Techosta Where Tech Starts From
Over the last two decades, the greatest influence on politics has been technology. Nonprofits raising money for political campaigns must be versed on how to use this tool to benefit their candidate or proposition. The campaign landscape has changed drastically from the days of shaking hands and kissing babies. People must be reached electronically, and nonprofit organizations that fail to do so will fail their candidate or political cause.
The First Significant Milestone
The first significant milestone is this political climate change began in 1997, as reported by New England College or NEC by which its commonly known. Free Republic was the first political Internet forum and it was created in support of the GOP. This chat site is still strong today, and it provides a place where conservatives can step up on their Free Republic soapboxes and rant. The website is funded by donations, making it – in essence – the first nonprofit political organization online.
The Turn of the Century
More than a new millennium was ushered in on Jan. 1, 2000. Additional and significant changes to the political campaigning landscape were also born. Nonprofits found a new way to promote their candidate’s bids for President of the United States, and this was online. The year 2000 marked the first time presidential candidates advertised on the World Wide Web, and this brought a new form of marketing strategy that now must be employed by campaign marketing managers.
In 2001, other political websites followed Free Republic’s lead and offered citizens a way to express their views online. Sites such as MyDD and Instapundit gave progressives and libertarians a voice, respectively, and two years later, Democrat Howard Dean brought social media into the mix. Dean suggested his supporters use Meetup to organize events to push his campaign forward. He was also the first politician to create an online video presence with “Dean TV.”
Other Significant Markers
The year 2005 saw the first congressional blog. Representative Jack Kingston was the driving force behind it, and he tested YouTube to see its campaign effectiveness in 2006. President Barack Obama created his website in 2007, and politics finally jumped onto Facebook and Twitter in 2008. Campaign managers and nonprofit political organizations used Google Blast for 2009 advertising campaigns, and Senator Scott Brown’s campaigners turned a smartphone app into a working database.
Finally, 2012 saw President Obama increase his social media presence to spread his message and receive donations. In 2016, both major parties encouraged viral activity to infuse anger (Republicans) and promote voter registration (Democrats). What does all this mean to nonprofit organization managers? It means that the nonprofit sector must have advanced knowledge of how to work within this volatile environment, and the NEC online masters public policy is now available to aspiring nonprofit managers.
How technology influences politics and people’s opinions is still up for debate. In 2016, there are two sides to the coin: It helped the right presidential candidate win; it encouraged people to vote ignorantly for the wrong presidential candidate. Either way, those looking to build a career in nonprofits will need to understand how technology is shaping politics in America.