R.O.I.
PROSPERITY PROJECT®
PROSPERITY FUND® 2012
PAC SERVICES
OBJECTIVE:
Provide additional service and strategic guidance to all
members, building more robust PACs and electing more
pro-prosperity candidates.
OUTCOME:
BIPAC’s PAC Services clients represented more than
$41 million in PAC assets this cycle.
The impressive growth in Founder level memberships
($20,000 and above) using PAC Services attests to the
value of this approach and increased BIPAC’s success in
promoting the pro-prosperity, pro-growth business agenda.
LESSONS LEARNED:
Further integration of PAC Services with the Prosperity
Project is not only invaluable to those managing
business PACs, but also increases the level of restricted
class involvement in issues and elections, resulting in
more effective business issue and political advocacy.
GET OUT THE VOTE
OBJECTIVE:
Provide early voting, business GOTV messaging, and
make GOTV efforts a standard operating procedure,
enabling members to reach, register, and turn out
millions of employee voters.
OUTCOME:
Beginning in March, BIPAC sent members more than
60 sample Get Out the Vote (GOTV) messages and
templates members could either customize or send “as
is” to their employees. The recipient member employers
and associations represented more than 10 million
employees.
LESSONS LEARNED:
GOTV and early voting efforts should include more
robust use of non-email GOTV messaging such as tweets,
videos, and Facebook posts, as well as efforts to motivate
members.
The Prosperity Project (P2) consists of web
services and tools forming a concentrated
effort to mobilize the business community.
Velita quis reratis ipsandis aut ped qui
alite alia si vel ium debit, omnimpore ex et
PARTICIPATING
COMPANIES AND
ASSOCIATIONS
50
184
914
1,628
3,764
5,038
6,300
P2 GROWTH
2000
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
MESSAGES
DELIVERED
1.5
Million
11
Million
40
Million
57
Million
107
Million
197
Million
232
Million
VOTER FORMS
PROVIDED
147,000
348,000
1.69 Million
1.99 Million
2.10 Million
2.20 Million
2.7 Million
LETTERS TO
POLICY MAKERS
N/A
N/A
286,000
1.14 Million
1.2 Million
1.91 Million
1.95 Million
NEW MEDIA
OBJECTIVE:
Continue BIPAC’s leadership role in the business community’s
use of social media to build an enterprise grassroots following,
create and deploy digital issue and GOTV campaigns in
targeted areas to drive greater voter engagement, and facilitate
increased strategic use of new media communications by
American employers.
OUTCOME:
Under the brand Fight For Jobs, and through collaboration with
BIPAC’s state and local deployment partners, BIPAC utilized
the power of digital advertising, social media, and grassroots
engagement to connect with voters and shape thoughts and
behaviors.
:: With the use of the Google Ad Network, BIPAC was one
of the only political organizations whose video ads were
watched all the way through by viewers, which speaks to the
quality of the content. BIPAC also engaged voters at a higher
rate than in 2010.
:: On Twitter, BIPAC beat both the Obama and Romney
campaigns as the official hash tag (#FightForJobs) for the
October 16th Presidential Debate, with over 66 million
impressions.
:: There were 225,000 visitors to P2 sites with a 1.13% click
through rate, rising well above the national average.
LESSONS LEARNED:
BIPAC has become an effective laboratory for new media
strategies by focusing state of the art tactics on targeted issue
and voter education messaging. BIPAC can help business be
more effective by focusing on the quality of the race and not
the quantity of geography.
“You guys continue to surprise and delight
me at every turn. Your technology ROCKS!
More sophisticated and targeted than I
could have ever hoped for.”
Melissa Cummings, Domino’s Pizza
PROSPERITY PROJECT (P2)
OBJECTIVE:
Extend service and strategic guidance on employer to
employee communications to the ever expanding business
audience, in order to increase issue-based communications to
millions of additional private sector employees.
OUTCOME:
BIPAC assisted more than 6,300 companies and associations
with communications to employee/stakeholder voters about
elections, provided strategies, sample messaging, staffing,
and web-based communications platforms.
LESSONS LEARNED:
Further integration and continued innovation of state and local
deployment partners’ issues and elections materials into P2
offerings will drive member participation and, in turn, voter
awareness of issues at both the state and federal level.
“Working
together with BIPAC,
North Carolina Chamber IE sent
more than 5 million emails to likely
voters over the last three weeks of the 2012
campaign. This targeted email program was
instrumental in helping a liability-restraining
North Carolina Supreme Court justice win
reelection 52-48, holding the 4-3 businessfriendly majority on the Court, critical to
maintaining and improving North
Carolina’s climate for growth and
job creation.”
Nathan Babcock, North Carolina Chamber
DIRECT VOTER CONTACT
OBJECTIVE:
Educate persuadable voters on key issues in geo-specific
areas and motivate them to vote.
OUTCOME:
Instead of exclusively implementing candidate-centered
advocacy, BIPAC focused its efforts on contacting voters
via phone calls, emails, and social media, educating
them on the importance of informed voting on key
issues and candidates that affect the economy and
their industry, creating an environment friendly to proprosperity messages and candidates.
:: Partnered with local business organizations in 10
states to more effectively target and communicate state
specific messages to voters.
:: Geographically targeted congressional districts that
layered over critical state legislative districts.
:: Implemented a cost-effective process allowing
maximum reach with minimum cost.
LESSONS LEARNED:
BIPAC can be most effective at influencing outcomes
by narrowing their candidate and geographic targets,
sharpening their messages, and increasing message
penetration.
Twenty-four (24) of
the freshmen members
of Congress BIPAC
endorsed in 2010 ran
for re-election and were
endorsed by BIPAC again
in 2012. Of those, 18
won and 6 lost. BIPAC
effectively protected 18
pro-business elected
officials and successfully
kept them in office.
24
ENDORSED
18
WON
6
LOST
MEDIA MONITORING
OBJECTIVE:
Explore the effectiveness of new alternative models
for measuring voter sentiment and relevant message
development through use of social media monitoring tools.
OUTCOME:
Through test projects in Arizona, Colorado, Ohio and
Virginia, BIPAC discovered the noise level on social
networks can be deafening - but there are opportunities to
cut through the clutter with a properly devised messaging
campaign.
LESSONS LEARNED:
This technology is evolving and offers unlimited
possibilities but should remain a complement to, rather
than replacement of, traditional polling research.
The social media monitoring space needs further
development before it can reach its full potential and
become a reliable, viable, and actionable new strategy.
STATE AND LOCAL
DEPLOYMENT PARTNERS
OBJECTIVE:
Increase the reach, depth, and effectiveness of BIPAC’s
messages and advocacy initiatives by developing more
affiliations with local and state businesses leaders and
employee voters.
OUTCOME:
BIPAC’s unique advocacy network grew to more than
46 states in 2012. This growth included thousands
of state and local businesses and groups, adding to
BIPAC’s indigenous, integrated, issue-driven infrastructure
for the business community.
LESSONS LEARNED:
An ever expanding and robust state and local
deployment partner network delivers dividends to
the national business community in the form of easily
activated networks, new tools and programming,
expanded access to more companies and business
groups, and the increased message penetration that
comes with local issue relevance.
“The majority of
voters want to enter the
voting booth armed with facts
about the candidates on their ballot.
Arizona Prosperity Project and VotaAZ
provide a solid foundation for this
important discussion.”
Glenn Hamer, President
Arizona Chamber of Commerce and Industry
NATIONAL POLL
KEY FINDINGS:
According to the 2012 National Poll, 52% of Americans
still self-identify themselves as fiscally conservative versus
only 17% who say they are fiscally liberal. When given
the choice between two views of what America ought
to be, 63% still believe in a limited role for government
while only 29% support the more socialized view of
guaranteed, cradle-to-grave government. In short,
Americans believe in the economic opportunity of free
enterprise, not a care-taker state.
To the business point, 59% of voters say they generally
agree with their employer’s point of view on public
policy issues. The highest it has ever been. Another
55% want their employer to provide them information
on policies and candidates. That is also the highest it
has ever been. And among both majorities, those under
30 responded even more favorably. Sadly, only 12%
of voters actually heard from their employer, compared
to 30% who heard from organized labor. For labor, that
was the highest penetration measured to date.
That being said, American business has a distinct
advantage: a higher credibility and connectivity with
voters than either political party or their philosophical
opposition.
%
46 10
2008
44%
20
50%
2012
The percentage
of employees
who want
information
from employers
continues to
increase.
LESSONS LEARNED:
If the business community is to be successful in
advancing its policy priorities, both at the state and
federal level, they can and should learn from these
results and revamp their approach on how they
communicate and provide resources.
To see survey results from BIPAC’s
2011-2012 Market Research Report, visit
www.bipac.org/MarketRept2012.pdf
BIPAC | 888 16th Street NW, Suite 305 | Washington, D.C. 20006
202.833.1880 | www.bipac.org | [email protected]