State Representative Sara Feigenholtz Email List Contest

[Cross-posted at WurfWhile.com]

After Edwin Eisendrath's example of technological waste it's nice to point out (same day) what State Representative Sara Feigenholtz (12th District) is doing to build up her email list - a contest to recruit more subscribers.

From Sara's March newsletter:

"Dear Neighbor:

In an effort to keep you and all of my constituents better informed with the latest news from Springfield, I have decided to improve my monthly e-letter by creating a new look! In an attempt to increase e-letter distribution to more individuals in the 12th district, my staff and I thought it would be fun to have a contest and get people more involved by offering prizes to individuals who help me in this endeavor. So here we go:

The individual who submits the most new email addresses gets the 1st pick of the great prizes listed below. The person who turns in the second highest number of email addresses chooses from the remaining prizes, and so on until all the prizes have been given away.

Here are the contest rules that must be followed in order for your entries to be counted towards your total.

The contest will begin on March 14, 2006 and run through April 14, 2006.
- New subscribers must be residents of the 12th legislative district: Click here for Sara's district map or click here to search by address.
- The email addresses must be submitted with the new subscriber's full name and their current residential address.
- E-mail addresses already on my e-letter list will not be counted.
- Finally, to qualify for the competition, you need to submit at least 5 new subscriber email addresses.

Below is the list of prizes (including an iPod Nano!) available to the individuals who help me increase my e-letter recipient list by submitting new subscriber email addresses to my office.

- iPod Nano
- 2 Cubs’ Tickets (game to be mutually agreed upon)
- Complimentary Lunch with Representative Feigenholtz
- $100 Gift Certificate (Leona's)
- $100 Gift Certificate (Wishbone)
- $50 Gift Certificate (Pat's Pizzeria)
- $50 Gift Certificate (Ann Sather)
- $25 Gift Certificate (Fit-N-Fresh Cafe)

To submit your new email addresses, please send me all of your entries in one email or attachment to sara@staterepsara.com by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 14th. Also, please write "E- Campaign Contest" in the subject line of your email. Please also include your full name and phone number so that my staff can contact you in the event that you win a prize. The winners will be announced after my office has compiled and confirmed the new entries. Keeping my constituents informed of the state's legislative progress is one of my most important responsibilities as a State Representative, and I greatly appreciate your help. Good luck with the competition and thanks again.

Sincerely,

Sara Feigenholtz"

I would have added language about getting the explicit permission of the new subscribers (which while likely implied would be better spelled out). With the permission caveat, and assuming no legal issues, I think the contest is great idea! It's about a lot more than just building your email list. You

- Get people talking to friends and neighbors in the district about you,
- Get people learning more about your stance on the issues (to convince people to join the email list),
- Show everyone you're serious about communicating with them regularly and
- Get people mobilized - and ready to further mobilize for you in the future (nothing like a trial run).

Plus this is all done on the cheap. Assuming a certain base of support, what more are you likely to get for a $1,000 investment (or less)?

Smart.