Intro to Political Fundraising - National Democratic Training Committee

Intro to Fundraising

By Kelly Dietrich
75 min
Fundraising

What You’ll Learn

  • Recognize the importance of fundraising on a political campaign
  • Classify potential donors by their revenue source and motivation to give
  • Identify the five sources of revenue available to a campaign
  • Escalate donors up the ladder of engagement to increase their support of a campaign

Why This is Important

What is political fundraising? Why do you do it, and how is it done? Together, we’ll explore the role of fundraising in your campaign, describe the five common revenue streams used to raise money, teach you how to prioritize donors, and show you how to turn donors into repeat donors.

Key Resources

  • Soliciting Donors Activity
  • Template Meeting Briefing
  • Sample Meeting Briefing

Related Trainings

  • Fundraising: What’s My Job? — If you aren’t quite sure as to your role in all of these fundraising elements, or whether this is the right place for you, learn about the role of a fundraiser first
  • Where to Start Fundraising: The Candidate’s NetworkYour highest-value revenue stream, call time, starts with your candidate’s network. Get started by collecting and organizing all their data to allow your candidate to ask for donations effectively and efficiently

Kelly Dietrich

Trainer

As founder and CEO of the National Democratic Training Committee (NDTC), Kelly Dietrich brings more than 20 years of experience on dozens of Democratic campaigns across the country.

Kelly started NDTC in 2016, where at the time it was a collection of videos covering an array of campaign topics, available to campaigns and their volunteers for free. Five years later, those videos grew into a fully fledged training program with hundreds of courses, videos, and articles about running effective campaigns. Kelly’s expertise in various areas — fundraising, staff training, sci-fi (maybe not as much) — have shaped NDTC into an industry leader in Democratic politics.

Originally from Missouri, Kelly lives in Chicago, IL with his wife, daughter, and dog, Tulip, who is allegedly part cat. Beyond work, Kelly is a diehard Kansas Jayhawk and an avid poker player. Kelly also serves on the board of directors at his local park, Sheil Park. This is where he “plays” basketball, which according to his wife can only be loosely considered a hobby. Even with all these interests, Kelly remains committed to making sure high quality tools and training are available to any Democrat who steps up to run for office, work on a campaign, or make their community better.