Approach
Our strategy for the runoffs is to seed money to more community-oriented organizations who will mobilize their communities to register voters, educate people about the election, and make sure everyone who voted for Biden comes out to vote for Ossoff and Warnock. There are many different grassroots organizations working on the ground, but not all of them are effective, and many will just the duplicate efforts of more established groups. The Blue Neighbors team in Georgia is deeply embedded in the Democrat community and are working to vet groups to ensure that no money is wasted. A dollar can't be unspent.
Organizations we support
The first round of groups we are looking to support are NGP Action Fund, Black Male Voter Project, Georgia Shift, Asian American Advocacy Fund, and Building Latinx Power.
They are all community organizations that have a long track record of getting out the vote and building infrastructure in their communities to have consistent engagement, rather than showing up only at election season. They are led by people within their communities, rather than outsiders. Biden won in large part thanks to communities that did not turn out in the past but decided to vote this year, and we need to ensure that they come out to vote again during the runoffs. Georgia is an increasingly diversifying state and we'll need these groups funded and staffed to win again in two months.
why blue neighbors
The reason we are taking money directly is because our team members in Georgia have relationships with all these groups and can find out who needs what and when. We also encourage people to donate to them individually if they'd like, but we can handle it easily and take absolutely no overhead — we simplify the process. There are many groups cropping up that are fundraising and directing volunteer efforts in inefficient ways, so my people down there are taking the time to vet every organization. These are the ones they've identified for immediate support.
We commit to informing you of who we donate to and why so that you know exactly how your dollar impacts the election in Georgia.
Why Georgia
Georgia is the front line of the progressive fight in this country. When it comes to reproductive rights, gerrymandering, voter suppression and environmental initiatives, progressives in Georgia have started a movement to push back against the toxic, anti-democratic agenda of the Republican Party and are on the verge of flipping the state blue.
We demonstrated the power of reverse-coattails when Stacey Abrams narrowly lost the Governorship, but we still flipped the most seats in the state legislature in over a decade. In 2018, we supported 15 candidates and 12 won their elections. In 2020, our state house candidates drove engagement in their communities, Democratic turnout, and were instrumental in Biden flipping the state in the Electoral College and forcing a run-off in the Senate.
