A note from MoveOn's COO

My name is Cheryl Zando. I'm MoveOn's chief operating officer. I've written to you a few times this year about MoveOn's budget, and, unfortunately, I am sending this email with some bad news about MoveOn's 2022 fundraising. Dear MoveOn member, My name is Cheryl Zando. I'm MoveOn's chief operating officer. I've written to you a few times this year about MoveOn's budget, and, unfortunately, I am sending this email with some bad news about MoveOn's 2022 fundraising. I know that these emails are never nice to receive, so I want to promise you two things at the very top: - Unlike many other organizations, MoveOn does not believe in manufacturing crises or manipulating our members into donating to us by lying about the true state of our finances. I assure you that I will not be doing that in this email. - If this email succeeds in helping us close our 2022 budget gap, I promise that you will not hear from me again for the rest of the year! Here is the bottom line: As of this writing, MoveOn still needs 9,151 people to start a monthly donation before the end of this month to ensure that we have the sustained resources we need to fund our work in 2023. I'll provide more details below, but first I want to ask if you can help us close our budget gap by starting a $5 monthly donation today. [Yes, I'll chip in monthly.]( [No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.]( Let me give you a peek behind the curtain of MoveOn's budget, {NAME}. We often tell you that MoveOn is funded primarily by small-dollar grassroots donations from people like you. But to be more specific, 88.3% of our 2022 budget was set to come from people like you, receiving emails like this and chipping in what they could. MoveOn relies especially on donors who give monthly, because it allows us to predict how much money we will have months or even years down the line to spend on the critical work that we do. And all the monthly donations, no matter how small, add up. If we are able to meet our goal of 9,151 new monthly donors, that will translate into $1,054,195 in 2023! Focusing on small donations of $5, $10, or $25 has been a core tenet of MoveOn's mission since our founding in 1998, because it ensures that we can remain fiercely independent and responsible to only our members, not the whims of a single large donor who writes us a check. But over the last year, we have seen a dramatic drop in our grassroots fundraising. It's been particularly surprising that this happened during an election year, as election years historically have been times of increased energy and giving. And it's not just us—donations to progressive organizations have been on the decline across the board. I'm concerned by that trend not just for MoveOn, but because a new report just released by Politico shows that Republican PACs and dark money groups that support far-right MAGA extremists are entering 2023 with tens of millions of dollars in the bank—ready to fund candidates, ballot measures, and terrifying anti-democratic policies.1 The good news is that MoveOn has never needed to match these groups dollar-for-dollar. For 24 years we have been nimble, innovative, and frugal—but given how hard it has been to meet our fundraising goals this year, I'm concerned that we are not going to have the money we need to fight back. So I'm asking. {NAME}, can you help us close our budget gap by starting a $5 a month donation today? Every single dollar counts. [Yes, I'll chip in monthly.]( [No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.]( You may be wondering what MoveOn will do with that $1,054,195 next year if we manage to reach our goal. The short answer is: a lot! Some of that money will be put toward research and development of new techniques to identify and energize young voters and voters of color. Some will be put in our reserves so that when crises happen—as they did this past summer with the overturning of Roe v. Wade—we are able to immediately dive in and do whatever is needed to fight back. Some will be used to help fund small, underfunded but critically important organizations doing direct service work on the ground in underserved areas. And some will be used to ensure that MoveOn is able to continue paying our incredible, hardworking staff the good, fair wages that we believe every single worker in America deserves. I know that you've been asked for a lot this year, and I am so grateful for all that you have done. I just need to ask you one more time if you can help keep MoveOn strong in 2023 by starting a $5 monthly donation today. [Yes, I'll chip in monthly.]( [No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.]( Thanks for all you do. –Cheryl Zando Source: 1. "Haley, Pence and other potential ‘24 candidates buff up their dark money groups," Politico, December 2, 2022 [ Want to support MoveOn's work? Together, we must work to end the filibuster, codify abortion rights into law, and defend our freedoms, our families, and our futures. We can accomplish all this and more, but only if we work together. Will you start a monthly donation right now to power our critical work? [Yes, I'll chip in $5 a month.]( [No, I'm sorry, I can't make a monthly donation.]( Contributions to MoveOn Civic Action are not tax-deductible for income tax purposes. This email was sent to {NAME} on December 6, 2022. To change your email address or update your contact info, [click here](. MoveOn's privacy policy was recently updated. To read our new privacy policy, [click here](. To remove yourself from this list, [click here](.