News Items
May 11, 2011
Comparative Analysis of Business PAC Trends 2004-2010
Sagac Public Affairs has released its latest benchmarking survey and there are some useful stats: average PAC contributions are UP…$427 in 2010, but overall participation is DOWN to 13% from 19% in 2006. Average contributions to federal candidates in 2010: $2916 to House candidates; $4919 to Senate candidates.
It’s costing almost twice as much to raise those “hard” dollars ($.46 for every dollar raised; $.24 in 2004). Direct mail, one-on-one solicitations and food events are the best ways to go after those PAC dollars. Payroll deduction plans or dues billing arrangements are the preferred contribution methods. Best techniques to reward participants are networking with public officials and invites to “special” events.
In the area of “communications," email remains a sure way to communicate political information, but the BEST format for communicating with donors is formal meetings…a big change from the past when it was considered appropriate to use email for this purpose. And while nearly three quarters of all business/association PACs contribute to congressional leadership PACs, there’s been a significant drop-off in in-kind fundraising activities. This may suggest that the donors and the candidates want to keep the focus on the PAC dollars generated.