Costs Continued

Obama's second-quarter fund-raising total: $31 million (beating past president Clinton).

Obama's Viral Marketing Campaign - TIME:

"It's a buzz that Obama is finding new and creative ways to fuel, adapting to a world in which the concept of community has grown to include MySpace and Facebook. No campaign has been more aggressive in tapping into social networks and leveraging the financial power of hundreds of thousands of small donors. Nor has any other campaign found such innovative ways to extend its reach by using the Internet--more than $10 million of Obama's second-quarter contributions were made online, and 90% of them were in increments of $100 or less.

The advantages of Internet fund raising are many. It's quick, cheap and far less intimidating for political novices than writing a big check. Some campaigns have set up systems by which donors can have their credit cards billed automatically in easy-to-budget monthly amounts of as little as $20. 'We're seeing the full flowering of the Internet for fund raising for presidential races,' says former Federal Election Commission chairman Michael Toner, who is currently advising Republican Fred Thompson as he ponders whether to enter the fray."

Source:

Obama's Viral Marketing Campaign. Tumulty, Karen. Time Magazine. July 05, 2007. Retreived October 29, 2009.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1640402,00.html