Jesse Jackson’s Secret Weapon

On February 17, the world lost a legendary civil rights leader: Reverend Jesse Jackson. For decades, Reverend Jackson challenged America to live up to its highest ideals—to widen the circle of opportunity, to confront inequality, and to believe that dignity and fairness belong to everyone.

He urged us all to “keep hope alive” and dedicated his life to the civil rights movement, advancing economic justice, expanding access to healthcare, and defending human rights with unwavering courage.

As we honor his extraordinary legacy, we invited our founder, Mal Warwick, to share his reflections on MWD’s management of Jesse Jackson’s direct mail fundraising program for his historic 1988 presidential campaign—a moment that embodied hope, possibility, and the enduring belief that progress is always within reach when people dare to demand it.

“Jesse Jackson’s secret weapon”

By Mal Warwick

Sometime in May 1987, I received a phone call from a senior aide to Congressman Ron Dellums. Mal Warwick & Associates had raised millions for Dellums’ reelection campaigns since 1979. And he knew that Senator Gary Hart had just abruptly dropped out of the presidential race the previous month, leaving us in the lurch after raising most of the money for his campaign. Were we interested in working for Jesse Jackson now?

Well, of course, the answer was yes. And in short order I found myself in the back seat of a limousine en route to San Francisco Airport, sandwiched between Reverend Jackson and Congresswoman Maxine Waters. This was our audition to work for the Jackson campaign. We passed, almost entirely because of a rave recommendation from Ron Dellums.

The campaign was chaotic, a disorganized, high-energy operation. And the staff, none of whom knew a thing about direct mail fundraising, dragged their feet. But after a flurry of phone calls and exhaustive meetings with the skeptical campaign chairman, our first 100,000 appeals landed in mailboxes shortly before Labor Day 1987. When the effort ended eleven months later, we’d raised more than $7 million from 73,000 donors.

Take just one acquisition mailing, for example. In February 1988, we mailed 400,000 copies of our most effective package, a Presidential Issues Survey. It generated a 3.7% response—nearly 15,000 new donors with gifts averaging $32. Both that response rate and the average gift were far above the norm in political direct mail then. (The dollar was worth almost three times as much as it is today.)

These results were astounding. And soon our success captured the attention of the news media, which had expected the Jackson campaign to founder from lack of funds (as it had in 1984). We garnered headline stories in the New York Times, the Washington Post, and other newspapers. And the story broke on network news as well. Suddenly, reporters and editors started taking the Jackson campaign very seriously indeed.

From mid-February until early May 1988, when the primary season drew to a close, the Jackson campaign was featured almost nightly on network news. And contributions poured in from our appeals at the rate of more than $1 million a month. Our sister company, Response Management Technologies, caged and cashiered the gifts for the campaign. To keep up, we were forced to hire nearly 90 people and run three shifts, 24 hours a day.

In our much later work for the Democratic National Committee and other clients, we’ve raised money at a far, far greater clip. Today, with billionaires weighing in with 10-figure gifts, $7 million may seem paltry. But back then it was a lot. The campaign’s top staff called us “Jesse Jackson’s secret weapon.” Because the money we raised paid their salaries and made it possible for the campaign to run television ads in crucial primaries, including New York. 

That was nearly 40 years ago. It seems like yesterday.

As we remember Jesse Jackson it’s impossible not to consider how the battles he fought continue today and are far from over.

That’s why we’re proud to stand side-by-side with our extraordinary clients who continue to shape the world into a kinder, more equitable, and peaceful place—organizations that embody the enduring call that defined Reverend Jackson’s legacy: Keep Hope Alive.