Dear John,
You’ve probably seen them: political emails that try to shame or scare you into donating.
As a consumer protection attorney, I hate these scammy tactics. Let me break down some of the most common ones, so you can spot the BS (and share the knowledge with your friends and loved ones).
“We need 5,238 donors from YOUR zip code.” This is fake. Donations from different parts of the state or country can signal support, but campaigns aren’t doing crazy math like this to meet goals or deadlines.
“Donate $5 today and it will be triple matched.” There’s no mysterious fairy matching donations. Just look at how the match “offers” get higher and higher seemingly randomly the more they want you to donate.
“Warning: Payment incomplete.” These are the worst. There’s no excuse for campaigns misleading Americans into thinking they’ve missed a bill.
Here’s what is real. We have goals and timelines that we use to keep ourselves on track to raise what we need and to evaluate the volume of voter contact we can pay for.
Our April end-of-month deadline is fast approaching, and because I reject all donations from corporations, lobbyists, and executives at Big Pharma, Big Oil, and Big Banks, the only way this campaign hits its targets is by folks like you chipping in.
More soon,
Katie
