The future of the GOP is bright and the conservative movement is growing by leaps and bounds.
This week, hundreds of conservative young professionals from across the country will gather in New York at Mavericks Conference 2019 to hear from and engage with top leaders in business and government on a variety of topics, such as innovation, technology, and the 2020 election. More specifically, these young professional conservatives- all of whom work in a variety of industries and are under forty years old - will discuss what they can do to help elect like-minded local, federal and state-wide candidates in 2020 and beyond.
At the top of the agenda for success in 2020 and beyond is the need for the GOP to cultivate successful candidates as well as donors willing to support these candidates. Successful Republican candidates will be those who fall on the center-right side of the political spectrum, those who are business-minded and support free market ideals. Our candidates need to be more representative of our country’s demographic. In order to flourish, we need to recruit diverse candidates who bring a different perspective, especially females, veterans and minority candidates.
In addition to attracting successful candidates and encouraging them to run for office, we need to engage new donors to support these candidates. Millennials are the fundraising future of the party but only if properly developed. For far too long, Republicans have relied upon a smaller group of major donors to fund the campaigns of candidates across the country. as opposed to the Democrats, who have cultivated a huge pool of active, engaged donors. These donors are passionate ambassadors for the candidates they support and back them frequently through small donations. Republicans need electable candidates who supporters and donors can be passionate about to motivate them to frequently donate and recruit others on social media to do the same. I’ve found that most people don’t contribute to campaigns simply because no one has asked them. Once someone donates- even at a small level- they become a force multiplier who can greatly benefit a campaign.
The hundreds of professional conservatives gathering in New York this week are doing just that. These young executives and entrepreneurs are engaging in the political process, making small to medium-size donations – for most, their first political donation – to be involved in the process. Every successful organization needs a farm team and millennials, through groups like MavPAC, will play an ever-increasing role in the GOP.
Fritz Brogan is National Chairman of Maverick PAC, the premier donor organization for young conservative professionals. Mavericks Conference, Maverick PAC’s annual conference for members and sponsors, takes place June 14-15, 2019 in New York City.