Hey John, 

My name’s Jennifer Edwards, and I’m the Senior Digital Director of Color Of Change PAC. As someone who has worked many years in the fight for Black political power, I can tell you this: the way we engage with voters is changing at an extreme pace, and outdated tactics just aren’t cutting it anymore. 

We’re living in the digital era, and we urgently need to prioritize meeting Black people where they are: online. That’s why in our final 9 days before the mayoral election in Flint, we’ve got to ramp up our digital ads to get out the vote for Sheldon Neeley. 

Victory in Flint is possible if we keep using innovative digital strategies to reach voters. But innovation isn’t possible without your support. Donate $9 right now to help us reach Black voters in Flint!

You might be wondering why digital ads are so important in our final push to elect Neeley. Let me explain. Our work in Flint is unlike any other political race. According to our field team and volunteers who live in Flint, awareness of the mayoral race was pretty low because Black folks in the community weren’t being properly reached, and folks are tired of being let down by broken promises.

That’s why since the primary election this summer, we’ve been running ads supporting Neeley to increase awareness of the race… and they’ve been working! In total, the ads have reached people over 1,000,000 times. In fact, Ariana Hawk, our lead organizer in Flint, just told me that a community member came up to her and said that after seeing our video ad online, they’ve decided to vote! That’s why my team is dedicated to making information about voting more accessible than ever before. It can make a difference in Black people’s lives every single day.

Before election day on November 5th, we’re committed to making this election more accessible to Black folks by:

• Creating interactive voter engagement materials on our Facebook Messenger bot including register to vote reminders, a polling place locator, and answering frequently asked questions
• Distributing ads about Sheldon Neeley to educate the community of Flint about his commitments to expunge low-level marijuana convictions and invest even more in Flint’s schools, teachers, and free and reduced-fee college opportunities
• Sending SMS updates to Flint residents with breaking updates about the election and information on election times and requirements
• Creating RSVP systems in our chatbot so Flint residents can attend text-a-thons and debate watch parties, and so much more!

Social media might not seem important for social change. But on a grand scale, it helps us reach Black voters in ways we never could’ve imagined ten, or even five years ago. We’ve gotten over 600 comments on our ads in the last month, and over 450 people have shared our graphics and videos. This means our ads are getting people talking about this election, and sharing it with their friends and family so they know too.

The proof is in the numbers, John. We’ve got to continue innovative voter outreach in order to make victory a possibility for Black folks in Flint. If we aren’t funded properly, we will not be able to run public education and awareness ads urging hundreds of thousands of folks to get out the vote for Sheldon Neeley. 

Knowledge is power, and Flint deserves this win now more than ever before. If our digital program for Flint is funded from now until November 5th, victory could become an even closer reality. Rush a $9 donation right now before it’s too late. 

Until justice is real, 

Jenni