Running The Numbers On Rossi Liberal Fundraising
Feb 02, 2010 | admin | 6
Photo courtesy: Toronto Star
Mayoral candidate Rocco Rossi has always pointed to his prowess as a fundraiser as a strength, but TEN has received some interesting numbers that show the Libs missed their targets while Rossi was at the helm. Look out – it involves math. From our reader, with a response from Rossi at the end:
———- Forwarded message ———-
From: XXXXXX XXXXXXXX
Date: Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 4:21 PM
Subject: Rocco not much of rock-star when it comes to fundraising…
To: tips@torontoelectionnews.com
For all you political junkies – interesting analysis of Rocco’s record. He was in over his head running cocktail parties – how will he run Toronto? And here everyone thought Rocco was good at this stuff.
The Liberals sent out the following Tweet yesterday afternoon:
In May of 2009, then Liberal chief fundraiser Rocco Rossi told Maclean’s magazine that his goal was to raise $25 million a year for the Liberal Party:
By their own estimation, they have missed their fundraising target by over $15 million.
While the official Liberal totals for 2009 Q4 are not out, we know Rocco & team raised about $7.920 million in 2009 Q1-Q3. Today, they are claiming they raised $9.6 m for 2009 total.
That means that they only raised $1.680 million in Q4. Liberals raised $2.304 million in 2008 Q4 – a decrease of close to 40%!
Of course, 2008 was an election year (even Dion could raise money) and Rossi was only one part of the Liberal Party - Leader Michael Ignatieff shoulders much of the responsibility.
TEN readers can run reports and take a look at the returns over at Elections Canada.
Update: Via Twitter, Rocco Rossi responds:
roccothevoteTO: We were ONLY party to increase fundraising yr over yr. Dion only raised more in the quarter w/ election which is always highest period
roccothevoteTO: Bottom line 2008–$6 million raised. 2009–$9.6 million raised. Over 60% more. Only major fed party who increased in nonelection yr
Filed Under: Gossip
Glad to see you posted this under Gossip–wonder where it came from? You can post this under Factual: federal Liberal fundraising in 2008 with an election in one quarter, which always helps= $6.2 million. Under Rossi in 2009= $9.6 million. Do the math, indeed.
@Truefact: Well, that doesn't really change the fact that Rocco wildly missed his fundraising targets, which I'm guessing was the point of this post.
And since you (indirectly) mentioned Dion, I agree that raising money in an election year is easier – but saying you raised more than a Leader that was sinking faster than the Titanic is somewhat akin to saying that you have more goals than someone who can't skate.
I am not a big 'L' liberal – but I am impressed that the Liberal Party, given the perception of its disarray (I am not saying it is – just saying the perception is out there that it is) AND in a year of a historical economic meltdown – when fundraising ANYWHERE for anybody was difficult at best…. increasing your revenues by 60% is inspiring.
I can appreciate all the comments – but Thinktank Foundations, Hospital Foundations, Arts, other Not for Profits, political groups and NGO's – and of course, our own households – 2009 was a tough tough year. A brutal year for capital and fundraising campaigns. Brutal. To have increased your revenue during this period – and by so much – while others were declining, this is a remarkable achievement.
Where or not you are a fan of Rocco for Mayor (and I am very much a fan), this accomplishment should never be downplayed. It was a historical year for The Liberal Party of Canada; a very positive financial year. Just to be fair, rather than measure the dream goal of the Liberal Party, measure Rocco's accomplishment in the face of the odds and the difficulty so many others faced in 2009 with devastating results for some and you can see why many of us are steadfast in our support for this solid candidate.
GS
Thankfully they have elections Canada covering their butts or they would have less, legally the loans owing from the leadership race should be counted as contributions and deducted from any upcoming election spending but the Libranoes are seemingly above the law and elections Canada is partisan and corrupt.
God how I hate Liberal elitists and their bureaucrat cronies.
Fundraising targets don't mean much besides raising funds depends a lot on what the troops are doing and he didn't have control over that. I see a smear from the left who want George to win. The gloves are coming off fast in this one. Besides, I'm interested in what the new mayor will do to make the books balance at city hall and whether I can TRUST THEM.
Having worked at the Party, I happen to know also, that a lot of that 60% are revenues from the 2009 Leadership convention, where the $1000 attendance fees were considered donations. This money would have come in with or without Rocco. That's why the early quarters are so much higher than Q4 which is much more indicative of Rossi's performance. Really, he's a self-important egomaniac that likes to take credit for things that are not of his doing. Don't be fooled.