I've blogged about changing the way the party raises money before. However, I would like to discuss this again in more detail.
The Democrats have fallen behind in terms of fundraising (even though it certainly has gotten better.) Principally, this is at the local and even state levels.
If Democrats hope to win in 2006 and beyond, its local and state parties must change the ways they're fundraising. Here's the best idea I've heard in a long time:
The technical term is a recurring donor program. Its your standard fundraising technique, people pay a certain amount a month to the local, state, or even national party. The difference between a recurring donor program and your standard pledging is that monthly "pledges" are automatically taken out of a donors bank account.
Such a program can be set up for any local party online through PayPal and/or with a standard bank. All you need to do is set up a merchant account and recruit some donors to get things rolling.
The potential is enormous, as you can imagine. In my home county, Marion County, Florida, there are 75,000+ registered Democrats. By getting a fraction of these supporters means big money for the local party there. By getting 10% of all registered Democrats in the county on the program (roughly 7500), with the minimum monthly amount being $10, you raise a MINIMUM of $75,000 a month, which is nearly a million dollars a year ($900,000.) This is enough to have office space, hire staff, and be able to substantially aid candidates financially (a county commission race in Marion County is around $60,000.)
Imagine what you can do in your county.