Democratic dollars go further with Blueprint

Support competitive races and build voter power at the same time.

Determining where and when political donations can have the greatest impact is no small feat. But in a year like 2020, Democrats can’t afford to miscalculate. And with COVID-19 radically altering the electoral landscape, the stakes are even higher and the risks even greater. Our democracy is threatened at all levels of government, from abuse of power in the White House to obstruction in the Senate to gerrymandering and voter suppression in the states. And Republicans are exploiting this pandemic to make it even harder for Americans to make their voices heard.

Swing Left has been hard at work developing a new way for Democrats to give in 2020 — one that helps win elections in the short term and build a stronger democracy in the long term.

Today, we’re thrilled to launch our solution: Blueprint.

The first of its kind, Swing Left’s Blueprint is a hub for high-impact political giving that brings together competitive state legislative and federal races plus nonpartisan civic organizations working to register, protect, and mobilize voters in swing states. Blueprint’s dynamic portfolio updates every quarter as strategies shift over the electoral cycle and new Democratic nominees emerge in key races. No matter when or how much you give, Blueprint ensures that your donations always go to the civic organizations and candidates who need them most.

In May 2019, Swing Left joined forces with Flippable, a leader in the movement to flip states blue. During the 2018 midterm cycle, our organizations raised nearly $15 million to help Democrats win a total of 140 seats in the U.S. House and state legislatures. Ninety percent of those dollars went to candidates in races decided by single-digit margins — the result of bold, high-impact investments in strong candidates running in the most competitive districts.

Blueprint takes Swing Left and Flippable’s combined expertise in targeting state and federal races to the next level. Our sophisticated return-on-investment (ROI) model powers Blueprint’s quarterly targets, providing timely infusions of funding when they’re most impactful for candidates and civic organizations. You can read more about the methodology behind Blueprint here.

What we’re solving

In order to win, Democrats up and down the ballot need a strong grassroots volunteer base — and financial resources. Unfortunately, fundraising on the Left is often lopsided: high-profile federal races dwarf support for down-ballot races and critical civic organizations. For example: Beto O’Rourke raised $80 million in an expensive bid for Texas’s U.S. Senate seat in 2018. That year, the same amount was spent across all the state House and state Senate races in Arizona, Michigan, and Wisconsin combined.

Democratic spending also has real consequences for our democracy. As long as the GOP significantly outspends Democrats in state-level races, Republican lawmakers will maintain the power to pass voter suppression policies and draw gerrymandered electoral districts. Changing the balance of power in our state legislatures in 2020 before redistricting in 2021 will shape who controls our states and Congress for years to come.

How Blueprint transforms political giving

After the 2018 midterms, we started digging into how we could make it easier for Democrats to maximize the impact of their political giving. The power of grassroots donors was impressive: ActBlue — the online fundraising platform for progressive candidates and causes — processed 42,093,173 contributions in 2017 and 2018 for a total of $1.6 billion, or double the amount raised during the 2016 cycle.

But through conversations with grassroots donors, we learned Democrats needed a more guided approach. It takes time, data, and expertise to find the best investments among the thousands of state and federal races on the ballot. And the process of selecting and supporting voter registration, protection, and mobilization programs from an expansive field of nonpartisan organizations is just as demanding. This much was clear: to make consistently effective political donations, donors needed a year-round strategy they could trust.

Blueprint makes it easy to invest in transformative majorities and long-term voter power throughout the election cycle. Here’s what sets Blueprint apart:

• Quality candidates and civic organizations, all in one place: Blueprint lets you support candidates in competitive state and federal races as well as nonpartisan civic organizations working to register, protect, and mobilize voters. With a single donation, you can help move the needle in swing states while making a lasting impact on our democracy.
• Quarterly recommendations for maximum impact: Our team selects targets based on robust ROI modeling, so you can leave the spreadsheets and number-crunching to us. Every quarter, we update the portfolio with our newest recommendations informed by the election calendar, campaign fundamentals, electoral data, and quarterly campaign finance reports.
• Personalized giving based on your priorities: By choosing the primary focus of your Blueprint — either candidates or civic organizations — you can invest in the portfolio that’s right for you. You can also request a custom Blueprint to support even more targets based on your goals.
• Need-to-know updates, not a flooded inbox: Every quarter, we’ll share a report showing the impact of your Blueprint investment along with our updated recommendations. Blueprint also brings you closer to candidates, movement leaders, and other political experts to break down what’s happening on the ground.

Our Q2 strategy, explained

Last quarter, during Blueprint’s beta period, donors contributed over $220,000 to candidates and organizations, laying the groundwork for success in critical 2020 battlegrounds. Our Q1 targets zeroed in on early investments toward flipping state legislative seats across North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Texas; winning the U.S. Senate race in North Carolina; and registering voters in Arizona and Wisconsin.

With Blueprint’s Q2 targets, we’re expanding the map:

• Organizations conducting voter registration in Georgia, North Carolina, and Wisconsin plus programs to combat voter suppression across the country. With the coronavirus pandemic upending traditional means of organizing, voting, and administering elections, funding these nonpartisan civic organizations is critical to ensuring a participatory and protected election in November.
• Mark Kelly’s race for U.S. Senate in Arizona along with the Iowa and Maine Senate races, where Democratic nominees will be decided in upcoming primary elections. These are three of Democrats’ best offensive opportunities to flip the Senate, and it’s critical to close funding gaps against their GOP opponents.
• Competitive state legislative races across Arizona and Pennsylvania, where Democrats have the chance to win control of both chambers in each state. In Pennsylvania, flipping the state legislature blue would secure unified Democratic control of the state government.

Our democracy needs a winning investment strategy this year. Start giving with Blueprint today to maximize your impact on the races that matter most.