Credo Action’s OMGGOPWTF campaign has redefined the practice of paid email list building. Traditionally businesses and organizations would pay hefty sums of cash for email lists from marketing firms with a cost-per-email pricing model. Unfortunately for both the list customer and the people on those lists, unsolicited email doesn’t get a good response and honestly just pisses people off. Credo’s campaign is essentially a pay-per-email campaign that works and benefits everyone in the process.

Instead of paying an organization for their email list, every week Credo chooses a new progressive organization to receive up to 50 cents for every person that opts in to Credo’s mailing list. Each person that visits the website takes a 5 question quiz about stupid things Republicans have done or said the previous week, with each correct answer earning the chosen organization 10 cents.

The result is each week a new progressive organization, with people on its list that would likely be interested in Credo Action, uses all of its communications resources to get its members and supporters to take the quiz. This week it is the Young Democrats of America, so YDA ended up blasting its email list, posting to Facebook and Twitter, and encouraged members to spread the word to their own networks. All those people are now opting-in to Credo’s email list, and after a week passes and most of the people associated with YDA that would take part have already done so, Credo moves on to another organization.

For 50 cents or less an email Credo is getting an opted-in email address from someone that identifies with a progressive organization, and instead of paying some sleazy marketing firm they are helping that progressive organization. By having the sign-up as a trivia game it becomes more viral, since people are more willing to share a quiz than a basic sign-up page. It’s a really smart win-win idea.