Robert Celt
New Member
There's not much time to relax when you're trying to get an amendment on the ballot and made into law.
That's what's facing Ben Pollara, campaign manager of United for Care, the official medical marijuana legalization organization in Florida. United for Care on Jan. 11 sent its last set of signatures in favor of the effort to the state Supervisors of Elections for review. More than 1 million signatures were sent, and just 683,149 need to be validated to ensure the effort becomes an amendment on the November ballot.
Here, Pollara shares more insight into what's next, now that the signatures are out of his hands:
What's next for the campaign? We need to make a major transition from being a petition-gathering organization to a general election, statewide campaign. We have to put our heads down, raise more money and put money aside for a statewide advertising campaign this fall. Our advertising entirely will be about our message. Last time, we spent quite a bit of money running a grassroots campaign. Our money will be spent more heavily on communications.
What sort of advertising can Florida residents expect? TV, radio and online advertising will be our primary focus. We may also do some targeted direct mail and phone calls. I anticipate spending between $4 million-$5 million on our advertising campaign, and kicking that off in mid-to late September and running it through election day.
How much money has been raised so far? At the end of December, we completed a donation match campaign with John Morgan, an Orlando attorney. For every donation we received, Morgan pledged to match it times nine, at least. After we do our final calculations, it may turn out to be more of an 11:1 donation match. We raised $160,000, and Morgan has donated upward of $2.5 million so far. In 2014, we raised $3.5 million. So far we've raised 50 percent more than we did in our previous attempt. If that trend continues, we should raise about $5 million.
How do you plan to raise the remaining balance? We'll make a lot of phone calls, meet with people, host semi-regular conferences to update our large donors, and be very, very nice to John Morgan.
What challenges does the campaign still face? Right now, the only challenge I'm thinking about is getting us officially on the ballot. Nothing else matters until that happens.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Florida: Here's What's Next For The Medical Marijuana Legalization Effort
Author: Rachel Williams
Contact: Orlando Business Journal
Photo Credit: Jeff Borg
Website: Orlando Business Journal
That's what's facing Ben Pollara, campaign manager of United for Care, the official medical marijuana legalization organization in Florida. United for Care on Jan. 11 sent its last set of signatures in favor of the effort to the state Supervisors of Elections for review. More than 1 million signatures were sent, and just 683,149 need to be validated to ensure the effort becomes an amendment on the November ballot.
Here, Pollara shares more insight into what's next, now that the signatures are out of his hands:
What's next for the campaign? We need to make a major transition from being a petition-gathering organization to a general election, statewide campaign. We have to put our heads down, raise more money and put money aside for a statewide advertising campaign this fall. Our advertising entirely will be about our message. Last time, we spent quite a bit of money running a grassroots campaign. Our money will be spent more heavily on communications.
What sort of advertising can Florida residents expect? TV, radio and online advertising will be our primary focus. We may also do some targeted direct mail and phone calls. I anticipate spending between $4 million-$5 million on our advertising campaign, and kicking that off in mid-to late September and running it through election day.
How much money has been raised so far? At the end of December, we completed a donation match campaign with John Morgan, an Orlando attorney. For every donation we received, Morgan pledged to match it times nine, at least. After we do our final calculations, it may turn out to be more of an 11:1 donation match. We raised $160,000, and Morgan has donated upward of $2.5 million so far. In 2014, we raised $3.5 million. So far we've raised 50 percent more than we did in our previous attempt. If that trend continues, we should raise about $5 million.
How do you plan to raise the remaining balance? We'll make a lot of phone calls, meet with people, host semi-regular conferences to update our large donors, and be very, very nice to John Morgan.
What challenges does the campaign still face? Right now, the only challenge I'm thinking about is getting us officially on the ballot. Nothing else matters until that happens.
News Moderator: Robert Celt 420 MAGAZINE ®
Full Article: Florida: Here's What's Next For The Medical Marijuana Legalization Effort
Author: Rachel Williams
Contact: Orlando Business Journal
Photo Credit: Jeff Borg
Website: Orlando Business Journal
