Democrat Fundraising: Exploiting Donors With Digital Spam
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Resources & Recommendations
People Mentioned
- Adam Bonica (Professor of Political Science at Stanford University) - Investigated the Democratic Party's fundraising strategies and their effectiveness.
- George Clooney - Celebrity whose name is sometimes attached to fundraising demands.
- Taylor Swift - Celebrity whose name is sometimes attached to fundraising demands, particularly in "phantom match" solicitations.
- Ken Burns - Documentarian whose name was used in fundraising messages related to NPR.
- Rick Steves - Travel writer whose name was used in fundraising messages related to NPR.
- Barack Obama - Former President whose image and name are used in fundraising messages.
- Michelle Obama - Former First Lady whose image and name are used in fundraising messages.
- Jeff Bezos - Founder of Amazon, mentioned in a hypothetical example comparing company messaging to political fundraising.
- Mame Adjei - A national political candidate who openly stated they had raised enough money and asked people to stop sending donations, instead requesting volunteer support.
- Kat Abu Ghazaleh (Democrat running for Congress in Illinois) - Explicitly committed to setting fundraising goals, avoiding spam, guilt trips, and consultants focused on their paycheck.
- Cory Booker - Senator whose political actions were immediately followed by fundraising messages, which the podcast suggests cheapens the message.
- Donald Trump - Former President, mentioned in the context of political opposition and fundraising tactics.
- Mendami - Mentioned as an example of someone who asks for organization and volunteers over money.
Organizations & Institutions
- DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) - The main official campaign arm for the Democratic Party, whose former employees founded Mothership Strategies.
- Mothership Strategies - A digital fundraising consulting firm founded in 2014 by former DCCC employees, credited with anchoring the "over the top emotional appeals" strategy.
- Progressive Turnout Project - An example of a "spam pack" organization.
- Stop Republicans - An example of a "spam pack" organization.
- Democrats Who Win - An example of a "spam pack" organization.
- NPR - Public radio organization, used as a cause for fundraising messages.
- DSCC (Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee) - Mentioned as sending fundraising messages.
- ActBlue - The primary platform for small and individual donor fundraising for Democratic candidates and PACs, which implemented new rules to prevent deceptive fundraising after Adam Bonica's article.
- Indivisible - An organization mentioned as an example of effective mass mobilization against authoritarian parties.
- Democratic National Committee - Publicly disavowed groups and vendors who prey on donors after the initial publication of Adam Bonica's article.
Websites & Online Resources
- Substack - Platform where Adam Bonica writes a newsletter on data and democracy.
- onthemedia.org - Website where the full statement from Mothership Strategies can be found.
Other Resources
- No Kings protests - Mentioned as an example of mass mobilization.