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Edited on Tue Dec-30-03 01:19 AM by DoveTurnedHawk
Hi, I'm Dennis, AKA DoveTurnedHawk. Longtime DU member, sometime Moderator, part-time troublemaker, and full-time loudmouth. I am not a professional fundraiser. I am not a Democratic Party bigwig. I am not one of the rich or famous. I never once met my candidate or his senior staff prior to joining his campaign as a volunteer.
Yet somehow, I managed to put together a fundraiser that garnered approximately $50,000 for my chosen candidate. I fully admit, I can often be as arrogant as a politician myself, but I am actually not saying this to boast or toot my own horn. I am saying this to let all of you know that you can make a difference, too.
The only thing I did to receive this honor, this awesome responsibility, was to show up, express interest, offer to help, put in lots of time, conduct myself competently, and most importantly, always keep it about the advancement of the campaign, and never about the advancement of myself. If you do these things, if you stick with it and persevere, you will get noticed.
Eventually, I was noticed. I'd asked many times, without success, to start a subgroup of the main volunteer organization. Mine happened to be a professional subgroup, but yours could be an issue advocacy group, or a special interest group, or a regional geographic group, in my opinion the specific type of group doesn't really matter all that much.
The key here is not to despair or take offense when your initial inquiries are rejected or ignored. The people in charge are busy, so it may be that they just haven't had time to get to you yet. You also have to establish a basic level of trust and responsibility with the people in charge, they aren't just going to hand the keys to someone they don't know very well.
Regardless, once you've formed your subgroup, that's your opportunity. The harsh reality is, most of these subgroups don't really do much of anything. Maybe the subgroup, or its leader, loses interest, or is daunted by the enormity of the tasks ahead, or was just looking for a resume builder. Regardless, it's your responsibility to make sure that you're not one of the "do-nothing" groups. It's your responsibility to advance the interests of the campaign, even at great personal time and/or expense, if necessary.
So you assemble your group of like-minded folks. You hold meetings, you start e-mail lists and discussions, and most importantly, you plan your event. It doesn't even have to be a fundraiser, maybe it's a rally, or a protest, or an awareness-raising event. Regardless, the event is crucial, because events help focus your attention and your efforts. Without an event, you end up wandering aimlessly, rehashing the same old stuff again and again in a pointless circle jerk of mental masturbation.
(Hmm. Does that sound familiar to anyone?)
Once you decide on your event, you hit it hard. Remember, this is your event. A keen sense of personal responsibility -- or a dire fear of humiliation and embarrassment -- or perhaps a mixture of both, really helps immensely here. Pay attention to the little things, but also make sure to assign and delegate tasks, or else you'll drive yourself crazy. But when you delegate, make sure you also maintain accountability, or else you run the risk of having things slip through the cracks. Think everything through, talk everything out, from the small logistical details to the big picture goals. Planning is everything, because even if you plan for everything, there will always be the last-minute changes and unexpected events that will sorely tax your crisis management skills.
On the day of your event, even if you've done your job properly, you will still be a frenetic whirlwind of stress and energy. Make sure you multiply your estimate of how long you expect your setup tasks to take by at least 150% and you should be in decent shape. During the event, try to relax, remember that you're probably visible to the public, and people expect you to be acting a certain way. You don't always have to act that way, of course, and sometimes it might even be in the interest of the campaign for you not to act that way, but regardless, to the extent it's possible, try to make sure everything is done by your controlled and informed decision.
At the end of the day, if you've done your job right and enjoyed at least a little bit of good luck (or at the very least, avoided a run of really bad luck), you'll have put on a successful event. Sometimes this leads to accolades, which means even more work for you as you're sought to do even more events in the future. Sometimes the event is a one-time thing, quickly forgotten. Regardless, however, you'll have the immense personal satisfaction of knowing that you stood up for something, for someone, and that you did your very, very best.
And regardless of whether or not your chosen candidate makes it to the end of the rainbow, that personal satisfaction feels pretty phenomenal, and it stays with you forever.
I don't think I'm the only one to notice that this forum has been filled with a lot of negativity lately. This is my small effort to focus on the positive, to remind everyone that even in the midst of a vicious primary season, we are all still working toward the same goal. Regardless of who the Democratic Party's ultimate nominee is, reaching that goal will take emotion, energy, money, and most importantly, hard work. Passion. Dedication. Sacrifice. Diligence.
I stand ready. Starting next summer, I hope you will stand with me.
DTH
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