Kylie Ding, 2012 Get-Up-and-over-Fan-Fund (GUFF) delegate, has written “The Winners’ Guide to Winning a Fan Fund” (a Facebook link) for fans interested in being voted one of the subsidized travel funds like TAFF, DUFF, GUFF, CUFF, etc.
The first of her seven points is —
Make it easy for people to vote
That’s the really big thing. You are well enough known in your fandom that at least five people think you are a worthwhile candidate. You have connections. Milk them for all they are worth! Think of all your friends and people you know in fandom, and work out when you will see them. Make a physical list or a mental list. When will you see them? Party? Convention? You need to approach each person and ask them if they would like to vote in the fan fund race. You need to have a voting form for them, a pen and be able to make change if they give you money. You need to be prepared that they might not want to vote for one reason or another and move on to the next person.
I don’t disagree, although each of the funds has its own customs about how subtly this should be done. Judging by the article, GUFF may do the most direct, up-front canvassing.
In the Seventies, when LASFSians Len and June Moffatt were up for TAFF, the first fan fund race I ever observed from the inside, someone carefully explained to me that people do not campaign for TAFF, they stand for TAFF — in the same way 19th-century American presidential candidates would remain at home aloof from the fray while their backers did the campaigning. In the era of social media TAFF nominees are no longer so constrained.
One thing that hasn’t changed over the years, and ought to factor into anyone’s decision to run, is that the winner becomes responsible for continuing the fund by raising money to replenish it, and by co-administering the next couple of races (which sometimes means finding willing candidates).