Before starting a fund-raising drive using a social network, make sure key people have specified how they will help spread the work and otherwise back the effort.

It’s pretty obvious huh?  You’d be surprised how many politcians talk about raising money online but they don’t have the stones to actually drive it and ask online.  Use Twitter and Facebook to drive traffic to your contribution page.  If you use Paypal, it’ll work too just realize it sucks!  Use a real contribution page, we recommend Blue Swarm.  You can learn about them if you subscribe to the site.  You need to spread the word and you need your volunteers to spread the word.  It can’t all come from you.

Form alliances with businesses, such as an agreement in which an online company donates a portion of online sales to the campaign.

As a politician you can’t necessarily form “alliances” with businesses and create agreements.  That said, use it a different way.  Get local businesses to host fund-raisers.  Find a supporter and use their business as the location and have them invite their contacts.  Do this outside of business hours.  This is the best way of building alliances.  They can’t “match” payments of the other donors but they can certainly help bring more funds in.

Ask for specific amounts and set short deadlines to create incentives to give immediately to online fund-raising drives.

You need a real call to action.  Not – Please help us win by donating money!  A call to action is specific in every way.  Invest $20 in John Doe for Congress to make sure you get a loyal return and fair representation.  It’s specific.  It asks for a certain amount, tells them where it’s going and what it will get them.  And yet it would all fit in a single tweet.