Hey everyone, I posted the other day about political text messages and the repeated harassment we get on our phones.
Some people in the comments said, “Didn’t you see the STOP to opt out portion?”
Yes. I saw it. That does not mean your number disappears from every other campaign, contractor, and fundraising database that already has it.
Other people objected because I used a message asking for money for Sherrod Brown, as though a Democrat we like cOuLd NoT pOsSiBlY be associated with the same fundraising tactics everybody complains about.
Come on.
I ran for Congress twice. I participated in this system. I paid for services, entered into fundraising arrangements, and hired people to send messages on my behalf.
So I want to explain how this works, where your information can come from, and why opting out of one message does not necessarily mean the messages stop.
First, You Turn Your Relationships Into a List
One of the first things people tell you when you run for office is to “Rolodex yourself.”
Write down everybody you know. Friends, family, former coworkers, business contacts. Pull all contacts from social media and emails. Then get on the phone or the keypad and ask them for money and support.
That becomes your first fundraising list.
It is valuable because these are people who know you, trust you, or might be willing to help you. Before you have a national audience or a professional fundraising operation, those relationships are what you have.
My next step was working with consultants and fundraising services. That involved uploading contact information so they could help manage the operation.
Maybe I got bamboozled. At the time, I was thinking about getting help running a campaign. I was not thinking through every possible future use of the information I was handing over.
I do not have proof that somebody took my friends’ numbers and sold them to another campaign.
But the experience made me ask a question I should have asked much earlier: What rights am I giving somebody else over this information?
Because to you, that is your phone number. Inside a fundraising operation, it’s MONEY BABY!!!!
Eventually, Your List Dries Up
You call the people you know. You email them. You ask again.
Eventually, you reach the limits of what that list can produce. So where do you find more people?
Other campaigns have lists. Fundraising companies have lists. Political organizations have lists.
