CONVENTION DAILY

Hitting Up Donors at 31,000 Feet

by Bara Vaida

Mon. Jul 28, 2008


National Journal looks ahead at what to expect at the conventions.

How hard is Steve Farber, co-chair and lead fundraiser for the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee, working this summer? Instead of relaxing on his recent flight to a fishing vacation in Montana, Farber, a founding partner in the Denver-based law and lobbying firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, chatted with his seatmate about money and the convention.

"I used to be a happy-go-lucky guy," Farber said in a phone interview soon after he got off the plane in Montana on July 14. "Now, instead of just taking a casual airplane ride and not talking, I'm [working to convince] someone I sat with on the airplane to contribute. I suggested it would be better if his company gave significantly because there would be a lot more events to attend. Hopefully, he'll be calling me with a nice contribution."

The reason Farber is hitting up potential donors at 31,000 feet is the ongoing story that the Denver host committee is short of its goal to raise more than $40.6 million for the convention. As of mid-June, the committee was $11 million under that goal. Farber said that fundraising efforts over the past month have "eaten into that figure substantially," but he declined to provide details. Later in the interview, he said that the host committee had taken in more than $30 million in cash and had also received about $10 million of in-kind contributions as of mid-July.

The small number of corporations based in Colorado, the slowing economy, and the lengthy Democratic primary process are cited as the key reasons that fundraising has lagged. "I still have my list of people and companies that haven't contributed yet," Farber said, "and whether they are Republican or Democrat in Colorado, we are going after all businesses because it's a way to showcase our city and state."

Farber said he took on the fundraiser-in-chief job as a way to "showcase Denver and Colorado," not to enhance the reputation of his firm, which has one of the largest and fastest-growing lobbying practices inside the Beltway. Someone "from the [Denver] City Council came to me three years ago and asked if I would like to help the city to bring a political convention here, and so I worked on it," he said. Farber chaired former Democratic Gov. Roy Romer's successful campaigns in Colorado and reportedly plays golf with Bill Clinton.

Privately, some cite additional reasons for the committee's fundraising difficulties. One is that the Democratic National Committee had yet to give the host committee permission to assign specific hotel rooms and credentials to corporate donors as of mid-July. That delay has made some companies hesitate to contribute, said a lobbyist familiar with the host committee's fundraising efforts. The host committee is falling short of its number, this lobbyist said, because it is not getting adequate support from the DNC.

The Denver host committee's June sponsorship package promises that donors giving $100,000 or more will have reserved hotel rooms, invitations to VIP receptions and parties, branding on media gift bags, information booths at events, other marketing opportunities, and full access to convention sessions.

Top-tier donors--those giving $250,000 to $1 million--get additional hotel rooms, more invitations to parties, and extra tickets to the convention hall as the amount of the donation rises. However, the exact number of hotel rooms and tickets isn't detailed in the material sent to potential donors.

Fundraising is further complicated because the DNC has pushed the host committee to solicit donations only from corporations with good records on labor issues, the lobbyist said. Mike Dino, CEO of the host committee and a senior policy adviser at law and lobbying firm Patton Boggs, denied that the organization won't take money from companies that aren't pro-union.

In mid-July, the host committee listed 123 companies, trade associations, unions, and nonprofits as donors, but the amount of their donations isn't detailed. Among those listed are AT&T; Best Buy; Google; Lehman Brothers; the National Association of Home Builders; the Service Employees International Union; Safeway; and Wells Fargo.

"AT&T's role as a good corporate citizen is to showcase the elective process in the best light possible," said company spokesman Michael Balmoris. "That's why we contribute."