The Power of Flashmob Fundraising
By Avery Knapp Jr, 11/05/2007 - 3:43pm

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This is a guest post from Ron Paul supporter Avery Knapp, Jr. We will run posts from partisan supporters when we think they are of value; this doesn't imply an endorsement of any candidate by techPresident.

Ever since Ron Paul's campaign decided to take a risk in the fourth quarter and make all fundraising data immediately public and broadcast live using a real-time, open-source approach, his fundraising has been on somewhat of a tear. The campaign ambitiously set a goal of $12 million for the fourth quarter, well more than the $5.2 raised in the third quarter, and in fact well more than the Paul campaign's fundraising upward trend would suggest possible. The campaign set fundraising goals of $3 million for October, $4 million in November, and $5 million for December. Is it possible that this October goal could be surpassed in one day in November? That was the goal of Lyman Trevor, a grassroots supporter and the creator of ThisNovember5th.com, a website whose purpose was to Internet-flashmob $10 million to the Ron Paul campaign in the span of 24 hours -- in $100 increments from 100,000 people. November 5 was likely picked as Guy Fawkes Day, which is remembered as the day in 1605 on which a few British Roman Catholic" conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Palace of Westminster to incite a revolt. Picking this day was seemingly a statement about blowing up conventional thought in Washington and the traditional media.

As the date approached, just under a fifth of the intended supporters signed on, and lower goals were set. As of Nov. 4, over 18,000 people had signed up and pledged to donate $100 each, for a projected total of $1.8 million. While far from the original goal of $10 million, the project still harnessed the power of burst-fundraising by a dedicated group of web-connected individuals is being harnessed. Will the web and e-mail campaign work? Early indications show that perhaps it will, according to ronpaulgraphs.com, which tracks the open-source fundraising data in near-realtime, and uses advanced mathematical analysis for projections and data analysis. It is a popular website for the subset of Paul fanatics who are also Internet geeks and like to see the fruits of their labor in numerical and digital form (a note about the author: I'm in both subsets).

People respond well to seeing their names up in lights on their hero's campaign website and getting immediate feedback about their contributions. At a recent lecture showing the rolling names of donors projected behind the lecturer, the author and his girlfriend were tempted enough to donate using a blackberry and cheer in the back; the lecturer mistakenly thought the cheers were for his speech. Perhaps this feedback is a reason the open-source approach to presidential fundraising is likely to continue and increase. Perhaps one day the Federal Election Commission monitoring of election finances won't even be necessary as campaigns will make all fundraising data public.

These single-day fundraising numbers may not be extraordinary at the end of an election quarter for a well-known and well-funded candidate, BUT they certainly are for the middle of a quarter. Ron Paul would have beaten all the Republican candidates in single-day fundraising total (only the GOP's Mitt Romney's best single-day total of $1.3 million would have come close), but would come well behind Barak Obama's best single-day total of $3.7 million and Hillary Clinton's best day of $9 million. In any event, it arguably would set Paul would be well on his way towards achieving the lofty title of "top-tier Presidential candidate" or at the very least, "very well-funded Presidential candidate."

As of 1 p.m. EST on Nov. 5, over $1.7 million has been donated online in just 13 hours.

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Ron Paul's Numbers

I have a question I was hoping someone could answer. As of 3:50 PM EST, Ron Paul's website has listed $5.4 million dollars raised. As of yesterday, he only had roughy $2-3 million. Is he combining his previously raised cash on hand with his 4th quarter money to raise his total in his quest for $12 million? Because that is a HUGE jump if that 2-3 mil difference was just raised today.

By littlebier8 at Mon, 11/05/2007 - 4:56pm | login or register to post comments

Ron Paul's Numbers

No, I dont think he is combining the numbers. The 2-3 million were all raised today. And it will probably increase even more!

http://ronpaulgraphs.com/

By andreythegreat at Mon, 11/05/2007 - 5:06pm | login or register to post comments

Offline contributions added overnight

The campaign did add more than $300K of offline contributions to the total overnight. As of 4 pm EST, the November 5 money bomb had resulted in $2.3 MILLION in contributions since midnight.

Mark Smith

By marksstc at Mon, 11/05/2007 - 5:10pm | login or register to post comments

Drama, drama, drama

This type of fundraising is more drama, than helpful. You can bet donors held on to their money until the 5th and now that they gave their money, it will be hard to raise more money from them for at least a month. This tactic may be great as an appeal but as a tactic it is only helpful if you need the cash immediately.

Secondly, to all the Ron Paul fans, Ron Paul will be a lost cause if Congress will simply override all his vetoes.

By Freedomfighter at Tue, 11/06/2007 - 8:36am | login or register to post comments

lost cause? hardly.

If Congress is forced to cooperate across the aisle to the point of getting veto overrides for all their unconstitutional programs, wouldn't that be a good thing? Perhaps they will find it hard to justify overspending when the President calls them on it every single time. In any event, don't think Paul supporters aren't looking at Congress, as well. I've already seen a few "Ron Paul Candidates" tap directly into our network. We will support any candidate from any party who will obey the Constitution, and we will do so loudly.

By larethdf at Tue, 11/06/2007 - 11:12am | login or register to post comments

TechPresident: Factfinder?

[Paul's total] would come well behind Barak Obama's best single-day total of $3.7 million and Hillary Clinton's best day of $9 million.

Last time I checked, $4.3 million was more than $3.7 million, but TechPrez should try to verify the Hillary claim, which varies between $6.1 and $9.1 million.
The problem is that no such number exists in the Clinton FEC reports. The best day for her was June 30th, but the number is $2.6 million, not $6.2 million.

Of course, there's a quibble about the word "raised," which has been used by the Romney camp to count vapor pledges, not actual dollars received. [His biggest "fundraising" day was when he wrote a personal check as a loan to his own campaign $8 million.]

The Clinton number may include pledges as well ... or simply an accumulation of prior checks being posted on the last day of a quarter for FEC reporting.

Maybe it's a frivolous point, but if my numbers are right, the Paul "money bomb" would be the biggest single day for any primary candidate ever. Only John Kerry exceeded that total, with $5.8 million on the day he was nominated (again, a reporting deadline that might include prior contributions).

So, do TechPrez fans a favor. What are the facts?

By Westmiller at Wed, 11/07/2007 - 2:55pm | login or register to post comments

Novak on Ron Paul's recordbreaking fundraiser

From Novak's newsletter:

# Rep. Ron Paul set fundraising records on Monday, pulling in $4.2 million in online donations in one day. This is the largest single day of online fundraising in political history, and the largest single day of donations for any Republican candidate ever. The donations, averaging a little more than $100 each, reflect the unmatched enthusiasm of Paul's supporters, who range from anti-war activists to libertarians to fed-up Republicans.

# Interestingly, it was volunteer supporters with no affiliations to Paul's campaign who organized the fundraiser. For all the talk of candidates' using the Internet in 2008, Paul's campaign is the only one that is really doing it -- and he is doing it mostly by stepping back and letting his enthusiastic backers form their own networks of support.

By Tex MacRae at Wed, 11/07/2007 - 3:35pm | login or register to post comments

Um...Ron Paul raised $4.3

Um...Ron Paul raised $4.3 million. Isn't that more than $3.7 million? And what the hell is this about Hillary raisin $9 mill? Excuse me, but where do you guys get your facts? It's a fact that John Kerry holds the record at $5.2 million, so if Hillary raised $9 million, wouldn't that be a HUGE thing for her campaign and a HUGE historical breakthrough in the history of politics? I have never even heard of such numbers before. I would like to know where you guys get your facts, I was starting to get interested in this site, but it seems like you guys are just making stuff up from the top of your head. Good job on being ignorant.

By shagywashere at Thu, 11/08/2007 - 8:21am | login or register to post comments

Online vs. total

Ron Paul broke the record for the most money raised ONLINE in one day.

But the record for the highest total raised in one day -- online and offline -- belongs to Hillary Clinton, who raised close to $6.2 million in one day.

Still, Paul has raised more in one day than any other Republican candidate; he beat Mitt Romney's record of $3.1 in one day set earlier this year.

By Joshua Levy at Thu, 11/08/2007 - 1:22pm | login or register to post comments

FEC data

When I wrote this article it was early in the day; it never got updated to the $4.3 million raised online by the end of the day.

Dr. Paul beat all Republicans in fundraising in this cycle, besting Mitt Romney's $3.1 million on Jan. 8: http://query.nictusa.com/pres/2007/Q1/C00431171/A_DATE_C00431171.html

Check the FEC data on Hillary; she raised $9 million on September 30, 2007. However, she may have processed checks written earlier that day (unverified).
http://query.nictusa.com/pres/2007/Q3/C00431569/A_DATE_C00431569.html

Avery J. Knapp Jr., M.D.

By Avery Knapp Jr at Fri, 11/09/2007 - 2:20am | login or register to post comments



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