Money in Politics

Is there a gender gap in political fundraising? Amanda Renteria is a Senior Advisor and former Interim President of Emerge America, a national organization that recruits, trains, and provides a powerful network to Democratic women who want to run for office. She is also a former candidate for congress and governor in California. Amanda joins the Money in Politics Podcast to discuss the unique challenges and opportunities that women...

Since August 2019, the Federal Elections Commission has lacked the minimum number of commissioners it needs to undertake some of its most essential operations, including the enforcement of America's federal election laws. With the 2020 campaigns well underway, Blair Schuman, a compliance expert and the founder of Roger That Compliance, joins the Money in Politics Podcast to talk about why this matters, how we got here, and wha...

There's a lot about money in politics that is flawed. But how do we fix it? Betsy Sweet is running for U.S. Senate in Maine with a passion for getting money out of politics, and she has a history of work on the issue. Betsy helped write the Clean Elections Act in Maine, the nation's first full public funding system for state legislative and gubernatorial races. She ran for governor as a "Clean Elections Act" can...

Money can play a big role in how the media covers campaigns. How much money have you raised? How much have you spent? Who's donating? Emily Glazer is one of the reporters covering the 2020 election for the Wall Street Journal and writes about the convergence of money, politics, and tech. She joins the Money in Politics podcast to share how she thinks about her coverage, and insights from her coverage of the Buttigieg and Biden...

Fundraising can be a daunting task for any campaign, but especially for a first-time candidate. Karl Frisch was recently elected to the Fairfax County Public School Board in Virginia - the 10th largest school division in the United States that serves more than 188,000 students. He not only ran as a first-time candidate, but in the process, he raised an unprecedented amount of money. Karl joins the Money in Politics Podcast to talk ...

The coronavirus pandemic has fundamentally changed how campagins are operating. But despite the circumstances, staffers continue to need to be paid, advertisements still cost money, and elections will inevitably take place. On today's "How To" episode of the Money in Politics podcast, Andrew shares best practices from what he has been hearing from campaigns and fundraising professionals across the country about how t...

While some campaigns have been slow to incorporate a digital infrastructure into their fundraising, others have come to rely on it. Toby Fallsgraff has spent more than a decade in digital communications and served in leadership roles in the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. Now, he serves as Chief Strategy Officer of Do Big Things, a digital campaigning consulting firm. Toby joins the Money in Politics Pod...

How do candidates prove that they are electable and that their campaign is viable? Often, the answer comes down to how much they can fundraise. Viability- or at least the perception of viability- can dramatically impact which candidates stay in the race and which drop out, well before voters see a ballot. Alex Obolensky is a fundraiser and political operative who recently served as the Finance Director for Cora Neumann's campa...

Campaign finance filings are typically only interesting for those who work in campaign finance. That's not always the case, though. Zach Montellaro, a Politico reporter, made waves recently when he brought to light how a PAC, Americans for Progressive Action USA, seemingly raised and spent millions of dollars. The catch? The vendors they listed never worked with them and the ads apparently never ran. Zach joins the Money in Po...

It shouldn’t be surprising that people are much more reachable and persuadable by individuals that they already know and trust. But how does this translate to fundraising? Shola Farber is the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of the Tuesday Company, a firm that helps organizations strengthen their connection with supporters to drive community activism and fundraising. Shola joins the Money in Politics podcast to discuss how cam...

One of the biggest barriers to fundraising is building a robust database of current and prospective donors. All too often, campaigns are quick to blame their fundraising woes on simply not having a good enough list. But building and maintaining your donor network is an ongoing endeavor, not something you either "have" or "don't have." On today's "How To" episode of the Money in Politics podca...

"Machine learning" and "artificial intelligence" get tossed around a lot these days. And many people are rightfully skeptical about all that people and companies claim to be doing with big data in politics. Adam Boaz-Becker is a data engineer and Co-Founder of CallTime.AI. His work in data science has enabled campaigns across the country to utilize actionable data to fine-tune their fundraising operations. Adam ...

The health of our democracy has increasingly come into question in recent years and decades, and the role money plays in our politics is a big part of that discussion. David Hawkings is the Editor in Chief of The Fulcrum, a nonprofit and nonpartisan newsite that is dedicated to covering the problems that threaten our democratic system, and the work being done to help address those problems. David joins the Money in Politics podcast...

The Department of Justice recently opened investigations into lawmakers who sold millions of dollars in stocks after attending closed-door congressional briefings about the COVID-19 pandemic, soon before the market experienced a sharp downturn. Prior to the 2012 passage of the STOCK Act, however, it was completely legal for members of congress to use private information they received as part of their congressional duties to make tr...