Time is money, even in politics

More like especially in politics.

And since these days a campaign is more like a startup anyway, anything that can be kept from being outsourced or managed for a fee in-house is as good as the hourly wage not paid.

Here are a few huge savings campaigns typically find by going the Internet route:

• Stamps. Unless you want to take that age-old novel approach of sending something in hard copy. These days it’s a classy unexpected touch to get a nice mailer from a campaign office. More common is the ubiquitous campaign email with donation links every other sentence. But that’s the way business is done in an Internet campaign. No stamps!
• Bank accounts. It takes time to set up a bank account. And when you accept credit cards, you basically have to post a bond against the payment in case it fails. There’s a lot of risk, and that’s why many companies have emerged in this space. Small companies will go with PayPal or Authorize.net rather than deal with credit card companies themselves. And these days, if you’re a Dem at least, you have ActBlue. No more bank account fees!
• Data Acquisition. This has been going on for decades, but at least since the 1970s, it’s been a fool’s errand to go out and collect your own demographic data. Stop right now if that’s what you’re considering. Go instead with VAN or Aristotle. They’re the data gods and have every bit of voter information available for your download, if you’re a legitimate candidate. Oh, and you have to belong to the right party. But don’t worry, if you’re a Democrat or Republican, at least, you’re pretty well covered.

Mass email, electronic bank account providers, and online voter file administration have saved millions of dollars and hours over the last several cycles. What will come next? Stay tuned to this blog and we’ll drop a few hints…