If the WA Liberals want to make Mark McGowan's Labor Party a one-term government and surge back into office, they will need plenty to go their way.

Key points: In 2017–18 the WA Liberals raised their lowest amount in more than a decade

In 2017–18 the WA Liberals raised their lowest amount in more than a decade The Colin Barnett legacy appears to remain a cloud over donations

The Colin Barnett legacy appears to remain a cloud over donations The looming federal election will also require a big injection of funds

That is not to say all Liberals view their position as hopeless just over two years out from election day.

But even the most optimistic conservative would view as daunting the task of convincing tens of thousands of voters who abandoned the party to return and allow them to win back at least 11 seats from Labor.

The size of the task that awaits in March 2021 is part of why the recently revealed list of political party donations and income makes such grim reading for Liberals.

Donations slow to a trickle

Just a few years ago, the WA Liberals boasted financial clout that progressives in the state could only have dreamed of.

In 2013–14 they raised $6 million more, or nearly three times as much, as their Labor counterparts.

How times change.

In 2017–18, the Liberals brought in just $3.4 million — $1 million less than Labor and their lowest amount in more than a decade.

Not a single person or entity made a donation to the Liberals above the $13,500 threshold, while Labor enjoyed the benefit of large donations from unions and major companies including Crown Perth.

Liberal donations last year were their lowest in more than a decade. ( ABC News: Nic MacBean )

It was not just the Liberal Party struggling for cash either.

The 500 Club, long a Liberal Party cash cow consisting of wealthy donors, raised just over $1,000, while Labor's Perth Trades Hall raked in more than $1 million.

Barnett legacy remains a financial cloud

None of these figures would come as any sort of surprise to WA Liberal parliamentarians and members, who have long been warned the party is seriously strapped for cash.

The Liberals' state conference last year saw something of a conga line of senior office holders warning of the perilous state of the party's finances and the urgency with which that needed to be tackled.

"The next few months are going to place enormous strain on the party," then WA Liberal president Norman Moore said in August.

"The party's finances are very precarious and we need to broaden the donor base."

The situation follows concerns among Liberals for several years that the relationship with the business community soured dramatically in the final years of the former Barnett government — partially driven by anger over tax hikes.

The Mike Nahan-led opposition has sought to repair this trust, but the donation receipts indicate plenty of work is still to be done.

Former premier Colin Barnett's policies turned off business donors. ( ABC News: Andrew O'Connor )

Looming federal poll a bigger issue

But the first call on the low Liberal coffers is this year's looming federal election.

Liberal seats held by the likes of ministers Christian Porter, Ken Wyatt and Michael Keenan are viewed as highly vulnerable and every dollar would inevitably help counter Labor's optimism that it can win a wave of WA seats.

Beyond that, state Liberals are well aware of the need to get cash flowing back into the party before 2021.

Last time WA voters went to the polls, well-resourced and highly organised Labor and union campaigns got the then-opposition on the front foot early and into a position where the Liberals were not able to fight back.

It was clear throughout the 2017 campaign that Labor and the unions could outspend the conservative side of politics.

Such an advertising and campaign spending imbalance inevitably makes it harder for a party to sell its messages — something the Liberals can ill afford as they prepare for a tough fight.

In any event, winning back at least 11 Labor seats — something that would require a swing of about 6 per cent — shapes as an enormously difficult task.

Much of the Liberals' campaign planning can wait. Dr Nahan has said policy will not be released until after the federal election so it can be properly scrutinised, while the process for picking candidates is still at least several months away.

But most Liberals know they do not have any time to lose in fixing their bank balance.