MyGOP Tanks; MySpace + Chip In = Stronger Alternative?

I was all set to do a write up on the Republican Social Networking site - MyGOP - only to find that an intrepid diarist at MyDD beat me to the punch. Long story short - it has raised almost no money for the GOP, and has been only marginally more successful than the lemonade stand you ran as a kid. In fact, lemonade stands across the country might have been a better idea for fundraising.

But the MyDD diarists analysis had an interesting point that I'm not sure I agree with:

Now, the Republican Party probably doesn't need the small donor money the way the DNC needs it. But they wouldn't have gone to all the trouble of building this networking tool if they didn't understand that people-powered movements online are the way of the future. And this pathetic performance just cements in my mind that the Republicans are FAR, FAR behind when it comes to harnessing the power of online communities. The right blogosphere is a message machine... OK, a whine and bitch machine. The left blogosphere is part of a progressive movement, and it doesn't stop with the typing.

The analysis of the right vs. left blogosphere seems on point, and the basic rationale for the MyGOP program is right too. But there are so many factors in play it is a little premature to claim this small failure as proof positive that the GOP is far behind when it comes online networking.

For comparison purposes, the Internet Director for the DNC commented on MyDD that a similar program by the DNC had raised an unspecified amount totaling "tens of thousands." To me, there's not much difference between $1-2k and $10-20k when it comes to these programs. Dissatisfaction with the current GOP (the latest polls show that Bush and the Republican Congress are radioactive even to parts of their own base), could be depressing fundraising efforts by MyGOP members, and the simple fact that they control all three branches of government means that there isn't nearly as great a sense of urgency among the Republican base as there is among the progressive base. Both of these could account for the difference in amount of cash raised.

More analysis and alternatives after the jump.

More than pointing to any grand failure of the GOP, I think it points to the general failure of trying to reinvent/host social networks on the party websites. By forcing potential organizers/fundraisers to participate through the Party Committee website, these programs severely limit the pool of people willing to participate. Chances are, anyone that is going to a party committee site is older, rather than younger, and less likely to be comfortable with technology, particularly social networking technology that is mostly the province of the under 35 set. (Not to offend folks over 35, just speaking in generalities here.)

So not to beat a dead horse on this blog, but tapping into MySpace with some fundraising widgets like Chip In, which lets you raise money for a cause through your MySpace network, is probalby a stronger strategy for leveraging social networks for political fundraising. Not only does it make a larger pool of organizers and contributors available, but it will lend fundraising drives the cultural cache and credibility that comes from an endorsement on a friend's personal page, and it can live next to all sorts of interesting and compelling media (like YouTube videos of the Colbert Report) that can help encourage people to donate $5-$10.

Candidates like Ned Lamont and Jack Carter, and Russ Feingold, who already have strong MySpace networks, or are experimenting with it in their campaigns, should consider this strategy as a way to further tap into the fundraising power of the second and third degree connectiosn they have through their net-savvy supporters.