myconservatives.com marks a shift in gear by the Conservatives in terms of their online activity. Rishi Saha and Sam Coates have taken the view that the primary focus for the Tory online strategy has to be about bagging their vote and ensuring that every candidate has the ability to fundraise and generate interest.  Twitter and Facebook conversations will continue regardless and are a scattergun channel anyway - far better to focus in on a practical tool for party supporters.

Labour launched its own Membersnet well under the radar about a year ago.  It has some of the functionality of the Conservatives site (the virtual phone bank has been really successful) with one crucial distinction.  You can join Membersnet as a non-member, but it doesn't make life easy for you - it is really geared at (duh!) members.  The Conservatives have made the critical judgement that their service must be focused on non-members and be simple to use.  It takes the idea of a supporters network, which Labour has also developed, and makes it easy for non-members to act.
 
As Eric Pickles says in the site's explanatory video, "I'll bung that candidate a fiver". Incremental, small scale fundraising efforts are key for candidates, and make non-active supporters feel part of the process. The easier this is to do, the better. The fact that myconservatives.com also tells you exactly how that money will be spent encourages you to get involved, but also introduces you to your local candidate.

Labour's got it all going on - it has much of the functionality of myconservatives.com in place on Membersnet.  The party should now simplify the system and really focus on supporter participation, give each candidate a PayPal account and get donations flowing.