My Crazy Idea: The Great Tip Jar Rattling of 2011.
Let me toss a few number at you. These are fundraising totals, for the first half of 2011 (candidates’ figures from Open Secrets).
- The Republican National Committee: $36.6 million ($6.7 million in June alone).
- Mitt Romney: $18.3 million.
- Ron Paul: $4.5 million.
- Tim Pawlenty: $4.5 million.
- Michele Bachmann: $3.6 million.
- Herman Cain: $2.55 million.
- Newt Gingrich: $2.1 million.
- Sarah Palin’s PAC: $1.7 million.
If we assume that half of the donations received by the RNC and SarahPAC will get spent, in some form or fashion, on the 2012 Presidential Race, we get a grand total of $45.1 million donated in six months for a campaign where we won’t see a real election until mid-February. Mind you, I didn’t include the fundraising totals for the RNCC and RNSC, because OpenSecrets doesn’t have a tally for the 2012 election cycle yet. It’s safe to say that between them, you could probably double that total.
Why do I point this out? Well, I’m afraid I’m back on my new media hobby horse again. See, this week I’ve had a few blog posts hit my RSS reader and little of the news has been good. Let me give you some of the highlights.
- Pete Ingemi, Da Tech Guy, is in urgent need of $1,800.
- Iowahawk had a monster flood sweep through his man-cave.
- My friend BiasedGirl is now a two-time victim of the Obama Recession.
- Stacy’s tip-jar is feeling a bit neglected and he has some bills coming due.
- It’s yearly fundraising time at Chris Muir’s Day by Day Cartoon.
- The Lonely Conservative is feeling, well, lonely!
- Thomas LaDuke, another victim of the Obama Recession, was looking at some pricey auto repairs and, though that need was met, still finds himself out of a job.
- Dan Collins and Joy McCann are trying to make a go of a conservative community with all manner of good stuff for your eyes and ears.
- Duane Lester, father of a rather large family, made a ridiculously inexpensive e-book he’s selling to make ends meet.
- Zilla, whose husband works one job and is trying to get a business off the ground in his “spare” time, is on the ragged edge.
- Wendy Sullivan is trying to get some real help to a very worth cause.
Quite the contrast, eh?
On one hand, the professional politicians — not just the candidates but their staff members who jump from campaign to campaign each season — are doing pretty well. On the other hand, folks in new media are sucking wind to pay their bills each month. But why should that be? Which group does more to aggressively advance conservative causes; take on pernicious media bias; and dos battle with the well-paid and full-time hacks in Media Matters, Think Progress, and the Democratic Party every day? I’ll tell you, from the looks of my e-mail inbox and my RSS reader, the new media Army of Davids
Let me point something else out as well. Every election cycle, the Republicans rattle their voluminous tip-jars for candidates we then have to fight for two, four, or six years to do the things we put them into office to do. They plead poverty and reap millions, then spend those millions on overpriced and arrogant advisers like Mike Murphy and Ed Rollins. They pay tens of thousands of dollars to “geniuses” like Fred Davis who produced such flops as “Demonsheep” and “I’m You”. When I mention this, though, my friends who have been on the inside of political campaigns assure me that we on the right must hire these people, that their expertise is indispensable.
I wonder, though. If they’re so darned good, why did their candidates lose so badly? Why don’t they have a few recent successes under their belts?
Let me point out one other thing. The Republican National Committee, for all its millions, has virtually no new media presence. They have one, perhaps two people, who work their tails off to cover the whole nation. No one is making videos and pushing them out on YouTube or Vimeo with any great frequency. No one makes regular outreach efforts to bloggers. I can’t recall that Chairman Priebus has had more than perhaps a couple conference calls with bloggers since January. Surely the RNC could have set aside a million or so this year, hired 6 or 8 established bloggers and videographers, and set them to work at the soft underbelly of the Democratic Party, but they haven’t. Now I understand that Michael Steele left the committee in horrible financial shape. I get that the “establishment” sees new media as the junior varsity. What I don’t understand is why anyone with any internet savvy at all would look at the Return On Investment (ROI) potential of new media and not at least give it a try. It’s not as if the RNC hasn’t spent money on media aplenty already.
But what does that have to do with you? I’m glad you asked. Let me grab a bit of Stacy McCain’s post today to start:
Furthermore, I know that most habitual blog-readers surf around to different sites — AOSHQ, Protein Wisdom, Legal Insurrection, etc. – and see those PayPal “donate” buttons all the time. But most of them, for whatever reason, never pause to think, “Hey, that ‘donate’ button is talking to me.” They might read a post and say, “Wow, that was really [informative, funny, helpful],” but it never occurs to them: “Hey, I’m gonna lay a $20 on Ace just to say thanks.”
Why don’t they think that? Well, because Ace is conscious of his dignity, and therefore reluctant to remind his regulars that he could use an extra $20 now and again. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen Ace rattle his tip jar, and always for some special occasion like travel expenses. But with his vast readership, Ace should never have to do even that much. By all rights, his tip jar should just be overflowing every day due to the spontaneous generosity of readers who appreciate his unique value to the blogosphere.
And you know something else? There’s a PayPal “donate” button at Instapundit, too. Professor Reynolds reserves his tip-jar receipts to help out fellow bloggers when they run into the kind of situation that Pete ran into. You might ask yourself: “What? Who would ever think to donate to Instapundit, the biggest badass traffic machine in the ‘sphere?” But obviously some people are that thoughtful, and those who have been the recipients of Insty’s occasional gifts not only owe gratitude to the professor, but also to the professor’s tip-jar hitters.
Here it is. Every month, we’re bombarded with donation requests from politicians and parties who assure us that the $20, $50, or $100 we send them over and over again will be well-spent. They promise us that they will use our money wisely and we believe them only to learn, usually after another losing election, that they spent the cash on overpriced fripperies and could have done just as well with half the money. I think they could do just as well with a little bit less. Their consultants and ad “geniuses” can bring their rates down a touch without falling into the peril of eating Mac and Cheese a couple times a week.
So here’s what I”m suggesting. Instead of donating to a candidate or a party, donate to a blogger or a podcaster. Make a regular habit of it. If you’d normally give $100 to a candidate, give a blogger $20 a month for five months. Heck, give $20 to five different bloggers. Let them know, in paying green fashion, that you support and appreciate what they do. Tell your friends, too and point them to the same bloggers to whom you donate. Get a little contest going among your friends and family to see who can get the first blogger to post about how their tip jar exploded because of all the cash that you all stuffed into it. Make it last at least through the end of this year and see how it works. If you can keep it up into 2012, when the new media will be even more important, do it. I know times are tough, but I think we can all come up with $10 or $20 a month somewhere.
And there’s another benefit. If you put that money into new media you can see what you get every day — blog entries, podcasts, videos, or any combination thereof. As Stacy said, it’s not a donation but a payment. You’ll get something out of it — real solid news or commentary you can send to people you know or use to bolster your own political chops. You also get regular, direct contact with the person to whom you’ve donated either through e-mail, other places like Twitter or Google+, or the comment section of the site. You can’t buy that from a candidate unless you pony up tens of thousands of dollars and even then, you won’t get that contact every day.
So your money buys not only global reach and regular output but also real access to real people who are hitting their licks for conservatism every day. If that’s not a deal in a day when parties are not exactly the model of transparency, I don’t know what is. And there’s no better time to start than now. If you have an extra ten spot kicking around in your wallet, hit one of the links toward the beginning of my post and drop it in a deserving blogger’s tip jar. If even half of you do that, you can make a huge difference and give a real lift to the spirits of some good conservative foot soldiers.
And don’t worry. The politicians will still get theirs. There’s plenty of money to go around and they’ll still fill up their coffers very nicely. Except if we do what I’m suggesting, we’ll have an army of hungry hounds on their trail who won’t have to stop every month to rattle their bowls. Wouldn’t that be a thing to see?
Other Posts of Interest:
- So, Is It The Two Million Hit Squad Now?
- Hey, Donors. Why Not Fund Some Bloggers?
- How Selfish Bloggers and a Hapless GOP Are Choking the Life from the Independent, Conservative Blogosphere
Category: Blogs and Blogging, Political Pontifications
*ahem* And all July Google ad revenue at girlontheright.com goes to assist military families in times of crisis, via Fisher House. You know, just sayin'.
RG
What a wonderful idea! I had to rattle my tip jar in crisis and go blegging today, thankfully, fellow bloggers and reads helped me out so I can stay online and buy food. If your idea took off, I am sure there'd be a whole lot less of a need for blegging in the right-blogosphere.
Thank you for adding me to your post! People helped & I'm OK now.
As soon as I have some time today/tonight I'd like to do a post incorporating ideas from you & Stacy and linking to some more bloggers to need help. Perhaps if we all raise our voices we can make things better for right bloggers everywhere!
[...] had contacted me and linked this article from Sundries Shack. They seem to have a great idea… Here it is. Every month, we’re bombarded with donation requests from politicians and parties who [...]
[...] 5) The Great Tip Jar Rattling of 2011. [...]
[...] email and found a notification of a donation received from Stacy McCain himself! Thanks! Update 3: Jimmie Bise linked, and knows a few other bloggers in need of funds. Forget politicians and PACS, give to [...]
Question – does anybody have ANYTHING but Paypal? I don't have a paypal account and don't intend to get one. How many times have I clicked on a tip jar and found out that you can't use anything but paypal – really, is it that widespread? I note that ALL the political sites, even individuals, have a credit card facility.
There are a couple reasons bloggers use PayPal. First, it's easy for an amateur to set up and use. PayPal handles the transfer fees and gets the money to the blogger in a very easy fashion. Setting up a credit card account with the various companies is cumbersome and costs quite a bit of money. Candidates can work with Visa directly because they pay people to manage the money. Bloggers don't have that luxury.
However, I bet if you contacted a blogger directly and offered to send them a check, they'd give you an address to where you could mail it. I've done that a time or two (as a recipient, that is).
If anyone wants to use snail mail to hit my tip jar without using a credit card, I'd happily give them my address! (and I have)
[...] JIMMIE BISE: My Crazy Idea: The Great Tipjar Rattling Of 2011. [...]
would it be better to donate small amounts to all or larger amounts to one or two?
It depends, Cat. If you're talking about $20 or $50 dollars, it's probably best to give that to one blogger. Though, if you're going to send $10 to a blogger every month for several months, that would work, especially if you and several others do the same thing.
Jimmy I need you to give me a call I have an interesting idea along these lines that I want to speak to you about. Peter (DaTechGuy)
Just yesterday I sent the following email to people who I know contribute to conservative politicians – we haven't put up a tip jar, yet –
Hope all is going well with you. I wanted to let you know about a new project Amy Burke and I have undertaken. As you know we have a website and – http://www.TheMadisonProject.org – and facebook page, and have had some success with that medium. About two months we began working on a public access TV 30-minute show using ICRC-TV training and resources. ICRC TV has coverage in 27-Hamilton County communities and programs are run multiple times within a month. Amy and I anticipate we will a 30-minute program every other month, the first one should begin running in early August. Attached to this email is the introduction which should give you an idea of what we plan to accomplish with the first program. We are already working on the second program which will focus on SB5.
The purpose of this email is to ask if XXXX would be interested in being listed as a sponsor. Sponsors will be listed after the program, but before the credits, with any information you would like to include. As a non-profit, ICRC is prohibited from accepting any advertising but like NPR we can list our sponsors. Amy has purchased additional equipment and we have traveled to Columbus multiple times, incurring travel and lodging expenses. By reaching out for sponsorships we hope to offset some of these expenses while providing an opportunity for your business to have some additional promotion within the community.
A sponsorship of $100 will be greatly appreciated, and thank you for your time and consideration.
Pete was my inspiration and gave me the stones to start, but we are only hanging on here in SW Ohio, so I hope prayers count because that's all I've got to send right now
Campaigns often set fund-raising goals and show them. If you are not getting the voluntary tips, it is because you do not make the visitors own the site. Here is how much I need, and here is where I am. A running total will make folks want to donate. Conservatives understand math. They are also generous, and will try to help you reach your goals.
It literally pays to advertise.
The problem with that, Marc, is that most conservative bloggers are loathe to "beg" for money. Some, and I think of Chris Muir here, do a yearly fundraising effort and he explicitly says that he uses the comic to pay all his bills. Most right-wing bloggers don't have the sort of audience to sustain that. I know I ran a fundraiser just a couple months ago — one of two I'll do this year — that used both The Shack and my podcast The Delivery, and the initial attempt was fair but by no means grand.
The notion behind my post is not to raise money for bloggers so they can quit their jobs and live on blogging full-time (though some like Stacy and Pete are working on that very thing). What I'm suggesting ls that blog readers send a little schmundo to their favorite people once and again as a matter of habit to give those bloggers a little bit of slack. It does make the blogging easier and encourages even more of it.
Good points, Jimmie. In answer to Marc, I'd say that when I'm fundraising for a specific purpose — usually travel — I explain up front what the costs are and suggests amounts. The readers generally get the idea that I've hit my goal when I stop hinting around for more tip-jar hits.____But trust me when I say that I'm not getting rich off this. To borrow a colorful phrase from P.J. O'Rourke, I'm not "farting through silk." So the idea of setting some specific target amount and then running a chart to show the progress . . . well, it strikes me as kind of silly because:____A. What amount do I need? "More." Period.__B. Suppose that I set up a chart showing progress toward a goal of raising $5,000. And after two days, I was at $14.95. The Left would laugh themselves silly at my public failure.____So my tendency to be vague as to my fundraising needs (and success or failure in meeting those needs) is not without its strategic advantages. And there is no such thing as a blogger who isn't happy to get $10 or $20 in the tip jar — or a blogger who doesn't need it.
that's it exactly. Last December, in desperation, I sent an email to the Blog Father…as I was unemployed at the time, it helped keep a roof over my family's head for two months. Just enought time to finally find some work, and gain enough income to KEEP the roof over our heads. Now, I'm just trying to get ahead of the mountainn (small, perhaps to you, but when you've nothing left, it's large enough) of bills that we still owe…and get my wife's fuel efficient car back on the road. That being said, you have no idea, Marc, just how hard it was to beg for help. Now…naked pleas are about all that's left.
Some of the larger blogs, Instapundit, and a few others, actually make a pretty good living…but those of us who are very very small fish, well, mostly we just struggle to make ends meet. But, next year, I'm hoping for a change, if Mr. Obama doesn't utterly derail the economy in the mean time…
Rich Vail, Pikesville, Maryland The Vail Spot dot Blogspot dot Com
Great idea! I will practice it and combine it with the "Not One Red Cent" boycott of the NRSC. http://boycottnrsc.blogspot.com
Can I add my naked plea? We're
I'm now working full-time, though the best my wife has done is part-time work for a major department store…despite having 24 years experience in retail (17 years of that in management) as an "office assistant" making $9 hr. I make $17.00 hour as a cabinetmaker. This in metro-Baltimore, Maryland.
Her car (2006 Toyota Echo) is broken and we're down to my 1994 Nissan Pickup…which is now making death rattles. My website is
http://thevailspot.blogspot.com
Any possible help, anyone could give us is and would be deeply appreciated.
Rich Vail
Pikesville Maryland
The Vail Spot dot Blogspot dot Com
Brilliant idea, Jimmie
Thanks Tania!
And thank you, guys, for the kind words. All I ask is that you do what you can to help the folks whose work you enjoy regularly. It doesn’t take much from any one person, but if 50 or 100 of you all help a little, you can have a huge effect.
[...] “it” in this case being other bloggers’ tip jars. He’s got a list of several bloggers in need and he’s rattling the tip jar for them, [...]
[...] Instapundit) He calls it crazy, but it’s not, really: So here’s what I”m suggesting. Instead of donating to a candidate or a party, donate to a [...]
[...] right there. We’ve done it before, we’ll do it again, and here’s where I quote Jimmie Bise’s brilliant observation:What I don’t understand is why anyone with any internet savvy at all would look at the Return On [...]
It is hard making money blogging. I just started and have had very little success making any revenue from ads. Interesting article, I like your point about the GOP not utilizing the media. I completely agree they should have staffers completely dedicated to social media and trolling the web via youtube, twitter and facebook. The republican party has almost become a party of the "old" and it is almost as if they do not welcome change at all even new forms of campaigning.
I actually just covered this topic towards the bottom of my latest article: http://smartfiscalpolicy.blogspot.com/2011/07/loo…
Enjoy
[...] McCain wants to go to Iowa. We should send him.Troglopundit and Moe Lane are fully on board with my crazy tip-jar idea. Want to rattle theirs? Go to it!Here’s Ed Driscoll on the Obamamobious Loop.This, right [...]
All I can say is I share your pain and you have a great idea! Wrote about it this morning. Conservs need a Daddy George (on a smaller scale of course!)
Well as you know, I've quoted from & linked to you here:
Do You Want America's Future Decided by the MSM or by The People?
but hopefully some of your readers will stop by and help carry the message further, like maybe to the RNC!
[...] where my money is going. Not, by the way, that politicians are not on that list. Speaking of which, have you donated to your favorite bloggers this month? Remember that they will do good with your money — more good in many cases than [...]
If you notice and new hits to this post, THIS might have something to do with it, because sometimes ya gotta go with the classics from the masters:
http://zillablog.marezilla.com/2011/12/conservative-bloggers-chopped-liver-of.html
[...] there are no blogger Sugar Daddies for Conservative bloggers, not even from the right, as Jimmie Bise explains at the Sundries Shack: Let me toss a few number at you. These are fundraising totals, for the first half of 2011 [...]