We’ve all heard the horror stories: “Digital fundraising just isn’t what it used to be.” “The environment is bad for grassroots donations.” “It’s really hard to raise money online these days.” And with ActBlue reporting that digital fundraising is down across Democratic campaigns, it’s hard to dispute that narrative.
But there are bright spots — and abortion ballot initiatives are more radiant than ever.
Liftoff is immensely proud to have run a first-of-its-kind grassroots fundraising program for Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights (OURR), the coalition behind the ballot initiative to enshrine abortion rights in the Buckeye State’s constitution. Historically, ballot initiatives have not been strong online fundraisers. This can change, and we’re sharing some key takeaways and lessons to ensure others can benefit from this success
First, here’s the bottom line: In just six months, OURR raised $1.5 million online from over 26,000 donations — despite significant obstacles in their way. Future ballot initiatives, especially those on abortion rights, can benefit from the lessons we’ve learned. Continued investment in digital fundraising programs will allow for digital to be a substantial and growing piece of ballot initiative fundraising.
We can’t stress enough that ballot initiatives, more than other kinds of campaigns, require teamwork and partnership. The coalition in Ohio — led by ACLU of Ohio, Abortion Fund of Ohio, Ohio Physicians for Reproductive Rights, New Voices for Reproductive Justice, Ohio Women’s Alliance, Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio, Preterm-Cleveland, Pro-Choice Ohio, and URGE — were true believers in grassroots fundraising and delivered the necessary resources for the program to succeed.
Ballot initiatives are unique, and digital programs need to be built to match. Nearly all ballot initiatives feature two phases: a petitioning phase to get on the ballot, in which funds are dedicated toward signature collection; and a campaign phase, in which the campaign must persuade and turn out voters.
The petitioning phase is expensive, and this creates an inevitable tension between investing in future fundraising efforts — which over the course of the campaign will generate significant ROI — and the obvious need to get on the ballot. While Liftoff began supporting this ballot initiative in February, online fundraising efforts, significant email and cell acquisition, did not begin in earnest until six months before Election Day.
Digital fundraisers need to understand this natural tension, and embrace the challenge of short runways and scarce early resources. At the same time, ballot petitions need to find sources of early funding for digital fundraising that do not compete with petition-gathering. OURR’s program shows that early investment would generate significant returns.
Moments matter, and ballot initiatives need to create their own moments. Every campaign needs major moments that resonate with donors, but ballot initiatives have to try harder than candidate campaigns to get them. While digital programs are often unfortunately still siloed on many campaigns, modern ballot initiative campaigns are poised to leverage synchronized, multi-platform pushes to create and capitalize on fundraising moments.
What works for candidates doesn’t necessarily work for ballot initiatives. Fundraising moments that capitalize on local and national events, timely legal decisions, or opposition moves can make a significant impact. While digital programs often are unfortunately still siloed on campaigns, ballot initiatives are especially well-positioned to integrate messaging across channels for maximum effect.
The success of OURR’s digital fundraising campaign shows the power of early investment, strategic communications, and grassroots mobilization. As the advocates for change look to future campaigns, it’s clear that the strategies we’ve developed are not just for a single campaign, but can be a blueprint for how ballot initiatives can harness the power of digital fundraising to drive significant change.