Comment by notahacker
3 years ago
If your skills are relevant and good, you ought to be able to have way more impact on a political campaign than a 17k donation, which at most levels of developed world politics barely scratches the surface and isn't going to teach you anything about politics either.
It's a little different if the volunteering is something low impact or something you're way out of your depth in, or if the cause wanting money has a way of getting very tangible rewards (which are quantifiably greater than whatever free time you can spare on it)
Have you ever donated 10s of thousands to a political campaign? For anything congressional-level or lower, this gets you calls from the politician, face-to-face access, emails, meetings, and up-to-date info. You will soon be fielding calls from people you haven't donated to, who think you may donate, and they will also listen to you.
And this is for congressional-level. For state senate, state house, local gov, etc. I imagine this could go even further. City councils and mayors have lots of impact but little donations.
I can confirm. After donating a similar amount, I regularly field calls from candidates (directly, not from their staff). Granted it’s usually just asking for more money, although I’ve had some interesting chats to say the least.
10k is not a lot at the presidential election sure, and maybe not for Senate either, but it is a lot of money even in House races. And for many state races.
How do you contribute more than $2700? Ask for an invite to a fundraising dinner? Find a PAC? I've given the max contribution before but never heard about the ways to give more.
1 reply →