In addition to general contribution and fundraising buttons on campaign websites, candidates can use widgets in a variety of ways to help get out the word and raise money.
One of the more popular fund raising widget services is ChipIn, a Web-based service designed for collecting money from groups of people. It’s designed to help to get the word out and raise money for specific events.
The ChipIn widget is a Flash application that shows details, such as your monetary goal, how much money has been raised, and when the event ends. You can embed the ChipIn widget on your website or on social networking profiles by pasting a few lines of HTML code into the page.
Contributors donate via PayPal and the money goes directly into a PayPal account. You can track the progress of your event through the ChipIn widget or by logging into your account and viewing your Dashboard. As of this writing, ChipIn does not charge for their service. However, PayPal fees still apply.
While a tool like this could work for a candidate’s general campaign, it might be better used for a specific fund raising goal. Different widgets could be created to raise money for any number of reasons.
“Opponent X said/did something outrageous! Show your support for candidate Y by helping him/her raise X dollars by the end of the week!”
“We need one more mailing to get our message to the voters! Help us raise $1000 by this Friday!”
This sort of tactic is often used in larger political campaigns, but there’s no reason why a local candidate cannot do the same. With a groundwork of online supporters and a little creativity, a candidate could rally additional contributions based on specific events or time deadlines.
Other donation widgets can be found at widgetbox.
Anyone used a fund raising widget? Feel free to share your experiences or recommendations below!
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Tags: campaign fundraising, facebook, twitter, volunteers, website tips
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