Hello,

Angel investors. Seed funding. Venture capital. Unicorn startups. In business, there’s a whole industry of forward-thinkers eager to invest in promising people, ideas, and products — often years before they’ve ever generated even a penny of profit.

But that attitude is nearly nonexistent in political campaigns, where most donations are made at the last minute, late in the summer ahead of a November election. Please let me explain why the fundraising status quo is a barrier to revitalizing democracy and what New Politics is doing to change it. Then, if you agree that we should empower servant leaders to run and win, I’m going to ask you to make a donation to New Politics before the end of the fiscal quarter on September 30.

Quarterly fundraising deadlines (like the one coming up next week) are the most important milestones for a campaign, second only to primary and general election days. Even now, 13+ months from the midterm elections, a candidate’s fundraising performance will be scrutinized; subjectively, their ability to haul in a competitive number will determine their viability in the eyes of insiders, onlookers, and the press. And in very real terms, early money — the money a candidate is able to bring in several months before their primary election — will dictate the number and quality of staff a campaign can hire and the paid media buys they are able to execute.

The servant leaders we work with — who have cut their teeth serving our country in the military, in the classroom, at volunteer sites, and in the developing world as Peace Corps volunteers — don’t necessarily have a network of friends and colleagues who can give them tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. For many potential candidates, a bid for state or federal office is DOA due to their inability to raise early money.

At New Politics, we’re trying to close the gap between the way the most ambitious tech startups raise cash from angels and VC firms and business-as-usual in politics. Our coaching begins before a candidate launches their campaign, helping them organize their network of potential supporters and hone their pitch to donors. In case you missed the news in Politico, we’ve committed to helping our candidates raise $2 million during the 2022 cycle, and we’re cultivating a network of supporters like you who will invest in our candidates to do it. That’s why in the coming days, you’ll see more emails from us asking you to support our candidates.

Our coaching method is tested and proven — it’s how we’ve helped so many first-time candidates win their elections, including the wave of veterans elected to Congress in 2018. But to revitalize our democracy, it’s clear we need to send more good people to serve.

Invest in New Politics with a donation of $25 or whatever you can afford before the deadline on September 30th. With your generous support, we can continue breaking down barriers for servant leaders in the political arena.

In service,

Tiffani Sykhammountry Director of Development