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You are here: Home / Political Fundraising / Political Fundraising 2021-22 / Michigan Symmetry – $10k, $10k, and Not Quite $10k – We Did It!

Michigan Symmetry – $10k, $10k, and Not Quite $10k – We Did It!

by WaterGirl|  January 20, 20229:30 pm| 47 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Political Fundraising 2021-22

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We got to $30,000!  You guys rock!

Congratulations!  You guys are amazing.  We had 8 Balloon Juice Angels who donated $10,000 in angel matches.  $10,000!

We had $10,000 in donations that weren’t listed in the comments – those got the double-match from Four Directions donors, but not the angel matches.

You guys took advantage of the angel matches to the tune of $9,375!  We have $625 left – unmatched – on the final angel match.  He added his $1,500 in the thermometer this morning even without your matches being in hand yet.  Go, you, anonymous BJ angel!

Together we raised just $625 short of $30,000 – in less than a week.  

Since we hit $30,000 for Wisconsin with a $25,000 goal in November – a week or so ago I asked Four Directions to see if they could line up a double-match for the final $5,000 – just in case we did that again.

So we have a double-match for the full $30,000 if we hit that mark – for a total of $90,000 for Four Directions Michigan.  $90,000!

I want to remind everyone:  Four Directions had no plan to be in Michigan in 2022.  Because we approached them with a desire to fund a presence in Michigan, and because all of you came through – there will be boots on the ground in Michigan, starting just 10 days from now.  Now they have close to $90,000 to help make that happen.

That’s not all it will take, of course, but just as we try to leverage our donations with matches, double-matches and angel matches, they should be able to leverage this $90,000 – well, $88,125 at the moment – into more funds for Michigan.

We have met and surpassed our $25,000 goal, so after this post tonight, I’m not going to put up any further posts encouraging donations to get us to $30,000.  But I surely hope we get there!

At stake in Michigan in November 2022:

  • All 4 elected executive offices in Michigan (Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Lt. Gov.)
  • Control of the (currently) hard-line rabid Michigan State Legislature (House and Senate)
  • Two Michigan Supreme Court Seats
  • Control of the US House of Representatives

Also at stake is every single election outcome from Governor to dog-catcher!

I don’t need to tell any of you that when we donate to boots-on-the-ground organizations, we are not just helping one single candidate in a single race.

It helps IN EVERY RACE.

It helps build the relationships that help us win the next election after that, and the one after that.

To every person who donated a dollar, or a thousand dollars or even more than that, to everyone who linked to the thermometer in your facebook or twitter or even in another comment thread, to everyone who provided encouragement in the threads: thank you thank you thank you!

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Reader Interactions

47Comments

  1. 1.

    Auntie Anne

    January 20, 2022 at 9:37 pm

    I threw in another $10. Don’t want those lovely matching dollars to go to waste ?

    Lewis from 4 Directions must be over the moon!

  2. 2.

    WaterGirl

    January 20, 2022 at 9:38 pm

    @Auntie Anne: thank you so much!

  3. 3.

    RaflW

    January 20, 2022 at 9:43 pm

    I’m in for $25. Because I want to see my 25 become $150. :)  And finishing with a nice, round $30K will satisfy a certain appreciation for round numbers.

  4. 4.

    WaterGirl

    January 20, 2022 at 9:45 pm

    @RaflW: I share your affinity for round numbers!

  5. 5.

    wombat probability cloud

    January 20, 2022 at 10:05 pm

    @WaterGirl: That makes three of us (so we need another person to round things off).

  6. 6.

    Torrey

    January 20, 2022 at 10:09 pm

    Just added another $100 to move us into the final $500.
    Also, I thought they were thinking of Michigan as a possibility down the line. I didn’t think the Michigan idea came out of the blue for them.Or am I wrong?

    Four Directions had no plan to be in Michigan in 2022.  ​

  7. 7.

    WaterGirl

    January 20, 2022 at 10:10 pm

    @wombat probability cloud: I am not so much fond of even numbers as I am fond of round numbers.  So we need more than one more.  Two more would be good, or 7, or 12.

  8. 8.

    WaterGirl

    January 20, 2022 at 10:10 pm

    @Torrey: That is so awesome.  Thank you so much.  $450 for Michigan!

    edit: $500 is a nice round number.:-

    edit 2: not round anymore!

  9. 9.

    Lyrebird

    January 20, 2022 at 10:16 pm

    Hi, I just put in $18 and a lot of hope

    thank you for your contribution to Four Directions and ActBlue Civics Tips.

  10. 10.

    dnfree

    January 20, 2022 at 10:16 pm

    Well, we for sure wouldn’t be here without your hard work and inspiration, WaterGirl!

  11. 11.

    dnfree

    January 20, 2022 at 10:17 pm

    @Lyrebird: ​
      Chai!

  12. 12.

    WaterGirl

    January 20, 2022 at 10:17 pm

    @Torrey: They were thinking of Michigan as a possible later in the year, depending on how things played out.

    The 4 they were committed to were GA, AZ, WI and NV.

    No plans for anything early in MI.

  13. 13.

    WaterGirl

    January 20, 2022 at 10:18 pm

    @dnfree: That’s very kind of you to say.  thank you

  14. 14.

    Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)

    January 20, 2022 at 10:21 pm

    I just added another $50.

  15. 15.

    dnfree

    January 20, 2022 at 10:21 pm

    (Also, eventually those of us with monthly pledges will boost the total a little higher, but no harm in encouraging people to get it done now!)

  16. 16.

    WaterGirl

    January 20, 2022 at 10:23 pm

    @dnfree: Fine print:  which Four Directions thermometer did you make your original donation through?

    If it was GA, the funds will go to GA.  If AZ, to AZ.  If WI, to WI.

    Though they are able to change that on the back end if you wanted to.  If so, let me know.

  17. 17.

    WaterGirl

    January 20, 2022 at 10:23 pm

    @Mike S (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!): Thank you for doing that.  $300!

  18. 18.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 20, 2022 at 10:25 pm

    $10

  19. 19.

    WaterGirl

    January 20, 2022 at 10:26 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Thank you, Omnes!

  20. 20.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 20, 2022 at 10:27 pm

    @WaterGirl: It’s not WI, but I guess that’s okay.

  21. 21.

    WaterGirl

    January 20, 2022 at 10:30 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: hahaha

  22. 22.

    James E Powell

    January 20, 2022 at 10:31 pm

    I’m much more comfortable giving my modest contribution to organizations like this than to a senate campaign. Am I deluding myself? I feel like in every contested & even long shot senate campaign, we are never short of money. Where we need the cash is the ground game.

    I’d like add local party organizations to that, but I’ve met too many who are not prepared to spend much money effectively. Wide variation.

  23. 23.

    WaterGirl

    January 20, 2022 at 10:33 pm

    @James E Powell: I sure don’t think you are mistaken.  As I said up top:

    I don’t need to tell any of you that when we donate to boots-on-the-ground organizations, we are not just helping one single candidate in a single race.

    It helps IN EVERY RACE.

    It helps build the relationships that help us win the next election after that, and the one after that.

  24. 24.

    Lyrebird

    January 20, 2022 at 10:34 pm

    @dnfree: Yep!

    Didn’t mean to harsh anyone’s round-number mellow, just like you said…  L’Chaim!

    And further big cheers for WaterGirl’s efforts.  Need a better word than Herculean.  He wasn’t as cool as WG.

  25. 25.

    oclib

    January 20, 2022 at 10:38 pm

    $25 and a 20% tip

  26. 26.

    WaterGirl

    January 20, 2022 at 10:40 pm

    @Lyrebird: Why, thank you!

  27. 27.

    WaterGirl

    January 20, 2022 at 10:41 pm

    @oclib: Thank you for that!

  28. 28.

    Lyrebird

    January 20, 2022 at 10:41 pm

    Just in case anyone would be interested:

    This links to a radio broadcast about Native people from MI fighting in the Civil war:

    Listen to Steve Ostrander with the Michigan History Center and Eric Hemenway, Director of Archives and Records for the Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians talk with Stateside host Cynthia Canty on Michigan Radio about Company K of the First Michigan Sharpshooters which comprised of Anishinaabek from Odawa and Ojibwe communities in the Lower and Upper Peninsulas who fought in the Civil War.

    There is also a transcript.

  29. 29.

    WaterGirl

    January 20, 2022 at 10:52 pm

    We got to $30,000!  You guys rock!

  30. 30.

    guachi

    January 20, 2022 at 10:54 pm

    Yay!

    I’ll be a Michigan voter this year and on competitive maps, too. Thanks, all!

  31. 31.

    WaterGirl

    January 20, 2022 at 10:56 pm

    It feels like Christmas. :-)

  32. 32.

    cain

    January 20, 2022 at 11:15 pm

    It’s heartening to know that we are a money raising machine – it must piss off the GOP that we can outraise them through individual donors to orgs and directly to candidates.

  33. 33.

    Madeleine

    January 20, 2022 at 11:20 pm

    This is great great news!! This gives me hope that Michigan may escape the control of the Republicans and through the voices of new voters!

  34. 34.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 20, 2022 at 11:28 pm

    It’s things like this that keep me hopeful.

  35. 35.

    CaseyL

    January 20, 2022 at 11:40 pm

    Woo hoo! Michigan, here we come!

  36. 36.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 20, 2022 at 11:41 pm

    Hillary Clinton
    @HillaryClinton
    ·
    13h
    Third: Laws that suppress—or support—the right to vote are made in the state legislatures.

    Pick an organization or two electing state Democrats to support. @DLCC
    , @sister_district, and state parties are great places to start.

  37. 37.

    H.E.Wolf

    January 20, 2022 at 11:43 pm

    Not merely to do this, but to triple our contribution with the help of donors unknown to us, and to do that in one week… it’s phenomenal.

    And WaterGirl is a phenomenon in her own right. She’s a force to be reckoned with, and she turned us all into a FTBRW, right along with her. :)

    It’s extra sweet that we raised these funds for voter enfranchisement, in a 7-day period with Martin Luther King Day right in the middle.

  38. 38.

    Felanius Kootea

    January 20, 2022 at 11:45 pm

    Yay! Thank you WaterGirl and everyone who donated :).

  39. 39.

    Omnes Omnibus

    January 20, 2022 at 11:46 pm

    A little sonic reward for everyone.

  40. 40.

    mvr

    January 21, 2022 at 12:09 am

    @H.E.Wolf: Yes she’s been doing all sorts of things around here to quite some positive effect.

    Good work!

  41. 41.

    wombat probability cloud

    January 21, 2022 at 12:13 am

    @WaterGirl: Long day, tired enough to conflate the concepts, so all I’ll say is ¿Por qué no los dos?

    Thanks for your fine efforts on this. What a wonderful thing.

  42. 42.

    dnfree

    January 21, 2022 at 12:14 am

    @WaterGirl: I have two, one through the regular thermometer and one through Michigan. And Voces. It’s getting noticeable on the credit card.

  43. 43.

    Fair Economist

    January 21, 2022 at 12:15 am

    Congrats to WaterGirl for her great organizing and thanks to all the great jackals who helped!

    In other good news, Russia’s central bank proposed a crypto ban and caused another #cryptocrash, about 7% down as I write this. I’m wondering why they’re considering this, since ransomware payments to Russian hackers is about the only good use case for Bitcoin ATM. It may be that they anticipate a ruble crash from invading Ukraine – cryptos provide a way around currency controls.

  44. 44.

    HumboldtBlue

    January 21, 2022 at 12:46 am

    Youse are pretty damn impressive, that’s for sure.

  45. 45.

    MomSense

    January 21, 2022 at 1:19 am

    Woah!!!! This is so wonderful.

  46. 46.

    JeanneT

    January 21, 2022 at 5:54 am

    What good news to wake up to!  This Michigander thanks you and hopes Four Directions finds fertile ground here for their work.

  47. 47.

    MazeDancer

    January 21, 2022 at 7:49 am

    Spectacular news!

    Much applause to WaterGirl and the Angels! (Their latest album “Give!” now available for download…)

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