How Europe’s ad ban will build better campaigns

The news that major tech players are set to prohibit political ads in Europe in response to new EU digital regulation has sparked fears among campaigners that growth might stall or reverse. For Patrick Frank, an expert in small donor fundraising and grassroots campaigning, these fears are unfounded. Instead, he argues, it opens the possibility of achieving more meaningful and sustainable growth.

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Meta and Google are pulling political advertising from the European Union. New transparency rules will soon make targeted political ads nearly impossible. For many campaigns, this feels like a crisis.

It's actually the best opportunity European democracy has had in years.

I learned this lesson the hard way in America. During my seven years as Outreach Director at ActBlue, the platform that has processed over $17 billion in small-dollar donations for Democratic candidates and progressive causes in the US, I watched unregulated digital advertising supercharge fundraising while slowly poisoning the well.

Anyone can buy ads, collect data, and present themselves as legitimate. Predatory operations have flooded inboxes with misleading claims and fake urgency. Legitimate campaigns feel pressure to keep pace or disappear. Donors have begun feeling less like partners and more like cash machines. Trust, the single most important ingredient for sustainable fundraising, eroded.

The left in America is now struggling to fix what unregulated advertising broke. Europe can skip that mistake entirely.

When rules create strength

Through my agency Nimbus and our EU donation platform Lunda, I've worked with progressive parties across Europe to build online fundraising programs. The lesson is consistent: rules create strength.

When I first encountered GDPR, I assumed strict privacy rules would handicap European campaigns. In the US, the ability to target and message freely was considered essential.

I was wrong. GDPR forces campaigns to secure explicit consent and treat supporters as more than marketing targets. Every name on a GDPR-compliant list chose to be there. They trust the organization and see themselves as part of a movement.

Now the EU's Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising regulation adds another layer. Combined with GDPR, it makes ad-driven list building nearly impossible. That's the point.

Quality over quantity

Without the constant drip of low-friction sign-ups from Facebook and Google ads, lists will grow more slowly. But they'll grow with people who joined intentionally through a conversation, an event, a shared cause, or a personal connection.

These supporters mobilize more easily, give more often, volunteer, recruit friends, and stay engaged between election cycles. A supporter who joins at a climate march is worth a hundred anonymous ad clicks.

At Lunda, we don’t see the deliverability headaches or burnout that plague US campaigns. Engagement is steady: open rates are solid, clicks are strong, and supporters respond to the content they’re sent.

A supporter who joins at a climate march is worth a hundred anonymous ad clicks.

The new playbook

The end of ads doesn't mean cutting list-growth budgets. It means redirecting them toward activities that create real relationships.

Every rally or campaign event should include a direct invitation to sign up. If your party leader has never said your website URL out loud, you're missing one of the easiest ways to grow for free.

Then, invest in tactics that make recruitment part of everyday organizing:

Relational organizing: A click to "send this to friends" is as valuable as a donation.

Event-based recruitment: Make sign-up the gateway to participation. That €100,000 ad budget? Hire an organizer to run house parties or social events. With trained hosts and modest refreshments, each event can yield dozens of intentional sign-ups while building community ties no ad can match.

Community partnerships: Co-host activities where sign-up feels natural, not transactional.

Consistent visibility: Every rally, flyer, and billboard needs a QR code or short URL.

Internal elections: Use leadership contests and internal votes as list-building moments. Make registration the first step so every participant gets added to your database.

Why smaller campaigns will benefit most

Some worry this change favors established parties over insurgent movements. The reverse is true. When everyone loses access to the same tools, creativity and authentic connection matter more than budget size.

The campaigns that'll struggle are those addicted to buying their way to growth. The ones that'll thrive are those willing to do the harder work of building genuine movements.

When everyone loses access to the same tools, creativity and authentic connection matter more than budget size.

Europe's democratic advantage

Meta and Google leaving European political advertising isn't the end of digital organizing. It's the beginning of something healthier.

The future of small-donor fundraising here isn't about collecting the largest number of email addresses. It's about building networks of supporters who trust you, feel proud to be part of your cause, and see themselves as partners in the work ahead.

American campaigns are now scrambling to repair what unregulated advertising damaged. Europe gets to build from scratch, with stronger foundations and deeper trust.

The rules have changed. The advantage belongs to those who adapt first. This is what it looks like when technology strengthens democracy instead of undermining it.