Several years ago, my good friend and collaborator Ted Chambers and I began talking about a strategy needed to effectively engage and turn out progressive voters, particularly in purple states. It’s quite simple in many ways, and we are far from the only ones who were thinking along these lines ten years ago – Fair Fight/ProGeorgia and the folks from the Arizona Wins coalition were already working on it. The strategy consists of three elements: organizing voters, mobilizing them to get out and vote, and protecting their right to vote. Ted called this strategy: Build It, Move It, Protect It. There are plenty of moving parts in each element, but this post is about how you can support the work financially.
The focus of this post is on the first two elements: supporting organizing groups working to build a progressive electorate and move progressive voters to the polls in 2024 and beyond. In future post, I will focus on how to support the third prong of this strategy. You may find that you will want to max out your donation budget on political races in 2024 rather than organizing groups. If so, it’s particularly important that you focus on supporting organizing groups in battleground and emerging battleground states this year. When I report on 2023 political races, I will try to remember to include ways to donate on those campaigns. For now, let’s focus on supporting organizing groups in order to help.
The easiest way for you to help is to donate through Movement Voter Project. MVP has several states funds in which aggregate donations will be shared among several organizing groups in those states. The organizing groups in these state funds largely work on organizing and mobilizing voters. Some may also do some voter protection work, but many of the groups that do this work are different organizations (which will be the subject of part 2).
You can find websites for all the groups mentioned for each state at the “donate here” link if you want to better understand what those groups are working on. You can additionally donate directly to any individual organization through their (i.e., the individual organization’s) website. But if you are doing so because you are concerned about MVP taking a cut of your donation, rest assured. It won’t; 100% of the donations made through the MVP state funds go directly to the organizations.
MVP DONATION OPTIONS BY STATE (* = Senate race in 2024; ** = Senate race in 2024 with a Democratic incumbent)
Arizona*
Donate here. Organizations receiving donations include: Arizona Coalition for Change; Arizona Students’ Association; Arizona Wins; Instituto Lab; Instituto Power; LUCHA; Mijente; PODER in Action; People’s Defense Initiative; Tomorrow We Vote; Poder Latinx.
Another organization to donate to in Arizona is Worker Power, formerly CASE. They have done so much to change the electoral landscape in Arizona so that it’s possible to elect progressive and Democratic candidates there. If you can only support one organization in Arizona, it probably should be Worker Power.
Florida*
Donate here. Organizations receiving donations include: Poder Latinx; Alianza for Progress; Black Votes Matter; Dream Defenders; Emgage Action; Engage Miami; Engage Miami Civic Fund; Faith in Florida; Florida Immigrant Coalition; Florida Rights Restoration Coalition; Florida Rising; Florida Student Power Alliance; Florida Student Power Network; Mi Familia Vota; Emgage Foundation.
Georgia
Donate here. Organizations receiving donations include: Poder Latinx; Asian American Advocacy Fund; Asian American Advancing Justice; Fair Fight Action; Geogria Equality; Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights; Georgia Shift; In Defense of Black Lives ATL; New Georgia Project and Action Fund; SONG Power; Mijente; Southerners on New Ground; Black Male Voter Project.
North Carolina
Donate here. Organizations receiving donations include: Advance Carolina; Carolina Federation; Down Home North Carolina; Durham for All; Equality North Carolina; Foraleza; Ignite NC Action Fund; NC Latino Power; New North Carolina Project; North Carolina Asian Americans Together in Action; Poder NC Action; Siembra NC.
Michigan
Donate here. Organizations receiving donations include: Detroit Action; Economic Justice Alliance of Michigan; MOSES; Michigan Liberation; Michigan Student Power Network; Michigan United / Michigan People’s Campaign; Mothering Justice / Mothering Justice Action Fund
Pennsylvania**
Donate here. Organizations receiving donations include: CASA in Action; Working Families Organization; 215 People’s Alliance; CASA de Pennsylvania; Keystone Progress; Make the Road Action; One Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania Stands Up; Pennsylvania United/Pittsburg United; Pennsylvania Working Families Party; POWER; Reclaim Philadelphia.
Texas*
Donate here. Organizations receiving donations include: Emerge Action – Texas; Jolt Action; Mi Familia Vota – Texas; MOVE Texas; Texas Organizing Project; Texas Rising; United Fort Worth; Workers Defense Action Fun; Working Families Party - Texas
Wisconsin**
Donate here. Organizations receiving donations include: Working Families Organization; Black Leaders Organizing Communities; Citizen Action of Wisconsin; Freedom, Inc.; Leaders Igniting Transformation; One Wisconsin Revolution; Voces de la Frontera Action, Inc.; WISDOM; Wisconsin Working Families Party.
Organize The Midwest Fund
Donate now. This fund looks regionally across the Midwest rather than by specific state. You can donate to the state fund or choose to focus on a specific state by donating directly to one or more of the following groups: Chicago Votes / Education Fund; Faith in Indiana / ACT Indiana; Detroit Action; Mothering Justice / Mothering Justice Action Fund; ISAIAH /Faith in Minnesota; Navigate / UNIDOS Minnesota; Missouri Organizing and Voter Engagement Collaborative (MOVE) / MOVE Action; Stand Up for Ohio / Ohio Organizing Collaborative; Black Leaders Organizing Communities (BLOC); Leaders Igniting Transformation (LIT) / LIT AF; Wisconsin Farmers Union. Note that Ohio, Minnesota, and Wisconsin have 2024 Senate races with Democratic incumbents. Missouri and Indiana also have Senate races in 2024.
If you prefer to donate to funds designed to support affinity groups or issues, MVP has a number of them. You can find them here.
If you want to help support change in a few states that are currently solid Republican states but with an emerging organizing landscape, Groundwork Project supports community organizing in West Virginia**, Alabama, Mississippi, and Oklahoma.
I hope this helps you figure out where to send your money this year to support organizing groups working to organize and mobilize voters.