Ok crew, let’s talk elections: whether you’re skeptical of or all in on electoral politics, this is a moment for young people with access to wealth and class privilege to reject cynicism and seek opportunities to bolster social movements led by working class people. Though pundits are saying this will be a devastating cycle for Democrats, movement leaders have the long game in mind and are building power to win victories towards race and economic justice in THIS generation, as evidenced by exciting wins for workers and insurgent movement-backed candidates in Red states.
But how can young wealthy people have a positive impact on a democratic system already captured in large part by the 1%? RG Action, Resource Generation’s 501c4 Sibling Organization has outlined 3 key ways to show up and redistribute resources and power to strengthen movements through this difficult election cycle: -
Give Big & Give EARLY, now! And tell us what you’re moving. C4 Money goes to hiring and training organizers, opening campaign offices, and having 1-1 conversations with thousands of people about what really matters in their lives. Making your C4 contributions as early as possible allows organizations to plan how robust their program can be, how many conversations they have, and how many people they keep on staff, and for how long. C4 money can be scarce because it doesn’t come with the tax deduction wealthy people love. We’re asking all RG members to make their C4 contributions by the end of May 2022, and we’re working to move at least 500k in early c4 money to our partners, the Movement for Black Lives Electoral Justice Project and Center for Popular Democracy Action.
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Fund grassroots organizations to do year round organizing- many orgs will have a 501(c)4 sibling that allows them to do expanded advocacy, lobbying and political work– and therefore build political power. Funding these organizations is essential to break the hold of the owning class on the political process—as long as donors give directly to candidates, those candidates will be beholden (implicitly or explicitly) to the donor. Supporting mass membership organizations to select and elect candidates means those politicians will then be accountable to the movement once elected.
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Make long term, unrestricted commitments—working class communities and communities of color deserve more than transactional engagement to get their vote from the two major political parties. You can break the boom and bust cycle of electoral organizing by making long term commitments to movement orgs so they can rely on c4 funding for years to come and go big in the Sheriff, DA and school board races that impact their members day to day lives.
We know the RG Action community can move *at least* 500k in early C4 Money—fill out the Electoral Giving Pledge today and let us know you’re making a commitment to grassroots electoral organizing. |
