How do I pay for it?

#25. Raise money immediately, waiting is a mistake.

First set a specific dollar target: “In the next sixty days I want to get X number of dollars deposited in the account.” This kind of thinking is setting yourself up for failure.

Make a list of those folks you could approach for a sizeable contribution. Start with friends, family, business associates ­and ask for as much as they're capable of giving. And you want to ask for a check, not a pledge. You don't want to be chasing people for checks they would have given you in the first place if only you'd asked.

Don't make fundraising more complicated than it has to be. That can be a way of procrastinating. Just get started. Figure out who you need to contact, one-on­-one - in person or on the phone - and schedule the time to make the calls. In the early stages of a campaign, you can spend as much as 75% of your time raising money ­and that probably goes to 50% in the closing days.

#26. Ask a trusted accountant to be your campaign treasurer.

Make sure they get the FEC start-up kit immediately. Some legal questions have to be settled in the early stages of a campaign for Congress. When you've raised or spent more than $5,000 you have to be filed with the FEC - the Federal Elections Commission. You have to have a campaign treasurer and you need to name the committee,something that sounds good as a disclaimer on radio. "Paid for by Joe Smith for Congress" as opposed to "Paid for by proud citizens united to elect Joe Wilbur Smith to the United States Congress." That would be half of your commercial.

#27. Find the right finance chairman and/or finance director.

Easier said than done usually, but don't despair. Someone usually pops up at some point, if not necessarily at the very beginning. Sometimes you have to prove your credibility publicly before a person of great reputation and fundraising ability is willing to sign on.

You want to find someone who knows the movers and shakers - and more importantly, the givers. Someone who's not afraid to ask for money, perhaps even enjoys twisting an arm to get a contribution. I know that might sound odd, but some people have a very upbeat attitude about fundraising. They enjoy the challenge of convincing a reluctant citizen to join up and contribute.

You certainly don't want someone shy to lead fundraising. You want someone who is aggressive, who knows how to ask, who understands rejection and will ask again and again. Someone who can organize and motivate other people. Fundraising is really an organizing effort. You want to figure out how to organize fund-raising by profession, or by community, or whatever makes sense in your district.

28. List prospective members of a Finance Committee: fundraising is all about prospecting.

In the process of prospecting for a Finance Chairman, you will probably enlist members of the Finance Committee ­people who say, "No, I don't want to be chairman, but I will help." Then you say, "Great, you're going to be on the Finance committee." You want to think through all the people you know who are capable of raising money for you and determine who is the best person to approach these people. Who can reach these people and persuade them to join up?

When you think of a Finance Committee, think in terms of people who can raise money within their own professions. The doctor who can raise money from doctors. The lawyer who can do the same with lawyers, and so on. And then include people from all the geographic units of the district, someone from city A and city B.

If you’re going to have major events to raise money, the person chairing the events needs to serve on the committee. Try to establish a broad based Finance Committee, and if there's a way to get the maximum contribution, then somebody should be able to ask for $1,000. But if there's a way to get $5.00, there ought to be a program for that as well.

Give people titles. Let them know they have accepted a serious responsibility. And if they don't work out, replace them.

#29. Make a decision about whether to accept PAC money.

This is a serious question. Challengers don't generally raise very much from PACs. You can begin by trying to determine whether you think you're going to be able to raise much PAC money. The second question is how you feel about it. This is a political issue more than a financial issue. Think through the advantages and disadvantages of taking PAC money.

Be vary cautious about is hiring a Washington, D.C. PAC fundraiser (or one in your state capital) who says they will raise PAC money for you. It usually doesn't work well that way. The way you raise PAC money (if, in fact, you're going to take it) is to campaign for it as you do for votes. You need to search out the PAC representatives.

Most of the associations, for example ­whether realtor, dentists or home-builders ­have local chapters and you need to talk with someone in those local chapters. You should also see who heads the state chapter. You don't start out in Washington D.C. asking for help without even knowing the local people. You need to build locally before going nationally.

The same is true about national businesses and associations generally. They all rely on recommendations from those who are local. If you contact them and get the interested, the first thing they're going to do is call the folks back home and ask, "What about this candidate?" And if they haven't heard anything about you, guess what?

Those national people aren't going to feel too good about saying, "Oh, well, we hoped to contribute to that campaign."

#30. Draw up a budget that is ambitious but realistic.

What makes it realistic is to keep the overhead to a minimum and plan on spending money like it's your own. You also have to be realistic in estimating what your campaign will need to win. It doesn't do you any good to raise a lot of money but lose. So get those advertising costs figured out, the cost of staff and consultants, and don't forget the cost of fundraising. It takes some money to raise money.

As you consider all that you would like to do, you'll get a better sense of the size and scope of your campaign and what it's going to take to win. You need to think carefully about the things you actually have to pay for. This is where some campaigns go awry, because they want to pay for everything up front. If you do that, you get enormous overhead built in, and you never get ahead of the process.

Remember a big lesson learned from past successful campaigns: make sure you have the media dollars needed for advertising in the end when voters are most interested and persuadable. Think of your campaign as a small communications company. Question each dollar. Is it being spent to help communicate the winning message, directly or indirectly? Could I use this dollar more wisely doing something else?

Final Thoughts

You are not only embarking on an investment of money, but an investment of yourself. Elections are a very tough, demanding business. You're going to have highs and lows, and you need the stamina to get through it. You need to pace yourself to achieve victory.

In the very final analysis, what's most important is just do the very best you can: you have to live with yourself afterwards. Win or lose, you return to your family and friends who respect you for having had the courage to enter the arena and fight for your beliefs.

So enjoy the adventure of it all: the unpredictability, the unexpected excitement, the applause, and the many new friends you will make.