April 3, 2024 | Advertise with us

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“Will you chip in $25?”: A look at NDP and Sask. Party email fundraising campaigns

Something that’s not often covered by traditional media, but is a critical part of modern political party and campaign operations, is email marketing and fundraising. While it may seem like an odd or outdated tactic in 2024, emails continue to be an effective way for parties and politicians to contact their supporters with a call to action. Usually that call to action is to donate money. 

Last week, leading up to the Q1 March 31 fundraising “deadline” (technically there’s not actually a quarterly reporting deadline for fundraising, unlike federal politics and other provinces, but it’s a good fundraising tactic), both the Saskatchewan Party and NDP utilized their email lists to connect with supporters and push for donations.

Here’s one email that the Saskatchewan NDP sent out from Tim Williams, their provincial secretary:

On tone and language, note the line about “Scott Moe and his big money donors”. This is a common refrain in recent NDP email campaigns, and would certainly appeal to the NDP’s base. The amount that individuals donate in response to email campaigns are typically small, or “micro donations” - usually $10-$25.

Generally speaking, the NDP tend to send out more fundraising emails compared to the Saskatchewan Party. They frequently send emails to their list of supporters, and vary who the emails are “from”. Last week, NDP emails came from known figures in the party like Carla Beck and MLA Noor Burki, but other senders were party staff, like provincial secretary Tim Williams and the NDP’s treasurer, Doug Archer.

On the Saskatchewan Party side, here’s an email that came from the party’s executive director, Patrick Bundrock, last week, also with a focus on the March 31 fundraising deadline.

Most of the Saskatchewan Party’s emails come from either Bundrock or the party’s leader and premier, Scott Moe, ask for a small donation ($25 is usually the go-to amount) and are not quite as frequent as the NDP’s emails. In March, the Saskatchewan Party sent out twelve email blasts but not all of them were dedicated fundraising emails; other email themes were the recent budget, upcoming Premier’s Dinners, or weekly round-ups of news from the Leg.

Like the NDP’s refrain of "big donors”, the Saskatchewan Party fundraising emails almost always contain a line about “defeating the NDP” - a motivating line for Saskatchewan Party supporters.  

As the months get closer to the fall election, the two parties will continue working to grow their email contact lists and “hit send” to as many people as they possibly can.

Sponsored by the Saskatchewan Heavy Construction Association

Saskatchewan government responds to federal housing announcement

The federal government announced a new $6 billion infrastructure fund yesterday. Federal housing Minister Sean Fraser said, “The first $1 billion will be for shovel-ready projects that are ready to go and that money will flow immediately. When it comes to the additional $5 billion, that is going to be spread out over a longer period of time and the exact flow of money will be subject to negotiations with our provincial and territorial partners.”

In a written statement, the Saskatchewan government responded, saying “…it appears as though the federal government is once again wading into provincial jurisdiction by taking unrestricted infrastructure funding and tying it to housing requirements.”

The statement continued: “While multi-dwelling housing may be a high priority in major urban centers like Toronto and Vancouver, it is not a high priority in most Saskatchewan communities.” The province says they have more questions than answers. Housing and affordability remain one of the top issues facing voters right now.

The deals will have to be negotiated with the provinces, and the money has strings attached. Those include allowing more "missing middle" homes, including duplexes, triplexes, townhouses and multi-unit buildings, and imposing a three-year freeze on development charges for cities with more than 300,000 people.

Sponsored by Insurance Brokers Association of Saskatchewan

Constituency Profile: Last Mountain -Touchwood

Each week leading up to the 2024 election, The SKoop Political Briefing will highlight a constituency that has nominated a candidate from at least both major parties. Today, we look at Last Mountain - Touchwood. This rural riding in the eastern-central part of the province includes the towns of Strasbourg, Ituna, Southey, and Balcarres.

The incumbent: Travis Keisig. First elected in 2020, he has farmed and worked welding jobs in the oil and gas sector. He is the legislative secretary to the Minister of Crown Investments.

The challenger: Thera Nordal. Nordal and her husband own and operate a grain farm and small business. She was the NDP candidate for this riding in 2020. She was one of the first rural candidates nominated by the party for this election.

The takeaway: The odds are LMT is a safe Sask. Party hold. This is a rematch from 2020 that saw Keisig hold the riding with 62% of the vote compared to Nordal’s 25%. The Saskatchewan Party has held this riding since 1999 after defeating an NDP incumbent. Projections show Keisig 16 points ahead.

Sponsored by Johnson Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy

More news and info

• Politicians in the wild: Sask. Party cabinet minister Everett Hindley door knocking in his home constituency of Swift Current.

• ‘A significant document’: Health care-heavy Manitoba budget released (Global News Winnipeg)

• Carbon tax protester’s emotions run high as they clash with RCMP (SaskToday)

• Poilievre requests Trudeau call meeting with Premiers opposing carbon price (CKOM News)

• City staff propose $22 million composting facility for Saskatoon (Saskatoon StarPhoenix)

2024 Election Candidate Tracker