Fundraising

Donating directly to the candidate and/or organization that you want to support enables you to have the maximum positive impact with the minimum commitment of your time. Fundraising requires a larger time commitment, but it can have an extremely large return.

Here are some more specific considerations that may help inform your personal decision as to how you want to contribute:

To candidates:

• Early Funding: Contributions given early in a race help lesser-known or underdog candidates hire core staff and build name recognition before official voting begins.

• Resource Building: Small-dollar donations aggregate to fund essential operational costs like local offices, travel, and digital or broadcast ads.

• Viability Signals: A high volume of small donations can signal to media and other funders that a candidate has grassroots momentum.

(Do Your Political Donations Really Make a Difference — or Is Your Money Better Spent Elsewhere?)

To individual organizations (e.g., Indivisible, Movement Voter Project, ACLU, etc):

• Many political strategists argue that money yields a higher return when directed to grassroots community organizing and get-out-the-vote (GOTV) non-profits rather than temporary candidate committees.

(Guide to Strategic Giving | Movement Voter Project)

To multiple organizations (e.g., Dining for Democracy program of Indivisible Santa Cruz County):

• Members of our team have had outstanding experiences hosting “Dining for Democracy” dinner parties in their home where it is understood that attendees will make a contribution to an organization chosen by the host.

(Dining for Democracy House Parties — Indivisible Santa Cruz County)

NOTE: It is always wise to donate directly to the candidate or to an organization that you have carefully vetted. There are an enormous number of scammers out there seeking to extract donations from well-meaning citizens for their own nefarious purposes.