All of us in Massachusetts have the frustration of “I’m in a blue state: what can I do to defeat Donnie?”
Senator Dave Magnani (ret.) gave a stunningly simple answer at our Speaker night on February 9th: “Help people in underrepresented areas to vote.”
How? Dave has a low tech answer “Train local young folk to knock on doors in their community, and tell folk how to register to vote and how important and easy it is to do. And pay the door knockers something to do it”
Why local young folk? Because the door opener need to see someone they trust on their door step, someone from their community.
Why pay them? They are economically disadvantaged so you can’t expect them to spend the hours and hours this takes and get nothing that pays their bill in return. Besides, the dollars put money into economically disadvantaged communities, so win-win.
But here’s the kicker: Because voter registration is non-partisan, your dollar contributions to the organizations that do it are tax-deductible by you the donor! You can donate from you pre-tax IRA (if you are over 70 1/2), from a Donor Advised Fund if you have one, or claim a deduction if you itemize (consult your CPA: I am not a tax advisor).
I think is a far more efficient way of moving the needle than us funding campaign ads or rallies or speeches. What is the point of sounding off if your potential audience isn’t even registered to vote?
This is best idea I’ve heard in a long time. Their current goal is 40,000 new voters in North Carolina.
If you want to donate via ActBlue, the page is here:
https://secure.actblue.com/donate/mwbb-nc2-22
Unfortunately, you want to donate from a Donor Advised Fund etc, they usually won’t let you do it via ActBlue. However, you can donate directly to the 501c3 voter registration organizations picked out by Dave’s organization directly. They have funny names but they are:
1) Action for the Climate Emergency EIN 26-3106566 (GuideStar page https://nonprofitdirectory.guidestar.org/profile/26-3106566/70D330C6C4D046F2B30C4C55D160009D )
2) NC A Philip Randolph Institute Inc EIN 56-1500282 (GuideStar page https://nonprofitdirectory.guidestar.org/profile/56-1500282/70D330C6C4D046F2B30C4C55D160009D )
Questions? MWBB have a website https://www.mwblueandbeyond.com/