Back on August 12, I sent a two-letter text to the Obama campaign. The text to 62262 said “VP,” and I signed up to be “one of the first” to get the word as to who President-elect Obama would be choosing for his vice president. I gave no money to the campaign and sent no other messages to the campaign.
I received 11 text messages over the next three months, inviting me to volunteer, meet other people, watch the debate and vote. (I never did get the message as to who the VP would be, but I managed to find that out from other sources.) The only request for money I received was on 9/1, asking me to contribute $5 to the Red Cross for hurricane relief.
I can only imagine what people who actually engaged with the campaign actually received. Outreach is much of the story of the 2008 election, and it helps explain the Obama success in the formerly red states.