Welcome, 2023!
We are taking a moment to check-in with our wonderful activist/writer friends and share what Blue Wave Postcard Movement has been up to since early January. Our team has been discussing a vision for the upcoming year through 2024.
BWPM’s 2023 plan:
Protect Our Democracy!
We’ll also use 2023 to strengthen our organizational infrastructure so we can go even bigger in 2024!
Remember our last postcard campaign for the Georgia Runoff election? What you may not have known is that:
- That campaign was 250,000 postcards - 2.5x larger than our usual 100,000 card run.
- We sold out within 16 hours of launching it!
- We had to quickly ramp up to print/distribute such a large campaign in the condensed time frame, taking over the better part of our Distribution Director’s (Adrianne’s) garage and living space for the duration
- We expect larger campaigns to be the norm in 2024 as our reach has increased nationally, and so much is at stake in 2024 (Senate, House, the oval office, state houses, and more)
- It is simply not sustainable for a team member to have her home commandeered for every 250,000+ campaign we’ll face in 2024.
Here’s the general plan:
- We’re seeking a space for a pop-up distribution warehouse from June through September 2024, to have a centralized location for much of our distribution and volunteer help.
- We’re looking into ways of streamlining our work (our team is entirely volunteer) by investing in tools that can help us divide our bulk postcard deliveries into kits, encouraging writers to form more groups (cuts down on our kit packaging time), weighing options to get voter addresses more quickly, and finding ways to make our processes more sustainable, eco-friendly, and support local suppliers.
- We’re also changing our Stamp Fund to a broader Activist Assistance Fund which will not only cover the stamp cost, but also offer free shipping for bulk orders and other related costs to make it more affordable for writers/groups in need of assistance.
- We’re also looking for another core team member to help with customer care!
Here’s how you can help:
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Form an OPEN writer’s group, if you haven’t already! We already offer a 20% discount on a box of 2,000 postcards/addresses, and - new this year - you’ll get FREE SHIPPING on these 2,000 card boxes if your group is open to new members.
How this helps BWPM: Our core team is about eight people, plus additional volunteers as needed. Reducing our volume of individual orders in favor of consolidating boxes to writers, preserves our time and mental band-width.
We’d also love it if you’d consider opening your group to new writers in your area - when you register your group on our website, specify if you’d prefer an open or private group (again - open groups get free shipping on boxes of 2,000 cards!).
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Contribute to our Activist Assistance Fund here
How this helps BWPM: We want to encourage everyone to engage in activism, but stamp costs can be prohibitively expensive for those on a fixed income (seniors, students, low income).
We also want to incentivize groups to order a BOX of cards (vs. 10-20 individual orders), to keep hours sane for our shipping volunteers.
- Volunteer to help with distribution! Are you in the Boulder County area? There’s a myriad of details involved with fulfilling postcard orders, including grouping/stapling mailing label pages, sorting postcards into bundles, packaging up shipping orders, helping coordinate postcard writing parties, etc.
Keep an eye out for a sign-up link - as we gear up for future campaigns, we’ll use our updates to get the word out.
Note: The hours required are very fluid - generally, a team member will send out an email with a sign-up sheet for a particular campaign with positions needed - you can sign up as your time/schedule allows.
How this helps BWPM: We can use the help (obviously)! But more than that, we love our community and joining with our activist friends in saving democracy! And sparing our loved ones non-stop political discussions 🙂!
- Help us get the word out for a customer care team member! We need someone comfortable with answering emails through our customer service platform - we’ll provide training - please contact us!
Thanks for supporting us through our past campaigns and reading to the end of this detailed update! We’re super excited about what the next two years hold - the opportunities to take back the House! Win Special elections! Hold the Senate and the Oval Office! Collectively roll our eyes at MAGA GOP hijinks!
Take care, sign-up, and let us know what you think -
Yours in Solidarity -
The Blue Wave Postcard Movement team