An important technique all churches, ministries, and non-profits can learn from Barack Obama's presidential campaign is how they focused their fundraising. While Hillary Clinton was focusing on a handful of major donors, Obama concentrated on many more smaller donors - primarily using the web. While no one would turn away a million dollar gift, understanding the difference is important. Here's why: ... read more

When a product, person, or organization has to enter a particularly hostile or challenging market, they essentially have three choices: 1) Stay true to who or what you are, 2) Change who you are, or 3) Change how you're perceived. It doesn't matter if it's product sales, non-profit work, or politics, perception matters, and in a media driven culture, how you're perceived is just as important as who you are. ... read more

In the last couple of weeks we've heard a lot about the "friends" of our presidential candidates. But the candidates have been quick to distance themselves from certain friends and endorsers, and in a hot political season, who you're taking advice from becomes a very public issue. It started when John McCain received the endorsement from Pastor John Hagee from San Antonio, who's vitriolic comments about the Catholic church have created a wave of upset Catholics. Members of the Catholic church are ... read more

Up to now, Barack Obama's political and media strategy has been to be the "voice of change." No content, but loads of "change." It's actually very planned. If you listen to Obama, you won't hear much related to actual policy, experience, or strategy. His concept up to this point has been that hopefully, he can look good, spout the change manta, and gather momentum. That way, he doesn't really have to ... read more

In reading the responses to my earlier Mike Huckabee posts regarding media strategy and resilience, it's obvious that his followers are committed and passionate. He was a self-admitted long shot from the beginning, and I think it would be instructive to see what's kept him in the race so long - particularly since he came out of nowhere. Certainly - as his fans have repeated on this blog and elsewhere - the keys are his honesty, authenticity, commitment to his word, leadership, and his spiritual perspective. All that would be true, but it's not the whole story. His candidacy is a excellent lesson for any underdog, and from the perspective of a media consultant, there are some other significant reasons he's kept in the running for so long: ... read more