Raising money from individuals
(First, yes, amazingly, I'm not afraid to come back here. But let's please stay in the present.)
I'm a non-profit fundraising executive. It's important to note that my partisan political activities are all done as an individual and not in affiliation with any non-profit organization. But I do have professional experience to share.
I'm very good at my job. I am a generalist, raising money from foundations, government, corporations, and individuals. I manage the solicitation of small gifts and major gifts.
For many years I have been operating with the premise that it is healthiest for my organization to raise the bulk of our funds through small to mid-sized gifts from individuals. When the bulk of our funding is coming in the form of modest contributions from many, many people, our organization is free to pursue its mission without the fear of offending any specialized interests of major donors whose gifts would be hard to replace. We are less susceptible to the kinds of economic changes that can inhibit major gifts, and we are focused on meaningfully engaging a large community, which is wonderful for sustainability and growth.
One of the most important messages I try to communicate is that no gift is too small. If everyone who gives less than $10/year to my organization decided that their gift made no difference and chose to obstain, I would be hard pressed to replace that money. It is more than our municipal, county, state and federal funding combined. Those $10 gifts enable us to do our work.
If you believe in a candidate, please make some financial contribution. What you think you can afford is really not too small.
If you strongly believe in a campaign, make a meaningful gift. For someone, a meaningful gift is $10,000. They feel it, and they might have to give something up in order to make that gift, but they'll live. For someone else, $10 accomplishes that.
But please, don't think that your $10 doesn't mean anything because it's just $10. That's like thinking your vote doesn't mean anything because it's just one vote.
This is an honest appeal regardless of the candidate you support...
...But especially for a candidate like Bernie Sanders, who can only be successful in this manner, do not think that you cannot do enough for it to be worthwhile.
= new reply since forum marked as read
It mean a lot to me to hear from you on this.
