Political SMS Marketing

How U.S. Senate and Congressional Campaigns Are Using SMS For Donations

How US Senate and Congressional Campaigns Are Using SMS For Donations

Senate election campaigns and congressional election campaigns have to focus primarily on the state level within their races. To help secure a victory, SMS messages are the ideal medium for communication and fundraising. Since many face-to-face events were canceled due to safety measures and restrictions surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, political campaigns had to get creative to supplement in-person events.

SMS messages are more personable than email as they are not at risk of spam filters or folders and arrive directly into the subscriber’s text message inbox. Text messages are an excellent option for political donation gathering as they are secure and personable, allowing the politician to speak directly with their constituents about important issues.

SMS messages offer an efficient and personable way for Senate and congressional campaigns to gather donations. Let’s examine some key data points from the 2020 election and see how SMS messages played a part in gathering these donations.

 

Republican Candidates Raised $623.5 Million Through the Online Donation Platform WinRed

Small-dollar donations are dominated primarily by democratic candidates on the federal, state, and local levels. The platform WinRed emerged as a Republican fundraising tool to compete for small-dollar donations. Within its first year, WinRed brought in $623.5 million in grassroots donations.

One way Republican and Democratic congressional candidates are utilizing SMS messages to gather political donations is by taking advantage of integrations with SMS marketing software like Tatango and online political donation software. Through the power of APIs, these technologies can integrate and create streamlined workflows so they can work together seamlessly.

The Tatango SMS marketing platform currently integrates with the WinRed platform. Learn more about this integration. Additionally, we have integrations with ActBlue, EveryAction, Anedot, and NationBuilder to help our political clients run the most efficient and effective SMS marketing campaigns to increase fundraising. The Tatango platform is continually expanding its vendor integration library. Contact us if you have a question about future integrations or would like to request one.

Political Fundraising with WinRed and Tatango Integration

 

Democratic Candidates Raised $1.5 Billion Through the Online Donation Platform ActBlue

In the third quarter of 2020, Democratic and left-leaning candidates raised a total of $1.5 billion through the small-dollar donation platform ActBlue. This is a great example of ActBlue’s exponential reach and how small online donors are reshaping politics.

To provide supporters with the best and most convenient online donation experience, the online fundraising platform should seamlessly integrate with your SMS marketing solution. Integration will make the donation process quick and effortless for the donor. Technology integration will also give your SMS marketing technology access to donation data to segment your audience further and build out custom campaigns for a more efficient and effective grassroots donation strategy.

The Tatango SMS marketing software currently provides clients with an integration to the ActBlue online donation platform. Learn more about the Tatango and ActBlue integration.

Political Fundraising with ActBlue & Tatango

 

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Raised $18,900,658 in Small-Dollar Donations

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez raised $18,900,658 in small-dollar donations for her 2020 re-election campaign—that’s 78.16% of her total donations. Since small-dollar donations are individual contributions below $200, SMS messaging is a great way to gather those individual grassroots donations.

Although Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez only represents New York’s 14th congressional district, she is well known and supported throughout the United States. When running an effective SMS marketing campaign for donations, it’s vital to understand your audience, the differences among them, and how you can appeal to each demographic.

With the Tatango SMS platform, political campaigns can segment their audience and create unique targeted campaigns to ensure that supporters receive information about and donate toward the efforts that matter most to them. Audience segmentation not only yields better results but also helps ensure that you’re not texting your supporters excessively. Instead of sending them every SMS message, you can segment your audience and send them only those SMS campaigns that appeal specifically to them.

Political Fundraising with ActBlue and Tatango - Subscriber Segmenting

 

Rep. Jim Jordan Raised $12,122,206 in Small-Dollar Donations

Jim Jordan, who represents Ohio’s 4th congressional district since 2007, raised $12,122,206 in small-dollar donations. These small-dollar donations make up 66.19% of his total campaign contributions. He was able to raise an impressive amount of funds totaling $18,313,823. In a pandemic, these fundraising numbers are only possible with a strong digital donation strategy.

SMS messages allow candidates to speak freely without fear of censorship, as some have experienced on social media platforms. Candidates have the freedom to gather donations for the issues that mean the most to their constituents.

Additionally, the Tatango solution is the fastest SMS marketing platform on the market. It is 33 times faster than its closest competitor, which means that urgent text messages, including fundraising messages, can go out promptly. Tatango can send 100,000 texts per minute and 6 million texts per hour.

Having the peace of mind that your message is guaranteed to land in the hands of your supporters every time will help free up your campaign team for a more efficient race!

 

 

The Georgia Senate Race Spent a Combined $510,124,866 on the Race

Within the 2020 Senate race in the state of Georgia, candidates spent a combined $510,124,866. Of all Senate races across the United States, Georgia spent the most. This race was significant; thus, it required a lot of funding and communication efforts on both candidates’ sides.

The Tatango SMS marketing solution enables candidates to create SMS campaign workflows to communicate efficiently with their constituents. With workflows, you can lay out your campaigns in advance and flow based on subscriber interest and actions. This method is extremely effective when creating campaigns for subscribers who are avid donors. Workflows help ensure that all important messages are sent in a timely manner, and nothing is overlooked.

Since Georgia had an additional special election that cost an extra $363,193,107, candidates could have utilized the data feature within Tatango to improve their campaigns for donations the second time around. Tatango allows for data and reporting that helps candidates get the best ROI on their SMS marketing investment.

Political Fundraising with WinRed and Tatango - Messaging Workflows

 

Political Fundraising Never Stops

Most senators and members of Congress never stop their fundraising efforts. That’s why an effective and efficient SMS marketing strategy is vital to guaranteeing fundraising success, even if you’re not currently in an election cycle.

Tatango partners with many political candidates to help them create compelling communications strategies to boost their donation efforts through SMS messages. On average, our political clients see an ROI of $5 for every $1 spent on SMS marketing and MMS marketing.

We’d love to chat with you about your communication and donation goals and share how Tatango can help. We invite you to schedule a time to talk with one of our SMS marketing experts.


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