Quick & Dirty Guide to Making a Difference in the 2020 Election
With Iowa in the rearview mirror and New Hampshire on deck, the official countdown to the 2020 election is underway! And in these early days of voting, I’m asking you to recall how you participated in the 2016 election and commit to doing a bit more in 2020 to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.
After campaigning wholeheartedly in 2008, Kurt and I lost steam in 2012 and 2016. Sure, we wrote a few checks and voted with pride, but we figured our friends and family in our purple home state had this wrapped up. The polls were saying just as much. So, really, what else did we need to do? Obviously, this couldn’t have been further from the truth. People back home were doing tons, but it takes all of us to make this country work.
You all know our story...we woke up hungover and frustrated on November 9th, 2016, but committed to doing something to make sure 2020 would be different. In our journey back to Wisconsin and through our efforts to strengthen our fragile democracy, we have met incredible leaders that truly are making the change we need to see in communities across our country.
Again, as we march towards the critical date of November 3rd, 2020, I’d ask that you assess what you did in 2016 and commit to doing more in 2020.
If you are asking, “well, I live in California, don’t have a ton of time, or my whole circle already votes, what can I really do?”, I’m beyond excited to enroll you in a few simple tasks for three innovative organizations below that we’ve gotten to know over the past four years. The founders of these organizations, the methodology they are employing, and the results they are getting are game changing. These are the places and people to make investments in.
You all have skills, connections, and capital that when combined with these organizations can be absolutely transformative to the outcome of this election. Think about it, are you really too busy for a 30 minute phone call, or to make 3 connections to people in your network, or too broke to write a $300 check to help bolster this democracy?
If you’d like an introduction to any of the founders directly, please shoot me an email or text. I’d be happy to make that connection asap. Otherwise, their websites all have places you can make direct donations to.
And with that, I’ll sign off, for now. Look forward to hearing from me as we get closer to November… ;)
BLOC: Focused on organizing in the best possible way in Milwaukee
Founder/Executive Director: Angela Lang
Vision: The concerns and needs of the communities we represent always come first. Community-based organizing and face-to-face conversations lead to change. So we listen in order to build transformational, not transactional, relationships. We are uniters, working to lift up the Black citizens, leaders, and businesses of our community. We are transparent in our work to ensure the community we advocate for can hold us accountable.
Goals:
Invest in our community and engage citizens to build long-term political power.
Through coordinated political action ensure a high quality of life and access to economic opportunity for members of the Black community in Milwaukee and throughout Wisconsin.
Empower Black leaders with the tools, training, and resources needed to organize and guarantee that their issues, concerns, and values are represented at all levels of government.
Why I Love Them: See above + Angela is truly one of the most intelligent, talented, and hardest working people I’ve ever met, and I say that with all of you incredible humans I am humbled to know on this list. If anyone can lead transformative change that will make sure people who are not heard are, it is Angela.
Remember what Trump won Wisconsin by in 2016? Oh yeah, 22K votes. In 2018, BLOC’s work can be directly attributed to turning out an additional 23K votes for now Governor Tony Evers. The organization is even better organized to significantly increase those numbers for the 2020 election.
DONATE HERE
Wisconsin Voices: Leveraging technology to do capacity building for nonprofits around voter turnout throughout Wisconsin.
Executive Director: Dana Schultz
About: We unify a dynamic network of progressive nonprofits in Wisconsin around achieving shared goals to build a better democracy. Wisconsin Voices plays a unique role in the progressive movement by creating the structure to empower organizations in the 501c3 community through:
Capacity building
Ongoing year round civic engagement
Convening and connecting
Long-term strategic planning for collective impact
Why I Love Them: Dana and her team have built a voter registration app that makes Wisconsin’s horribly difficult voter registration process online and simple for often disenfranchised communities. Her team built this on a shoestring budget (think $50K) in less than a year, and was able to leverage it to register over 50K people in 2018, which helped Wisconsin elect a Democratic governor once again. Say what!?! Who does that!? Dana. She’s now onto V2 of the app and looking to register another 80k voters. Think of what your contribution or technical expertise could do to help!
DONATE HERE
Tech for Campaigns: Connecting down ballot races to tech talent
Founder: Jessica Alter
Mission: Tech For Campaigns provides political campaigns with access to world-class talent, training and technology to implement digital strategies needed to win, powered by a growing community of over 10,000 skilled volunteers. TFC gives political candidates access to a caliber of digital talent that is hard to come by, especially in state and other down-ballot races. This digital boost provides a competitive edge, while offering tech workers opportunities to volunteer their skills in a meaningful and impactful way—turning political passion into hands-on involvement.
Why I Love Them: For everyone, their strategy, to flip state seats, not only is 100% spot on for reclaiming legislatures across the country, it causes turnout increases that help federal races that directly affect you. Their first campaigns are what drove the amazing flip in the VA legislature and this year they are focused on flipping the Wisconsin State Senate from R to D.
For my tech colleagues, this organization makes it incredibly easy to apply your talents in a streamlined, familiar way. The work is project orientated, well oiled, and makes a HUGE impact for the campaign.