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2022

Pat Ryan Fundraising Campaign Strategy

  • Launched a digital persuasion campaign with geographical targeting to help Congressman Pat Ryan win the NY-10 special House election.
  • Successfully highlighted Pat’s pro-abortion values as a winning message after Dobbs.
Headshot of Democratic Congressman Pat Ryan wearing a white button down and a blue checkered tie.
Congressman Pat Ryan

Challenge

When Governor Kathy Hochul selected Representative Antonio Delgado as Lieutenant Governor of New York in May 2022 it triggered a special election to fill a now-vacant seat in New York’s 10th Congressional District. Authentic was hired to help secure Democrat Pat Ryan’s victory to this seat by managing his digital fundraising campaign strategy and persuasion programs.

Services

General Consulting, Online Fundraising, Digital Advertising, Logo and Branding, Graphic and Web, and Mobile Messaging.

Strategy

To ensure Pat Ryan’s win, Authentic formulated a multi-pronged fundraising campaign marketing strategy. Recognizing the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned a woman’s constitutional right to abortion, we swiftly established a messaging strategy centered on reproductive freedom.

Utilizing various digital avenues such as emails, texting, and digital ads, we galvanized grassroots support for the campaign and swung voters. Geographical target marketing was precise, zooming in on zip codes with probable voters, while designing timely GOTV messages to bolster voter turnout.

Tactics

Direct-to-Camera Video Ads

Understanding the need for a genuine, personal touch in today’s oversaturated digital sphere, Authentic used direct-to-camera ads. This allowed Pat Ryan to connect directly with the electorate, breaking down the barriers that often exist in political fundraising campaign strategies. These videos were strategically disseminated across the web, ensuring a wide reach, but more importantly, they resonated deeply with focus groups, illustrating the power of personal storytelling in political campaigns.

Reproductive Freedom Messaging

The Supreme Court’s ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization marked a significant turning point in reproductive rights, an issue of paramount importance to the NY-19 electorate. Recognizing this, Authentic crafted a precise messaging strategy spotlighting reproductive freedoms. Using a blend of email campaigns, texting, and digital ads, we raised awareness, galvanized grassroots support, and persuaded voters of the importance of this issue. This swift and targeted approach to messaging led to an overwhelming positive response to this fundraising campaign strategy from both online donors and district voters, contributing significantly to Pat Ryan’s electoral success.

Geographical Targeting and GOTV Efforts

One of the key successes of this campaign was the precision of our geographical targeting. Rather than adopting a broad-strokes approach, we zeroed in on specific zip codes identified as having the most likely voters. This meant every digital advertising dollar was spent efficiently and effectively. Alongside this, as the election date neared, we developed time-sensitive Get Out The Vote (GOTV) messages, ensuring that those persuaded by our earlier efforts were motivated enough to make their voices heard on election day.

“When I launched my special election, our team needed to bring on a digital partner fast and Authentic crushed it from day one. They were able to quickly learn my vision and the priorities of the campaign. Authentic’s team put together strategic persuasion plans that worked in tandem with our TV and mail vendors. They did an excellent job at pivoting and making changes to our persuasion strategy in real-time. This team knows how to get the job done and was an incredible part of our campaign’s success.”

Congressman Pat Ryan

Outcome

Pat Ryan’s victory in the special election for New York’s 19th Congressional District was made possible by a strategic and effective digital campaign led by Authentic. From scaling beyond social platforms with programmatic videos to real-time response and focus group testing, the campaign team worked tirelessly to reach likely voters and motivate them to support Ryan’s pro-choice stance and other key issues.

By recognizing the importance of reproductive freedoms and protecting abortion access, and centering a messaging strategy around them, Authentic successfully raised grassroots contributions for the campaign and persuaded voters. These efforts paid off as online donors and voters in the district responded positively to the messaging, ultimately leading to Pat Ryan’s victory.