Finding A Partner
Founding this group and building a community of like-minded individuals to build a brighter future has been rewarding, as you may have gleaned by the first post in this series. However, the process leading up to launching the first campaign was also long and challenging. I approached about two dozen non-profit and political organizations to find the right partner for the campaign so we can obtain voter addresses and also spread the word about the movement.
There were some surprising disappointments along the way. For example, an organization that I had worked with for a few years wasn’t interested, even though it seemed like a natural fit given our relationship and mission alignment. After a few months of fruitless conversations, I learned that they “didn’t know what to do with” us given that our organization was so small and I had no track record of leading a movement. My experiences taught me the challenge of starting from scratch. I learned that trust was hard to earn, and it was important to keep trying.
After a few months, I was able to identify a great partner in America Votes. Its mission of getting out every vote in battleground states was our mission as well. More importantly, it was willing to partner with small and unproven grassroots organizations like ours.
We also had the option of subscribing to one of the data platforms and running the campaigns entirely on our own. However, I did not buy into the notion of a magical, single-bullet solution. Post-carding could be effective, but post-carding alone wasn’t going to do it. It would be far more effective to be part of an overall campaign strategy. It took a layered effort to move the voters, from post-carding, phone- and text-banking, to digital ads, rallying and canvassing. I realized early on that the Blue Wave Postcard Movement wouldn’t amount to anything unless it was part of a national blue wave movement.
America Votes drove a coordinated strategy to turn out voters in phases using all tools in the toolbox, including postcards. It was exactly the type of partnership we were looking for. Our relationship with America Votes continued to evolve over time. Subsequently we found more partners down the road - in some cases they sought us out - but none of that would have been possible if we hadn’t found our first partner.
Continued on to Part Three.
Ning Mosberger-Tang, Founder and President [bio]
More to come as we dive into our 2020 campaigns in part three of our blog series. Please sign up to receive future campaign communications or donate to our stamp fundraiser so more people can participate in writing postcards. We’d love your involvement in growing the Blue Wave movement!