone.... the mid january date would be to accommodate all Ron Paul supporters... by then, Ron Paul would be hitting his first primaries, and new money would be of little help to him at that point. what do you think?

a link to the test widget: http://www.swfup.com/file/75723
a link to campaign site in development http://www.joinsanders.com

[KewlRonduderules]

Although Trevor has contributed much to the effort and has administered various sites for fundraisers (to which I am grateful), I would like to see other persons actually develop fundraising efforts. I would like to see the helm passed to someone else whether it be a PAC, Meet-up, or a group of persons who just want to help the campaign.

The reality is that this is our grassroots effort. Ideas and promotion should come from the entire community not from just a single source.

I say at this point, let someone else have a chance to be successful.

I realize the media knows Trevor but this does not mean he cannot continue to support us and let the media know when we are successful. I mean after all he supports Ron Paul.

He already has the blimp campaign. I think that is quite a lot.

Now it is time for others to step up to the plate.

Just my $.02.


:)

[leonster]

I'd be really behind the PAC idea. Some 30-second commercials on YouTube will get FAR more votes than the official commercials will. Trying to package Ron Paul's new, refreshing message into a CONVENTIONAL political ad, won't win many over, just seems like more of the same. A fresh message needs a fresh delivery system--in Ron Paul's personal case, his non-pandering and truth-telling (sad that that is new and fresh in Washngton)... in an ad's case, new styles...

[zaffa]

This New Year's Money Bomb is a bad idea. Personally, I feel that the tea party should be the last money bomb during this campaign trail. As mentioned earlier in this thread, after Dec. 16th, there really is no time left for a money bomb, not to mention everyone will be either maxed out or spent out by then. Besides, as was also mentioned earlier in this thread, all media coverage will be focused on the primaries, not some publicity stunts put on by one's supporters. It is safe to say right now that DEc. 16 will be the last major propelling force for the campaign. All we can hope for after that is a steady flow of income and a win in NH if not more, and at the very least, a win in atleast one primary state.
It is my personal opinion that the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, etc. will either break or make this campaign. Two states should be what we're shooting for, though we'll take what we get. However, come the occasion that we fail to take any of the 6 early primary states, our campaign will be all but ruined. Same goes for any of the other campaigns out there.
As for the reason I brought this up, I just wanted to try to show the unrealisticness as well as unimportance of money bombs after Dec. 16. Regardless of whether we could even pull one off or not, the media would not take any notice of it other than to merely bash the campaign, and that is if they even did that. Seeing as how the funds would be far less then Dec. 16th, they would write it up as the withering support from a kooky campaign that should never have made it off the ground..

[leonster]

again, my suggestion is a large rally on MLK day, not a money bomb, we won't be able to out raise the teaparty and the campaign won't be able to use the money on such a short notice

I like this, too. Would go a long ways towards pre-empting any baseless racism claims that could be hurled around after a good showing in IA and NH, to ALREADY HAVE PLANNED a major MLKJ day event. If the stuff gets hurled out, THEN it's planned, it will just seem reactonary to cover our butts, but if it was planned a month in advance, then the charges won't stick... everyone will know they're baseless.

What about two, then? We have two happening in Dec, in a way, right? Teaparty fundraising, and Boston rally... now, they're on the same day, but really they are two different efforts--one about money, and the other about assembling. Can we split it up in Jan? Get one earlier in the month to fund a PAC for better ads... and one on MLKJ day to rally in DC....

[leonster]

This New Year's Money Bomb is a bad idea. Personally, I feel that the tea party should be the last money bomb during this campaign trail. As mentioned earlier in this thread, after Dec. 16th, there really is no time left for a money bomb, not to mention everyone will be either maxed out or spent out by then. Besides, as was also mentioned earlier in this thread, all media coverage will be focused on the primaries, not some publicity stunts put on by one's supporters. It is safe to say right now that DEc. 16 will be the last major propelling force for the campaign. All we can hope for after that is a steady flow of income and a win in NH if not more, and at the very least, a win in atleast one primary state.
It is my personal opinion that the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, etc. will either break or make this campaign. Two states should be what we're shooting for, though we'll take what we get. However, come the occasion that we fail to take any of the 6 early primary states, our campaign will be all but ruined. Same goes for any of the other campaigns out there.
As for the reason I brought this up, I just wanted to try to show the unrealisticness as well as unimportance of money bombs after Dec. 16. Regardless of whether we could even pull one off or not, the media would not take any notice of it other than to merely bash the campaign, and that is if they even did that. Seeing as how the funds would be far less then Dec. 16th, they would write it up as the withering support from a kooky campaign that should never have made it off the ground..

I see your point, but I still think there;s value in a fundraising day for an ad PAC. It does not need to be hyped like Nov 5/Tea Party. Can be more an internal thing on the net among grassroots... if we could raise just $1 million, and use existing (or new) freely available commercials... that would buy a lot of airtime for Super Tuesday...

At the same time, while we won't need attention from moneybombs after IA and NH, still a rally for MLKJ day would be good publicity--especially if they try to attack Dr. Paul b/c of a few bigoted people who sent checks, etc...

[MozoVote]

I have a feeling we are going to repeat the debate that we had originally. Some people thought Dec 16 was "too far" from Nov 5th ... there was debate for an intermediate day ... it was shot down ... then Bydlak asked that we send money sooner ...

If we repeat that pattern, we'll realize that Jan 15 is too far out there. It becomes a matter of decision then, on how to schedule a fund raiser around the holidays.

[LibertyEagle]

Could we get a PAC to commit to a major ad buy in large delegate Super Tuesday states on Jan 15th?

All it takes is money, but if there is still ad time available, there is no reason why this couldn't be done. Right now however, we still haven't gotten the new TV ads funded for Iowa. www.OperationNH.com This needs to be funded immediately, if it's going to happen. Please help.

I do agree that after 12/16, since we now have some good TV ads and more are on their way, we might want to emphasize getting the money together for a major push into other early states. That said, we also need some excellent radio ads.

[LibertyEagle]

I was thinking we let someone else run the site this time, don't get me wrong I appreciate all the work Trevor has done. We had so many people doing their own tea party site, so my suggestion is to have everyone that wants to create their own site DO SO and we the people decide which one we like. Its not good to have monopoly on something.

I agree wholeheartedly.

However, please be aware that Martin Luther King was not exactly the most popular person to a lot of Republicans and it is still the Republican nomination that we are seeking.

I think this is a bad concept for a fundraiser.

In fact, I think we should lay off the concept fundraisers entirely for awhile. We do not want to overuse a good thing.

[theswedishchef]

I am guessing that this idea is not very conventional =)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpTJISyKGrA

how about a Ron Paul Human LCD of this size and then buy tickets to a superbowl match or alike for a thousand people or so =))

It will require some money but LOTS of training. Perhaps invite this bunch from Korea and pay them to do it =P

[MozoVote]

LibertyEagle, that was the first thing that came to my mind too. However, it is worth thinking about not letting the Dems run away with civil rights and freedom as "their" issue. Heck, Ron Paul has quoted Dr King.

[rodent]

Time it to coincide with the state of the union address!!

[MozoVote]

Time it to coincide with the state of the union address!!



Oh no... "Used Cars" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Used_cars) quotes now swimming in my brain. :D

http://www.carbuyersnotebook.com/archives/Used_Cars_Moviecover.jpg

[rodent]

Oh no... "Used Cars" quotes now swimming in my brain. :D

If the press was spectacular and could be interleaved with the state of the union address on all the political shows, we will amplify our voice.

[francisco]

IMO, after the 16th, the focus should turn to weekly targets, not single days. Set a target for the first week, exceed it, and then set a higher target the following week. It might also make sense to set a Q4 target once the results of the teaparty are known.

Once the voting starts, moneybombs aren't going to generate press. We need to generate as much money as possible, as quickly as possible, to get as much advertising on the air as possible

I agree. Having continuity of funds will become extremely important leading up to Super Tuesday.

[LibertyEagle]

LibertyEagle, that was the first thing that came to my mind too. However, it is worth thinking about not letting the Dems run away with civil rights and freedom as "their" issue. Heck, Ron Paul has quoted Dr King.

Yeah, I was thinking about that too (Paul quoting King). Maybe I'm wrong.

Regardless, I think we are overusing this whole concept fundraising deal. If we have them too often, potential donors get burned out. We can only have so many HUGE ones. And if they are not BIG, they won't be noticed by the media. They will however notice ones that fizzle.

It's my belief that we should lay off these concept fundraisers for awhile and no offense, Trevor, but I think more than one person should hold the keys to any future GRASSROOTS fundraising website. In addition to agreeing not to cannibalize or sell the email lists for other purposes. Possibly, multiple websites are the best way to go.

[TechnoGuyRob]

Yeah, I was thinking about that too (Paul quoting King). Maybe I'm wrong.

Regardless, I think we are overusing this whole concept fundraising deal. If we have them too often, potential donors get burned out. We can only have so many HUGE ones. And if they are not BIG, they won't be noticed by the media. They will however notice ones that fizzle.

It's my belief that we should lay off these concept fundraisers for awhile and no offense, Trevor, but I think more than one person should hold the keys to any future GRASSROOTS fundraising website. In addition to agreeing not to cannibalize or sell the email lists for other purposes. Possibly, multiple websites are the best way to go.

At first glance, I agree with you, but then I had to consider this.

If the 16th brings in the enormous amounts of publicity as we expect, and if that leads to a snowball effect, could it possibly be that that will gain us so many new donors that a similarly big (or--dare I say it--bigger?) event will be possible for the 15th?

In any case, it's a very tough issue. I understand that there will be many new donors who want to contribute, but again, why hold another day? Some might argue these people will contribute a lot more than they would have without a money bomb, but we have to ask ourselves: Is it really worth it to overuse the money bomb concept and deprive the campaign of a constant stream of funds (remember, before money bombs, we were getting up to $100+k a day), all for the sacrifice of maybe $100k, $500k, $1 million more, an event that will likely gain no media coverage or media coverage of the form "Well, looks like the Ron Paul grassroots can't come up with something more exciting, this is old news."?

What I'm saying is this. If we want to get the hardcore supporters excited, let's do it with this:

RonPaulMoneyBomb.com

I guarantee you that a weekly bomb will be much more useful to the Ron Paul campaign than one last flimsy attempt, right before Super Tuesday--and making it a money bomb (rather than "donate whenever you wish") WILL be useful, because there are people who like Ron Paul and would like to donate regularly to him, but don't keep him in the back of their minds 24/7 like us loyal minions. However, I do support the New Year's Eve mini-bomb in order to get the people on board who hear about or are reminded about Paul on the 16th, want to contribute this quarter, and still be part of something big.

Having said all that, I think we should wait for the next real money bomb until Paul gets the nomination. Ideally, on that day, we would like to blow Kerry's $5 million waaay out of the water.