Republican National Committee

President Barack Obama collected $86 million combined for his re-election campaign and the Democratic party during the past three months for 2012.

Obama campaign manager Jim Messina said in a video posted early Wednesday that it raised more than $47 million and the Democratic National Committee brought in more than $38 million through the end of June, building a foundation for advertising and get-out-the-vote efforts in next year's election. Obama's team had set a public goal of $60 million combined.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) has named veteran fundraiser Angela Meyers as RNC Finance Director. Meyers will serve as RNC Finance Director effective Monday, April 17. She joins the RNC from the Republican Governors Association (RGA) where she served as Finance Director since 2009, and was a member of the RGA Finance team since 2005.

Fundraising professionals shared four ways to justify donor acquisition to the higher-ups during the 2011 Washington Nonprofit session "Asking Up: Making the Acquisition Justification to Your CFO/CEO/Board."

The only voice we should be concerned about in our direct-mail fundraising is the voice that works — the voice that raises the most money. And the great thing about fundraising is that we can test one letter versus another, one style or voice against something very different, to find what works best.

Since the 2008 elections, the Republican Party has been revisiting its image with an eye toward appealing to young people and independents. As part of that process, it recently relaunched ?GOP.com, with a new design, updated content, a social-networking component and social-media integration. Fire up your Web browser and check it out — I'll wait.

Earlier this year, I gave myself a whisper-thin, featherweight notebook computer for my birthday. I am giddy in love with this skinny beauty and its elegant performance, heart and soul. I know now why the brand has a cult following. The setup process was blissfully easy, and after I registered my notebook online, I received a confirmation e-mail that made me smile. “Hi. Welcome … We’re just as excited as you are,” the headline read. “You can’t possibly be,” I thought, having discovered in less than an hour after I powered it up how the notebook and the brand’s latest operating system would

Two months from now, President George W. Bush and Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry will wage their final battle for the White House, capping off an emotionally charged, hard-driving election campaign that has seized American consciousness like no other.

To illustrate, consider that when George H.W. Bush ran for re-election against Bill Clinton in 1992, he didn’t mention him by name until July. And in 1996, Clinton didn’t mention Bob Dole by name until August. This time around, the candidates traded barbs as early as Super Tuesday in March.

When I started the cranky little newsletter, Who’s Mailing What! (now Inside Direct Mail) in 1984, I persuaded America’s premier liberal democratic fundraiser, Roger Craver, of Craver, Mathews, Smith & Co., to write a three-part series on the opposition — the then-current republican efforts that were superb in terms of elegance, sophistication and power. Craver wrote: