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John,
When we launched No Dem Left Behind in 2019, we had an idea of the way we wanted to do things. We wanted to be hands-on, on-the-ground, showing up for rural voters and candidates in a BIG way.
Back then, no one could have predicted what the next few years would bring.
The global pandemic altered the trajectory of our development early on, forcing us to get creative and adapt to the challenge. Like many organizations, we pivoted to a mostly virtual model, holding online town halls with our endorsed candidates and doing most of our organizing, fundraising and get-out-the-vote activities on social media and Zoom.
It worked, for the most part – we were an instrumental part of the effort to defeat Trump and take back the Senate – but all along, something felt like it was missing.
That something was you – our supporters, the people we work so hard for, and the rural voters we launched this organization to reach out and engage with.
We thought, like many people, that sooner or later, the pandemic would end, and we’d be able to return to our original mission of participating in the rural ground game. Then Delta showed up, then Lambda, now Omicron, and – ugh, how many letters are there in the Greek alphabet again?
Well, two years later, the pandemic is still raging, so once again we’ve decided to adapt.
We’ve got an exciting new project in the works that will directly fund and empower rural activists to organize and fight for change right where they live … because the truth is, they don’t need us.
No one knows better than rural activists what it takes to change the hearts and minds of their own friends and neighbors. What they need is resources, training, and connections to the right people to help them put their plans into action.
We can help with that.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be holding listening sessions with rural activists all over the United States. We want to know straight from the folks on the ground, “What can we do to help you succeed as rural organizers?” We know the answers will vary by region, by state, even by county. But we’re going to do our best to deliver.
You can expect to hear a lot more about this project in the weeks to come. We’re going to need resources to pull this off, so yes, there will be fundraising pitches. But we’re much more excited about being able to formally unveil our plan and introduce you to the rural organizing rockstars who will be leading this effort on the ground.
In the meantime, we hope you’ll watch this short video we produced called “Winning Over Rural America.”
It’s a powerful reminder of why we founded No Dem Left Behind in the first place, and what we continue to fight for.
Thank you so much for your ongoing support – we can’t do any of this without you.
-- The No Dem Left Behind Team
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