Friday, March 20, 2009

Fundraising delayed is fundraising denied.

Through Impolitical we learn how the GritGirl Phenomenon has morphed into a fundraising opportunity for the Conservatives.

That is an interesting twist in and of itself.  But I also find the date intriguing.  I pointed out the cyclicity of Conservative fundraising efforts in previous posts.  In the second one, I wondered what would happen on March 12.  On that day, it appeared that my theory was off since nothing materialized.  And then a week later, on Thursday March 19th, the Grit fundraising letter goes out.

Was I out on the periodicity or did events conspire to force the Conservatives to delay it by a week?  Did the GritGirl videos knock them off their stride so much that they had to rework the planned campaign?  More likely the tragic helicopter crash off Newfoundland was significant enough that the Conservatives realized the crassness of launching a fundraising program would be self-evident.

So perhaps discretion was exercised and everything was delayed for a week.  But why not Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday?  Why wait till Thursday?  They must see some strategic importance to sending out the blitz letters on Thursdays.  That is a remaining part of the puzzle.  Perhaps they have found that a lot of the decisions to donate get made on weekends.  By going out on Thursday the pitch is still fresh.

I don't know what the answer is but figuring out the way your opponent operates is always a key to defeating them.  Finding a way to derail the Thursday mail-outs will be a huge spoke in the wheel of the Conservatives.  Then their burn-rate will take care of the rest.
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2 comments:

sassy said...

There should be a word for Hypochondriac(s) of Ostensive Fundraising. Perhaps just an acronym for now - HOOF (akin to Hoof and Mouth Disease)

Anonymous said...

No need to delay fundraising. You can find great fundraising ideas for any time of year at Easy Fundraising Ideas.