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You are here: Home / Open Threads / It’s Up to Us Now, Next Up, Youth Again (only Younger!)

It’s Up to Us Now, Next Up, Youth Again (only Younger!)

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Meet The Civics Center, our next targeted strategic fundraising.

As you know our primarily fundraising focus has been on single state micro-targeting of specific populations in key states.  And of course we do targeted fundraising for candidates in key races in key states, which we will do again closer to the September or October timeframe.

This new effort is a little different, in that it’s not focused in a single state at all.  And like all our fundraising, it’s partly about the election in November and part investment in the future.

Meet The Civics Center

It's Up to Us Now, Next Up, Youth Again (but younger!) 1

Are we FIRED UP about the future?

The Civics Center trains students and educators to conduct registration and preregistration drives in High Schools, targeting schools in diverse metropolitan areas where young people can have the greatest impact.  With this fundraiser, we’re expanding our reach into Ohio and Pennsylvania as well as some of our other targeted states (Arizona, Michigan, and Wisconsin).

Fun facts:

  • Four Million Americans turn 18 every year!
  • Barriers to voter registration are the #1 obstacle to youth voter turnout.
  • 40% of High School grads do not go on to college, so college-based youth voter registration efforts miss them.
  • 40% of 18-year-olds don’t get driver’s licenses.
  • 75% of registered youth voted in every presidential election between 2004-2020.
  • Registration is the barrier, not apathy!
  • Statistics show that roughly 340,000 people turn 18 each year in Arizona, Pennsylvania an Wisconsin.
  • The margin of victory in the 2020 presidential election in those three states was 111,692.
  • Reminder: 16,000,000 potential new voters in every presidential cycle.
  • Most states allow students to pre-register before they turn 18.
  • Under 35% of 18-year-olds are registered to vote  in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Arizona.

(click the image below for a larger version)

It's Up to Us Now, Next Up, Youth Again (but younger!)

The mission of The Civics Center is to make voter registration part of every high school in America.

They provide:

  • Free training for High School students (and their faculty advisers) to run a successful in-school non-partisan voter registration drive;
  • A modest stipend to motivate registration drive leaders;
  • The resources to run a successful drive, including the wonderfully-named Democracy in a Box – swag bag that includes fliers, Voter ID cards, T-shirts, clipboard, stickers and candy!!
  • E-mail templates to tell the students’ friends, teachers and family about the drive, as well as a customized URL specific to each campus for on-line registration;
  • Follow up, in the form of help with post-Drive social media bragging rights templates called “Drive Success.”  The Civics Center also provides community service certificates for participating students.

Seriously, who can’t love an organization that sends schools Democracy in a Box?

We want to raise $25,000 – at $1,000 per school, that’s the equivalent of organizing 25 high schools.

We are basically funding the Civic Centers’ expansion into 25 new schools for this year’s High School Voter Registration Week.  That’s roughly $5,000 each for Wisconsin, Arizona, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

Are you up for this, BJ peeps?

For the first $5,000 matched, we have

  • a $5,000 Balloon Juice Angel (who is traveling and put their $ in as a pre-match)
  • an external match through The Civics Center (for the full $25,000 we want to raise)
  • a second external match through The Civics Center (for the entire $25k!!!)

That means that when we have a Balloon Juice Angel for this organization, all your donations are 6x!

Matching up to $100 per person, to be matched, comment in the post or send email to WaterGirl.

example: $100 BJ bucks + $100 BJ Angel = $200, and each of the external matchers match that, so $200 + $200 + $200 = $600.;

 

Reader Interactions

68Comments

  1. 1.

    WaterGirl

    We also have a zoom with them set up for next Tuesday, Aug 20 at 7:30 Eastern.

    You will love Laura – this organization is her vision.  She clerked for Justice RBG, and I bet she might sneak in a story or two for us if we ask nicely!

    Running out the door to a hair appointment :-) and I hope to return to some excited BJ peeps.  I’ll check in by phone while I’m gone.

    Anyone have any questions?

  2. 2.

    gkoutnik

    I only read it once, but it sounds like The Civics Center is matching our contributions to The Civics Center – how does that work?  Sounds like they’re donating to themselves.

    edit: I should have said “external matches”. WG

  6. 6.

    Maxim

    What a fantastic idea! I feel like splurging. In for $250.

    @gkoutnik: Yeah, I wasn’t sure about that either. Maybe it means an external match that they procured vs. one of our in-house Angel matches.

  8. 8.

    WaterGirl

    @gkoutnik: I had a client emergency this morning, so I just put the post up in a rush later than I intended and didn’t catch that. I needed to update the original note about the match.
    information I added  about 2 external matches in the addendum right before I left the house is the correct matching information.

  9. 9.

    WaterGirl

    @Maxim:

    @gkoutnik:

    we have one internal Balloon Juice Angel mats plus 2 external matchers for the first $5,000 that is matched. That’s how donations up to $100 are 6x!,

    That’s how donations up to $250 will be matched.

    edited

  11. 11.

    stinger

    In for $100. This is a great endeavor, no matter the current political situation. Everybody should vote! Let’s remove some barriers to voting, and grab ’em young! WaterGirl, I don’t know how you found this group, but good job!

    Thanks to the Angels, especially the BJ Angel so optimistic/confident that they chipped in ahead of time!

  13. 13.

    Glory b

    @WaterGirl: Yes. Lots of outlets have shown that Republican new voter registrations outnumber new Democratic ones by as much as 5 to 1 (on PA, for example).

    Many Republicans on social media are pointing to these numbers for why the polls won’t reflect actual turnout.

    Can that be addressed? The same thing happened during the Clinton/Trump campaign.

    Will the questions answered be available by video or transcript? I’m helping to care for my Mom & will probably miss it.

  14. 14.

    Almost Retired

    @Glory b:  It looks like the Civics Center is targeted High Schools in diverse urban areas, which should help address this disparity.

  15. 15.

    Glory b

    @Almost Retired: Good. I don’t want us to ignore it, Republicans seem so sure, saying their overwhelming lead in registrations is why Trump can golf instead of campaign, these new folks are flying under the radar,  not getting counted as likely voters.

  17. 17.

    banditqueen

    This kind of project is made for HS students like I was–“what are you going to do when you turn 18”–plenty said they’d go out to a bar etc but being the serious student I was I said I was going to register to vote. We’re out there and I’m sure that with on site HS voter registration more students will say they want to register to vote as part of the turning 18 experience!

  18. 18.

    wonkie

    I hope that money is going toward registering voters because Republicans are substantially registering more voters in PA and FL and possibly in other states.

  19. 19.

    WaterGirl

    @stinger: I know it’s hard for people donating if you’re donating because there’s an angel match and then not to see that match go in the thermometer for a week or 10 days. Well that’s not very inspiring!

    So I asked if our vacationing Angel would consider putting the money in before they left, and they did!

  20. 20.

    WaterGirl

    @wonkie: yes, they this whole group is about registering high school students who are eligible to vote!

    Plus high school kids often have a friend who’s a year or two older or they have older siblings and they come home and they’re excited about this voting thing at their school. So it kind of turns into a relational organizing situation – you you register the young pups, and it kind of ripples out into their whole ecosystem.

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    I like that this is also helping in Ohio. Hopefully it will help Sherrod Brown! And maybe Bob Casey in Pennsylvania!

    Not to mention Michigan and Wisconsin and Arizona!

  23. 23.

    WaterGirl

    I’m not sure if I said this up top or not when I put up the post together last week, but research shows that people who votes in the first two elections are eligible to vote in our way, more likely to become lifetime voters!

  29. 29.

    Madeleine

    @Almost Retired: I did a bit of volunteering for them, cold contacting high schools to id a faculty contact. My list was all city minority centered schools (all in the Bronx IIRC). Oop s, must go contribute.

  31. 31.

    WaterGirl

    Just got word from The Civics Center that we are double-matched with external matches for the entire $25,000!

    So awesome.

    My mom would be pleased.  She always said “they can’t say yes unless you ask”.

  35. 35.

    WaterGirl

    @Barbara: @Maxim:

    You two are matched for the full amount because you donated before I added that we were matching donations up to $100.

    What the hell, for this $5,000 Angel match, we will match up to $250 per person.

    So Barbara, your $200 is $1,200, and Maxim, your $250 is $1,500.

  36. 36.

    KayInMD (formerly Kay (not the front-pager))

    In for $25. These are my best political contributions this year, better than to individual candidates. One contribution can get out votes for multiple candidates, and turn out newly engaged voters. Win/win!

  39. 39.

    H.E.Wolf

    @stinger: ​ Let’s remove some barriers to voting, and grab ’em young! WaterGirl, I don’t know how you found this group, but good job!

     Enthusiastically seconding both your points!

  47. 47.

    JaySinWA

    All right I coughed up $100.

    Now you damn kids get off my lawn out and register and vote.

  58. 58.

    WaterGirl

    @rockstar: Oh, yay!  So glad to have some feedback on this.

    Trying to expand to some new groups this year, while still supporting our previous parters.

    I LOVE the NC Black Alliance and the Civics Center, two groups working with young people.  Still hoping to work something out with a couple more small groups in NC, and dammit, why won’t the people in NV call us back!  :-)

  62. 62.

    WaterGirl

    I am still checking back in on this thread for donations toward the match.  I’ll check back in the morning, too.  So not to worry about missing the match, if you are so inclined.

  65. 65.

    Another Scott

    +$100.  Thanks WG, angels, donors, and everyone working in the trenches.  It’s important!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

Comments are closed.