Political TechnologyHomepage > The 2009 Reed Awards > Political Technology2009 Reed Winners... Best Online Fundraising Tool eNilsson International, LLC – ElephantTrakker Eight days after filing paperwork to create a Presidential Exploratory Committee, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney scheduled a major fundraising event where over 400 executives and heads of industry would come together to raise $1 million dollars for his campaign. Romney demanded that fundraisers on this National Call Day have the ability to process credit card donations on the spot. To do so, the campaign turned to eNilsson International to develop a simple interface that would empower National Call Day attendees with the ability to process credit cards and track the status calls made during the event. The primary objectives of the web-based application, as specified by the Romney campaign, were to process credit card and check contributions, record information about every call placed, track all donations and pledges for each individual fundraiser and generate simple reports to allow for well-informed follow-up calls. Dubbed QuickComMITT, this eNilsson application fed a database that enabled the Romney for President Exploratory Committee staff to track and stratify all information collected during National Call Day.  Best Use of Email/Viral Marketing MSHC Partners – "Dress Like Palin" The California Nurses Association wanted to take advantage of the scandal surrounding the money Sarah Palin spent on clothes before the Republican Convention to illustrate just how out of touch the Republican National Committee—and Palin in particular—are with the average voters. The site created features a game that shows what average folks would do with the $150,000 the Republican National Committee and Palin spent on clothes.  Best Use of Innovative Technology eNilsson International, LLC – ElephantScheduler Upon announcing his candidacy for president, Gov. Mitt Romney declared, "Innovation and transformation have been at the heart of America's success. If there ever was a time when innovation and transformation were needed in government, it is now." Gov. Romney understood that the campaign's most valuable asset is the candidate's time. In order to maximize the return on his efforts, he demanded a campaign-logistics system that would automate and manage the hundreds of event requests arriving each week, the dispersed campaign staff's activities, the many campaign-surrogate events and all his campaign event data reporting. In response, eNilsson created the ElephantScheduler, a highly secure, web-based application that automates and standardizes the campaign "event" life-cycles, from scheduling to execution.  Best Use of Mobile Technology Distributive Networks – Obama for America The announcement that Barack Obama would officially announce his pick of running mate via text message catalyzed participation in the mobile campaign, dramatically increasing the size of Obama's database of mobile numbers—even in demographics that had never before sent a text message. Nielsen Mobile reported that Obama's text message announcement of Joe Biden as his running mate "is, by many accounts, the single largest mobile marketing event in the US, to date" and "one of the most important text messages ever sent and one of the most successful brand engagements using mobile media." But even early on, the Obama campaign recognized the vital role that mobile technology could play in campaigns. Distributive Networks first launched Obama Mobile in June 2007, providing ringtones, wallpapers, alerts, and microtargeted content. The system allowed the Obama campaign staff to respond personally to text messages and during primary season proved critical in organizing volunteers, donations and merchandise. Obama for America has been committed to making the very most of the mobile channel, relying not on what peers or even major brands have done, but forging a unique course ahead, all with the help of Distributive Networks.  Best Use of Social Networking Technology Pickens Plan – Pickens Plan The Pickens Plan social network is where the Pickens Plan "New Energy Army" of over 1.4 million members communicates and organizes with the campaign and fellow supporters. The Push community was built using Ning technology. Over a four-month period, the Army generated over 500,000 letters to elected officials in support of the Pickens Plan, put over 170,000 signatures on a petition targeting the presidential candidates and sent over 48,000 congratulatory emails to then President-elect Obama. The Army is now organizing groups in every Congressional district for the next Congress.  Web Video: Candidate, Ballot Initiative & IE’s BrabenderCox – "Clown" This message used the novel concept of a clown to reinforce the candidate's message about his opponent: as Governor, he was inefficient, prone to wasteful spending and saddled with hefty deficits. Website: Congressional/Senatorial/Statewide Upstream Communications – www.JohnCornyn.com This non-traditional campaign website, which features copy laid over huge scenic background images of life across Texas, helped build the image of a U.S. Senator with relatively low name recognition for an incumbent. Cornyn was shown in casual dress with "Common Sense" as the caption. The complex design required careful planning to ensure it looked consistent across various browsers. Comments on the blog and on YouTube frequently called the site "sincere"—exactly what Upstream Communications was trying to convey.  Website: Independent Expenditure Campaign/Issue Advocacy [tie] Articulated Man, Inc. – McCain’s Lobbyists To expose the fact that McCain's lobbyists, working for foreign dictators and a who's who of corporate America, have made more than a half-billion dollars in the last decade, Articulated Man, Inc. created this fun website. These lobbyists have given McCain more than $10 million in campaign donations.  Liberty Concepts, Inc. – TheGreatSchlep.org/Jewsvote.org After polls indicated that Flordia Jewsih voters were very averse to Obama's candidacy, an online movement was conceived to convince young Jewish Americans to make "A Great Schlep" to Florida to convince their grandparents to vote for Obama and to dispel erroneous assumptions about his candidacy. The online campaign included two elements: a humorous video starring comedian Sarah Silverman that generated massive viral traffic to thegreatschlep.com and an entire online advocacy infrastructure behind the viral growth at jewsvote.org. The sites' many features included new peer-to-peer advocacy and fundraising tools, comprehensive travel information and booking tools to send Jewish grandchildren to Florida and advertisement sponsoring tools, where users could select ads they wanted run in local publications and contribute towards placing those advertisements.  Website: State legislative & Local Races Blackrock Associates – www.FionaMa.com This website helped establish California State Assemblywoman Fiona Ma as an up-and-coming legislator who is ready to respond her district's needs and help lead her state into the future. The website provides numerous opportunities for visitors to learn about Ma's activities and positions on the issues, while also providing opportunities for interacting and taking action: Advocacy campaigns, links to her social networking profiles, online video and the latest news about her legislative activities were prominently featured.  |
