To raise funds, we need to raise our game

By Emma Burnell / @scarletstand

There’s a lot of nervousness about funding in the Labour Party at the moment. To be fair, there’s always a lot of nervousness about fundraising, but given the over reliance on union funding and the drying up of big donations this distance from a general election, the staid old ways we’ve relied on for far too long are failing.

Quick! Throw another gala dinner! Eddie Izzard and Jo Brand can host. Or perhaps Jo Brand and Eddie Izzard? That’ll be worth another £350 a ticket. We can flog some tat off to drunken pundits for a few thou too! Of course the costs of planning, running, and staffing such an event need to be factored in, but all in all it’ll do.

Or maybe another email alert? Just £5 pounds can fill the recycling bins of two whole streets!

OK, so I’m being a bit facetious. There’s a reason these things have become tried and tested. And Eddie and Jo are always good value. But if we are going to turn around Labour’s fortunes, we’re going to have to be more imaginative.

Firstly, a lot of the high value events can feel very exclusive. Even if you can afford to fork out the high cost of the ticket that’s never the end of the story. There’s always an auction, or at least a raffle, and donations are expected. While this suits well the London based high value donor, I can’t help but think we’re missing a huge layer of donations that would lie somewhere between a one off response to an email and a grand night out.

Much energy is expended at constituency level raising funds, and I’m guessing the headline figures we’ve all been seeing lately are just about donations at a national level and don’t reflect the different amounts in Co-op bank accounts up and down the country. The tempting and easy thing would be for the national party to try to divert some of these funds inwards to support national level campaigning. But instead I fully support Johanna Baxter’s suggestion in her Refounding Labour submission that money from rich CLPs is redistributed to help the ground game in poorer CLPs.

Our air game takes up a lot of money and we don’t always do it brilliantly (I wonder what the going rate is for an Elvis impersonator) but it is essential. We need to tap into the energy of our campaigners. I think there is a huge potential for less controlled, less formal events that feel like CLP dinners (and essentially cost like CLP dinners) but that raise money for the national party.

Additionally, we could have tiered events so that yes, there’s a gala dinner with all that that entails. But for £20 you can go to the cocktail party taking place first.

Our party is doing pretty well for members right now. Where are the T Shirts? Caps? Pens? The bookshop? On our website, all I could find to buy was a mug. I felt I was being taken for one.

Finally, an evening with the Labour Party doesn’t have to be food and speeches. I’d have to check the PPERA, but I know several people who’d love to attend a Labour party poker night. Remember, the house always wins. Or how about a battle of the bands or a save our schools sports day. I’m a whizz with an egg and spoon.

Fundraising takes perspiration and imagination. We need to be addressing the different strata of our members and supporters and understanding what makes them tick and more importantly what makes them give. The point is not to denigrate the great work that is already being done to turn around our national finances. Nor is it to put anyone off holding and attending gala dinners. But if we continue to rely on the kind of people who can afford that kind of event, we leave ourselves too exposed.