Political campaigns around the country will spend billions of dollars buying the goods and services necessary (and maybe not necessary but stuff they buy anyway) to get their candidates elected.
We hear daily how much the candidates are spending and it’s not just on advertising. Campaigns buy other promotional items, food, transportation, computers, communication equipment, office equipment and supplies, audio-visual equipment and services, consulting services and more.
If you can get your share of that money, great!
Just remember: Not every company that has political campaigns for customers gets paid.
Consider the presidential race. Usually when a candidate drops out of the race, the campaign is out of money – not a good thing for the campaign’s creditors. After all, fundraising for a candidate that’s no longer running is not easy.
Collectively, this year’s [2012] former Republican presidential candidates owe millions they don’t have the cash to pay. But this isn’t a partisan issue: According to Politico, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, John Edwards, Dennis Kucinich, Pat Buchanan and Al Sharpton are among the presidential candidates that have yet to fully clear their books.
It’s not just presidential politics that are so expensive. Every race – local, state and national – costs money to run. But when a political campaign leaves a business owner holding a bad debt, even when the amount is a relatively small portion of the campaign’s total budget, the damage to the supplier can be significant. And the money is virtually impossible to collect.
What’s the answer?
The safest strategy is to insist that political campaigns pay in advance. Only extend credit to a campaign if you support the candidate or the issue enough to be willing to risk the amount of the sale as an involuntary donation.
Could this approach cost you business? Sure. And there could be a ripple effect based on the personal networking that is part of politics at every level. But it could also prevent losses – and only you can decide how much of a hit your company can afford to take.
Update: According to an Oct. 27, 2015 Washington Times article: “Three years after the election, Mr. Obama's committee is still about $2.4 million in debt.” A 2013 article from the Center for Public Integrity detailed millions of dollars in unpaid bills from presidential candidates going back decades.
If you're involved in a campaign, you'll find some good advice in “A Step-by-Step Approach to Eliminating Campaign Debt” by Susie Avila. She notes that many vendors are unaware of a campaign's financial health and extend credit with the expectation of being paid under the agreed-on terms. She advises campaigns to contact unpaid creditors post-election to see if they are willing to forgive a portion of the debt.
What do you think? Join the conversation below.
Jacquelyn's latest book is Christian Business Almanac, scheduled for release in summer 2024.
She is the author of the novel Choices (A Joyful Cup Story) as well as the nonfiction books The Simple Facts About Self-Publishing, Words to Work By: 31 devotions for the workplace based on the Book of Proverbs and Finding Joy in the Morning: You can make it through the night. With her husband, she is the co-creator of several coloring books for adults.
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