February 16, 2004

Attention, GOP Candidates...

Attention, Republicans running for office: Advertising on blogs is a great way to raise campaign donations.

With an investment of only $2,000, and in less than two weeks, the campaign has raked in between $45,000 and $50,000 in contributions from blog readers, and that number is growing every day, said Chandler campaign manager Mark Nickolas.

Chandler - a former state auditor and former state attorney general - is facing off against GOP state Sen. Alice Forgy Kerr in the Feb. 17 special election for the Lexington-area House seat. ... Nickolas said the contributions from blog readers are "averaging in the $40 to $50 range." The vast number of contributions are between $20 and $25, but every so often a $1,000 or $2,000 contribution will pop up to "boost the average."

Chandler's experience seems to reinforce conclusions made by the Institute for Politics, Democracy and the Internet, which in a recent report stated that the "great promise of online fundraising lies in its low transaction costs," enabling political fundraisers to "look to average people for funding."