Canada PoliticsLiberals raise an impressive $4.3 million in last quarter of 2013; ‘rewards’ of hard work says Trudeau
For most of 2013, Justin Trudeau's Liberals have led the other political parties in the public opinion polls.
While the Tories have been dipping in the polls, their saving grace was they were heads and shoulders ahead of the Grits when it came to their finances. Since 2006, the Tories have dominated the fundraising battle.
That, however, seems to be changing as well.
On Friday, the Liberals posted this Justin Trudeau email chain on their website:
Adding everybody.
I just got some exciting news, and I wanted you to hear it from me first.
Scroll way down this email chain for our preliminary Q4 fundraising numbers, but first let me say this:
Thank you.
Canadians like you didn’t just power our movement with your dollars. You shaped it.
From the open leadership vote that elected me, to the 364 open events I held with Canadians last year, or the open candidate nominations getting underway soon in ridings all across the country, you have molded our movement to reflect your values.
Now we’re starting to see the rewards of your incredible hard work — please share the great news with everyone you know.
Add your friends to this email chain, share the news, and invite them to join our movement:
http://www.liberal.ca/be-a-part-of-the-change
Thank you.
Justin
—- Original Message —-
From: Katie Telford
To: Justin Trudeau; Jeremy Broadhurst; Stephen Bronfman; Christina Topp
Subject: Re: Bravo!Adding Justin. Great numbers from Christina, see below.
All — For me it’s the donor number that really stands out.
The media will likely focus on the $4.3-million, but consider this… in all of 2011, which was an election year, 49,650 donors entrusted us with their dollars.
Now, in just the last three months of 2013, we had nearly that many Canadians — over 43,000 — generously chip in to our movement.
If numbers tell a story, this story shows our message of hope and hard work is resonating with Canadians!
Katie
—- Original Message —-
From: Christina Topp
To: Jeremy Broadhurst (National Director); Katie Telford (National Campaign Co-Chair); Stephen Bronfman (Chief Revenue Officer)
Subject: Bravo!Jeremy, Katie, Stephen,
I’ve got some preliminary fundraising numbers for Q4 and December — they’re incredible.
It looks like we may just have had our best day, our best month, and our best quarter of the year, and possibly ever.
The highlights:
– Best day: On December 31 we raised $614,145.
– Best month: Throughout December, an astounding 36,849 donors chipped in an average of $66.93 for a total of over $2.9-million. That means there’s a good chance we outraised the Conservatives in December on dollars alone.
– Best quarter: Here’s the most exciting news. Again this is a preliminary number, but it’s looking like between October and December we raised over $4.3-million from 43,000 Canadians.
There you have it!
Christina
Senior Director, Fundraising
Liberal Party of Canada
The year-end surge in donations can also be attributed to a December fundraising blitz which included pitches by former prime ministers Paul Martin and Jean Chretien.
[ Related: Liberals and Conservatives battle for year-end donations ]
The numbers are quite remarkable considering where the Liberals have been over the past couple of years.
In calendar year 2012, the Tories raised $17,258,098 from 87,306 contributors compared to the Liberals who raised just $8,166,658 from 44.466 individuals.
In 2013 — if you include the Liberal Party's preliminary Q4 numbers from above— the Liberals have raised approximately $11.1 million.
[ Related: Tories, NDP slam Justin Trudeau for $840 in inappropriate expense claims]
The New Democrats have also 'upped their game' when it comes to fundraising.
According to a CBC News report from earlier this week, the official opposition has been able to pay off all their debt thanks to a strong 2013.
“Now our focus will be to continue expand our fundraising as public financing whittles down more and more each year. And start to put away a nest egg to run a really strong campaign in 2015," NDP national director Nathan Rotman, told the public broadcaster.
"Our donations, which have traditionally been much smaller, are starting to rise in line with the other parties."
[ Related: Provincial Liberals trying to capitalize on Justin Trudeau’s ‘celebrity status’ ]
While the other parties are closing the gap, the Tories are still the leaders in terms of how much money they have put away to fight off their opponents.
At the Conservative Party convention in November, members were told that they had $14 million in the bank and no debt to speak of.
Party headquarters did not immediately reply to an email from Yahoo! Canada News about their final 2013 figures.
Are you a politics junkie?
Follow @politicalpoints on Twitter!
