Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
I for one would love to see Ron Johnson gone!
After yet another bullshit decision this week to make voting more difficult – this time in Wisconsin – maybe we can show a little love to Ben Wikler and the Wisconsin DEMS.
Wisconsin DEMS
Open thread.
One Good Way to Add a Democratic Senator (Open Thread)Post + Comments
This morning I asked:
Is it crazy to hope that we can meet our $25,000 goal for VAAC within a week?
I now know that the answer is “no, it is not crazy!”
Why am I so sure?
In the last two days…
A Balloon Juice Angel has written a check to VAAC for $5,000.
We completed two $1,000 angel matches this morning.
A new Balloon Juice Angel stepped forward this morning with an offer to match $1,000.
That means we have two Balloon Juice Angels left, offering to match $1,000 each.
Because of the $5k check, when the thermometer reads $20k, we will have reached our $25k goal.
We are currently at $16,301 $16,476.
We have two Balloon Juice Angels pledging $1,000 each, so that’s $2k guaranteed.
Which leaves only $1,700 about $1,500 needed in order to reach our $25k goal.
The two final angel matches today will match any amount up to $250.
As I write this, we are already $300 nearly $500 into the $2,000 match amount.
Let’s do this!
In early 2021, we looked back on what Balloon Juice was able to raise for the 2020 cycle (plus Georgia in Jan 2021) and we wanted to do two things going forward: 1) provide early money, and 2) focus on groups that are doing boots on the ground organizing.
We did the research, talked with the groups, figured out what we could do for each effort that the groups couldn’t do without us, set a fundraising goal, arranged for external matches in almost every case, held a blog Q & A, and a zoom Q & A, and mostly tried to raise about $25k for each specific effort.
That is what I would call our “high-dollar” goal-oriented fundraising – where 1) we developed a relationship with a group. 2) had a very specific goal and a match amount to reach, and 3) had an amazing number of Balloon Juice Angels to help us get there.
But we’re getting fairly close to election season, so Voting Access for All Coalition (VAAC) will be our last “high-dollar goal-oriented” fundraising until after November. By Feb 2023, win or lose in November, we’ll be looking at providing early money and doing the high-dollar goal-oriented fundraising again.
(I’ll write a post next week looking back at the big picture and the difference we have surely made these past 15 months.)
But for today, let’s take a look at the next 5 months.
We are still researching boots-on-the ground organizations and we will still be putting up BJ thermometers, but after we reach our goal for VAAC, there won’t be external matches or a concerted effort to reach a particular goal.
So in a week or so we might put up 3 links to good boots-on-the-ground organizations in North Carolina. And a week or two later we’ll put up links to 2 or 3 groups that are focused on the youth vote, etc.
We still think that boots-on-the-ground is generally a better investment than contributing to a campaign – because those boots can identify and bring in voters who can vote for every race from dog-catcher to senator – but may also have thermometers for things like “these 5 races can turn the legislature from red to blue” in MI or PA or some other key state. We may also have thermometers for donations to candidates and state and local parties.
More on that once DougJ and I have a chance to talk. In the meantime, you can certainly chime in below with suggestions of great boots-on-the-ground efforts or let us know if yours is one of the states where just a few seats in the state legislature can change the balance of power.
So, back to today… we need just over $1,500 dollars in matching donations in order for the 2 remaining angels to add their combined $2k and for us to complete this last big high-dollar effort before the election.
A big thank you to every single person who donated (and to the married ones!), to every person who wrote an encouraging note, to every person who offered to be an angel, and to our Balloon Juice angel who wrote the $5k check.
Thank you one and all!
Balloon Juice for VAAC
Watch their one-minute video.
You won’t regret it.
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Exciting News: $1,500 To Go + Other Fundraising NewsPost + Comments (54)
Is it crazy to hope that we can meet our $25,000 goal for VAAC within a week?
We are about $350 short of meeting the $1,000 Angel Match #5. And we have an Angel Match #6 waiting in the wings!
To get us started, the first $350 in the comments today will get double-double matched up to $50 per person – because we’ll run the end of angel match #5 and the beginning of angel match #6 at the same time.
(donation + angel match #5 + angel match #6) * external match = 6x the original donation
The Balloon Juice Angel for Match #6 was Almost Retired (aka Curt), and that match is now complete!
Now matching up to $250 per person!
Let’s do this!
Watch their one-minute video.
You won’t regret it.
.
Voting Access for All Coalition – <s>6x Matches</s> 4x Matches Up to $250Post + Comments
Finally! The long-promised video of the Balloon Juice zoom with Voting Access for All two weeks ago.
Watch the video – I am confident that after meeting these folks you will come away inspired!
E.B. Danny. Rob. Percy. Smart. Interesting. Dedicated. Inspiring. Every one of them!
Has anyone noticed the fourth icon in the site footer? That’s the Balloon Juice Video channel on YouTube. Right now it’s mostly Adam Schiff videos and the VAAC video, but I hope to add DougJ’s 20th Anniversary interview with John Cole. My (not so) secret hope is that one of these days DougJ will have more time and can do more interviewing. DoubJ has such a great voice, I think he was made for this!
Michigan citizens with a criminal record have a right to vote!
VAAC is dedicated to ensuring that all Michiganders understand their voting rights. You have the power to vote even with a felony record, on probation, parole or tether, or awaiting arraignment or trial, even while in jail.
Your past doesn’t prevent you from impacting our future.
All donations are currently being matched. Your donations help VAAC to:
- educate people who have been misinformed about their right to vote
- help people overcome the barriers that may prevent them from voting
- engage and motivate people who do not believe their vote matters
.
Hoping we can blow through this angel match, and another one, before the Jan 6 Hearings start.
With the external match and a BJ Angel, everything you donate up to $100 gets multiplied by 4.
$25 funds one hour of community engagement, so a $25 donation pays for 4 hours!
Open thread!
Balloon Juice YouTube Channel, VAAC Zoom Video and Special Angel MatchPost + Comments (42)
In case it helps to dust off the cobwebs, VAAC is the amazing group we are raising funds for.
VAAC stands for Voting Access for All, and this is the part where I go back to the previous introductory posts and pull out some fun things from the introductory post and the Ask Them Anything post and share them again here to remind you of how awesome these guys are, and how righteous their cause is.
We had an absolutely terrific zoom with these guys on 5/24! You really have to watch it! I think we had 6 people from VAAC participate in the zoom and I so wish they lived here because I would love to get to know them better. Smart. Interesting. Dedicated. Inspiring.
Oh, right. You can’t watch the zoom yet because I have been a little busy and haven’t gotten it up on YouTube yet. Once I get it edited and up, I’ll embed the video in a post. Promise.
We have a new Balloon Juice Angel – Torrey – who generously offered a $1,000 match in yesterday’s One Good Thing thread! Torrey’s match is now complete and her $1,000 donation has been added! That brings the thermometer to $9,275!
You may recall that we had just completed the first $1k angel match and were at $925 on our second $1k angel match before our world was so rudely interrupted.
Balloon Juice Angel #2 just added her $1,000 in the thermometer, so we made the jump at $7,000! Laura Too jumped in right away last night to contribute the first $50 toward that match as soon as Torrey volunteered to match. All while I was sleeping! :-)
Big thanks to the two earlier angels, which seems like a lifetime ago, and to Torrey for stepping up last night.
Remember, we have an external match for $21,500 of the $25,000 we hope to raise. Between the Balloon Juice Angel and the external match, everything you donate toward this match – up to $50 – gets multiplied by 4.
$25 covers all the costs of one hour of community engagement, so a $25 donation covers half a day’s work!
What a great return on your investment!
And we have another Balloon Juice angel for $1,000! Patrick G stepped up in the comments! Thank you Patrick!
Update at 930 pm: If you guys blow through Patrick’s match, we have another match waiting in the wings, so you can be sure that anything up to $50 (in each match) overnight will be multiplied by 4.