*****
This is the second year in a row that they have offered to fly me to NYC to talk about Balloon Juice at their big event. It’s so kind of them to offer to do that, and that’s a good indication, I think, of how much Four Directions values us here at Balloon Juice. So take a bow, everybody. No, I’m not going; I would have to buy new shoes! :-)
Also, we have a new Angel match for $1,000! Matching up to $100 per person, until we hit $1,000. To count toward the match, tell us about your donation in the comments or send email to WaterGirl.
Because Four Directions found an external match for us, and we have a Balloon Juice Angel, these donations are 4x.
Open thread!
WaterGirl
I think two or three of our BJ peeps in New York attended last year. I believe Madeleine was kind enough to step up last year to say a few words about our fundraising efforts here on Balloon Juice.
Anyone think they might attend this year?
TOTALLY OPEN THREAD, by the way, in spite of the post title.
Larch
Just donated $75.00
WaterGirl
@Larch: Thank you!
Matt McIrvin
In for $100.
WaterGirl
@Matt McIrvin: Much appreciated
Reminder: these donations are 4x because we have the external match + the angel match!
LongtimeLurker
Donated $100
LongtimeLurker
Donated $100 just now
HinTN
@WaterGirl: Buy the damn shoes!
Mr. Bemused Senior
In for $100.
Yet Another Haldane
$100, with thanks for all the hard work and matching cash!
Coyoteville
I just donated $55.
Jeffro
The University Club? Niiiiiiiice!
frosty
@WaterGirl: I second @HinTN: Buy the shoes and go! You deserve the recognition for everything you’ve done for Four Directions and for the blog.
WaterGirl
@frosty: It’s not really the shoes. I’m good at talking, but very uncomfortable speaking. Plus, I am so not a big city girl, even if i did grow up in Chicago. And leaving my guys right now is complicated. So it’s just not in the cards, for this year at least.
greengoblin
Donated $100.00.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
The Angel Match person/people we have are, well angels.
WaterGirl
Thanks everyone!
We are 3/4 of the way toward meeting the new $1,000 Angel match this morning!
Just $265 left on this Angel match.
WaterGirl
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Yes, they are!
And I see that your comment went through. Not sure what’s up with the SPAM filter this morning, but it seems to be extra ambitious. :-)
cmorenc
What is the situation in Arizona wrt Four Directions voter registration efforts with Native Americans in AZ and the appellate decision (which SCOTUS left in place) requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration? How common within NA communities is it for children (who are now of voting age) to lack the requisite proof (e.g. parents did not file birth certificate when child was born back whenever)? I’m aware the actual focus of such new laws by RW legislatures is Latinos, whom the AZ GOP seems to presume are illegals absent incontrovertible proof otherwise, but seems NAs trying to register could get swept up in this if they cannot documentary proof they were born in the US.
WaterGirl
@cmorenc: I will check with Four Directions for answers to your questions.
In the meantime, I can say that after talking with Four Directions yesterday, I decided that we will raise funds again for Arizona.
I had thought about Nevada because they seem to be struggling in the polls, but Jacky Rosen looks to be okay at the moment, and 11 electoral votes in AZ is > 6 electoral votes in AZ.
It feels like NV could be a big help getting us over the top, but to do that, we need AZ, so that tipped the scales for me.
So we’re going to support Four Directions in AZ again in a couple of weeks. In fact, we’ll be having a serious AZ push:
– Four Directions in AZ
– Worker Power GOTV in AZ
– I think our first slate of candidate to directly support will be in AZ.
So we need to finish Montana, then we’ll head back to NC to support the Asian population there, and then the big push on 3 fronts for AZ.
So much to do!
WaterGirl
@cmorenc:
Okay, I talked to Four Directions just now.
The new (bullshit) regulations in AZ (my words, not Four Directions) won’t have a huge impact on the Native vote. Here’s why.
Native Americans have a Tribal ID, which is a government ID. Because tribal nations are governments – so when they issue a Tribal ID, it’s a government document – so the state of AZ cannot say it’s not good enough.
Well, they can try, but It won’t fly.
It’s still a hindrance because that ruling causes confusion, but Four directions is making it clear that the Tribal ID will work.
Plus, there is a Navajo Nations Fair – next week – 9/4 – 9/8 – which is a big cultural event. And Four Directions will be there, spreading the word and sharing information, which will go a long way toward easing the confusion.
ewrunning
In for $25
Uncle Cosmo
Really. What happens when it gets bumped up to the Extreme Court on the Day of the Dead and the Seditious Six rule (maybe with Roberts dissenting for all the good that’d do) that a tribal ID may be a government ID but it’s not a US Government ID & therefore doesn’t count for purposes of voting?
I wish I were kidding. I don’t put ANYTHING past those mortar-forkers.
Louise B.
In for $100.
WaterGirl
@Louise B.: Thank you!
Just $140 left on this Angel match.
WaterGirl
@Uncle Cosmo: Maybe don’t borrow trouble?
Uncle Cosmo
While we’re at it, about these “Worker Power” people:
Please correct me if I’m mistaken, but…As I read the last appeal from WP, they wanted $30,000 from BJ in order to fund one person through a month-long “leadership course.” That’s $1,000 per student per day. Did they promise us or deliver anything beyond that for the money?
Before we fork over another cent to WP, I respectfully suggest we request a list of items or activities they will commit to delivering in return. For example, what specific candidates would be supported, what precincts would be targeted, number of Democrats/independents contacted and/or provided with instructions on how to vote. number of unregistered residents provided with instructions on how to register. In lieu of exact numbers they could commit to X number of volunteers working Y days for Q hours a day (or a weighted average thereof) and what larger districts would be hit, along with registration and prior voting records demonstrating that these are appropriate areas for the purpose at hand.
$30K is a significant amount. I think BJ is perfectly within its rights to require some assurance that it’s going to be used wisely before folks pony up.
Uncle Cosmo
@WaterGirl: If Four Directions has considered the ways that the state GOP might screw with their peoples’ ability to vote in November, then they should at least be able to reassure us they have contingency plans and resources lined up to deal with them. That’s about as far from “borrowing trouble” as I could imagine – that’s trying to head trouble off at the pass.
WaterGirl
@Uncle Cosmo:
The cost of one month of Leadership School for one person is $15,000. We sponsored one student for Leadership School.
We know the areas they are targeting, and one of the reasons we support them is that they, like us, are strategic in their choices.
We know exactly what we are funding in September: 3 full weeks of a GOTV canvass team that wouldn’t be there if we didn’t fund them.
.
WaterGirl
@Uncle Cosmo: Four Directions has been doing this for years. They know what they are doing. They navigate the bullshit as it comes. They go to court to preserve the voting rights of Native Americans when necessary.
I am not about to quiz them about the details of what they’ll do if this happens or if that happens.
They are competent, dedicated, and professional. They get results.
If you don’t have faith in their work, then by all means, do not donate a penny to the cause.
PHinSD
$50 from here…
Mike S. (Now with a Democratic Congressperson!)
I just kicked in another $100.
Thanks for all your work WG!
p.s. you deserve new shoes too!
Cheryl from Maryland
Donated $50.00 to Four Directions. Thanks, Water Girl, for all you do.
WaterGirl
@Uncle Cosmo: It appears that I should clarify something further.
Not one of these groups has come to us asking Balloon Juice for money. Not one.
We do the research to identify groups that target the populations we want to support. I try to contact the groups that look interesting. Sometimes I get a response, sometimes I don’t.
If they do respond, then there’s a conversation to see if there’s a good fit. Maybe two conversations. Or three.
We try to identify things that they wish they could do but don’t have the resources for. And if that fits with our goals. then we ask what it would take to do whatever it is.
In some cases, there is more of a need for what they are already doing than their resources can provide, so we ask what it would take for them to reach more people.
No one comes hat in hand. No one.
Based on their needs, we try to raise a specific amount. If they could amplify their work if they had a field organizer, we figure out how much a field organizer would cost, and either try to fund that or let them know that we could fund half if they could fund the other half.
In the case of NC Black Alliance, they wanted to branch out beyond HBCUs, but didn’t have the funding. We were able to provide that. Ditto with expanding into 2-year colleges.
When, in conversation, they mentioned the impact that the shooting incident with Trump had significantly raised safety issues, they didn’t have their hand out. My ears perked up, and I asked them what it would cost to make their teams more safe, and I asked for a list of those things, with costs attached.
I said we could support this and this, but we wouldn’t want to support the third thing. So we raised money for about 2/3 of what it would take to make the canvass teams more safe.
We want to fund GOTV for Worker Power? I ask for a spreadsheet with a breakdown of the costs per week, then figure out which pieces of that we want to cover, and how many weeks I think we could fund.
We also make it clear that we are not here for a “one and done”. If it’s a good group and a good cause and a key population and there’s a good fit with our goals, we want to continue to build on that and support them even in the odd numbered years, because that furthers our goals, too.
Every group we work with has one big thing in common with us – a strategic focus. It’s not uncommon to hear “let me check with our data person”. Because it’s not just about what you do, it’s about where you do it.
I find it at least a little bit offensive that you would suggest that a group would come to me and say “hey, can we have $30,000?” and that you think I would reply “sure” without knowing details.
You have it completely backwards.
WaterGirl
Thanks, everybody!
We have completed this $1,000 match, and the Angel money is in!
So, since it’s a holiday weekend, we’re going to do this a little differently for the next couple of days.
We are going to pool Angel money from 3-5 Angels and say that:
IF we can add another $7,500 or so to the thermometer – taking it to $22,500 – Angels will plop in the $7,500 it takes to get to $30,000.
For this weekend, our collective Angels will effectively match any amount that goes into the thermometer. No limit, until we get to $22,500.
You won’t need to tell us about your donation in order to be matched, and it will be 4x matching because we have the external match and the collective Angel match.
How does that sound?
YOU STILL NEED TO SEND ME EMAIL IF YOU “BUY” RAFFLE TICKETS, THOUGH!
Formerly disgruntled in Oregon
In for $250 – LFG!
WaterGirl
@Formerly disgruntled in Oregon: Thank you!
Your comment was in SPAM for some reason, but I un-SPAM-ed you and release your comment. There may have been 2 in SPAM, but I released both of them.
Not sure what’s up with the SPAM filter today.
Uncle Cosmo
@WaterGirl:
I’ll go back and check, but assuming you’re right, that’s still $500 per student per day of instruction. IMO that’s still pretty steep; e.g., it’s 10% higher than in-state tuition per day at UMBC, where I got my master’s. Did you ask how many students are trained at a time? The most charitable possibility is that they trained several students through this training, paid the trainers from what “we” contributed, and just forgot to tell “us”. Or “we” might be one of several “cash cows…”
No “we” don’t, you just think “we” do. Let’s go down the list:
Sounds like “Pay up or no canvassing for you!”
How many shifts per day? How many days per week? How much are canvass team members being paid, or are they recruiting “volunteers”?
I assume this is the person we spent $15K to train, How much is s/he being paid?
Down in the ground clutter, but OK.
Again, how many shifts per day, how many days per week?
Let me do a little back-of-the-envelope guesstimate:
Presume the staff is paid the prevailing minimum wage ($14.35/hr, which I looked up); double that for the team leader. That’s $143.50 per canvassing hour or $861 per shift. Bump that to $950 for H2O snax & transport to/from. Assume 1 shift per day, 7 days a week; that’s 21 shifts or $19,950. Add 15% padding and we arrive at close to $23,000.
Where is the remaining $7,000 going? This is a non-profit, innit?
I’d be very surprised if a competently run operation couldn’t provide accurate answers to these questions and a breakdown of how the $$$ would be spent. But “we” didn’t ask for more details so “we” don’t know.
IMO “we” should do a bit more “due diligence” to satisfy “our”selves, so far as possible, that the amount being asked for is reasonable for the expected product.
(FTR I did not give WP a cent last time and I will not do so now until & unless I can shake the “being played for suckers” feeling, so in this question I shouldn’t count as one of “you”. Hence the quotes.)
WaterGirl
@Uncle Cosmo: None of the groups we support pay minimum wage, which in most cases is not a living wage.
Go back and read the individual posts where I have explained what we are funding. Worker Power Leadership school included housing.
I’m done talking to you about this. Go find someone else to argue with. I have a thousand better things to do with my time.
Think what you want. Keep your money. Keep your “stupid girl, you don’t know what you’re doing” attitude. And maybe think about why you feel compelled to be a dick most of the time.
Uncle Cosmo
@WaterGirl: Just a note to note for anyone paying attention that $15,000 was in fact the correct figure for the student that BJ sponsored for the Worker Power Leadership School. I misremembered (and would have posted this an hour ago if I’d thought to look under Targeted Fundraising instead of going back through >60 pages by hand).
catpal
late but just sent $25
Gloria DryGarden
@WaterGirl: didn’t you get forced through a public speaking course in college, and thus decrease the nerves around public speaking by 10%?
They can zoom you in… we’ve done it to include long distance people at events here, but just with a laptop. Maybe you could zoom in and only talk w a few people at a time…It hasn’t worked well to speak to a whole room..
Please don’t hurt me. It’s not just that I’m being a tease and a bitch; you Are Valuable, and it might be fun/ meaningful.
WaterGirl
@catpal: Not too late! Everything this holiday weekend through Monday will be a 4x donation. thank you
Sharon
Donated $25 just now.