Ask any politician what the best way to get a donation from a supporter is and they'll begrudgingly admit that it's when the politician looks that supporter in the eye (or via a phone call) and makes the "ask." Begrudgingly admitted because all politicians hate to fundraise.

So how do we modernize this concept and capitalize on what we know about effectively campaigning? Common sense, my friends. Let's add an "ask" from the candidate right before someone makes a donation.

As a political consultant, one of the services we provide our clients is the deployment of what I've termed DonationTubes. DonationTubes, quite simply are a short, elevator pitch video message from the candidate to their supporters that can be viewed right before someone enters their credit card information.

You can see how we've incorporated a DonationTube for Lt. Governor Peter Kinder's website here:

A few key things to note when thinking about adding a DonationTube:
* Keep the message short and hit on key action items like giving "recurring/monthly donations." You will only receive if you ask.
* You'll note that Kinder's donation page, of course, is secured with an SSL certificate which gives donors the confidence they need to input their credit card information.
* You can not use a third-party flash video provider (like YouTube or Blip.TV) on secure websites which is why we are hosting this video, and only this video, on our servers.
* Just because we can't use YouTube on this page, we still upload the video to our YouTube channel so that supporters can find it and add it to their website.

The donation page is our last opportunity to connect with our most valuable and committed supporters. Use what you have and succeed online by thinking creatively about the nuts and bolts of the process.