Indivisibles,

We’re going to warn you that this is an email about fundraising -- but we promise it’s going to be different than any other fundraising email in your inbox.

Instead of just asking you for donations, we want to have an honest, transparent conversation with you about our fundraising at Indivisible, and go through some of the policies and procedures we have to ensure we remain committed to our values. (But if you want to donate now, you can do so here!)

We’re reeeeeeeally lucky at Indivisible.

Unlike many organizations, we have a “fundraising second” approach. That means each of our teams talks to Indivisible groups on the ground to understand what they need most from us, and then we come up with plans to support them. Then we fundraise to do that work.

We don’t take grants from foundations that would alter our strategic approach. Major donors can’t tell us to take on their pet projects. We only do the work that we believe is most impactful to push our priorities forward.

That’s our promise to you. That’s our promise to the Indivisible groups on the ground. And that’s our promise to our allies in the progressive movement.

But we can only do this because we are fueled by people like you (yes, you!) who chip in $5, $10, or $37 when we ask for your support in emails like this.

When we first started, we (*ahem* Ezra) didn’t even want to put a donation button on the website. But it didn’t take long for us to realize that, to do right by this movement, we would need some funding. Our volunteers were working unsustainable hours, and we were missing out on a lot of opportunities, simply because we didn’t have resources like full-time staff, office space, and basic software to communicate with our growing movement.

So we decided to start fundraising -- with a catch. We were determined to do things differently than most organizations, and so we created an Indivisible fundraising philosophy (you can read that here!), and committed to stick with it. And 35 months later, we’re proud to say we’re still sticking with it.

We don’t send fundraising emails just for the sake of sending fundraising emails -- we only ask when we really have something to fund. So when we ask, you can be sure that your support will help us accomplish real, important goals.

A few generous Indivisibles have offered to match our fundraising efforts this month, all the way up to $100,000. Before you get nervous, let us assure you that this funding doesn’t come with any strings attached (aside from us matching it with grassroots donations), and these supporters won’t have any special influence over our work.

We decided to accept this matching challenge because it came from supporters who believe in our theory of change. And because we know that our plans for next year are critical -- so we need as much support as possible.

As of right now, we’re $168,632 away from reaching our grassroots fundraising goal -- and yes, that’s a real number. So we’re reaching out to you, and hoping you’ll help us rise to this challenge.

Can you contribute to Indivisible today? Every dollar you give will be matched one-for-one, so your donation will have double the impact.

Thank you for being a part of this movement with us. You make us proud to be Indivisibles -- and you make our work possible.

In solidarity,
The Indivisible Team