What? You don't have a monthly budget? You should.
You $2 or $3 donations can really make a huge difference. Make a decision that you will fight the system, that you will fight the establishment. I think of these little donations like the bottom up image of the many little fish eating the big fish. If we work together we are more powerful than the big money. We can take back the power they've stolen from the people.
I don't make a lot of money, not even close. I'm in the bottom 10% for my age. But I have a monthly budget for donating to candidates and causes. I make very small donations, usually under $5, sometimes under $3.00. And I believe they make a difference. And I think you should too.Bernie Sanders proved that small donations could make a difference. If millions of people started donating $10, $20, $30 a month to ten candidates each then those candidates would be able to brag about having a lot more donors. They'd have more money to work with and it would erode the influence of big corporate donors.
As head of an organization, OpEdNews.com, which receives donations, I can tell you that it feels great every time a person makes a donation of any size, even $2 or $3 dollars. And knowing that there have been a hundred or two hundred donors in a month, adding up to whatever amount, compared to twenty, feels good, even if the total is not high.
But I didn't really write this to talk about my organization's fund-raising. I'm hoping that this article will inspire you to look at different organizations and candidates who reflect your beliefs, in whatever party they are in. I suggest coming up with a monthly budget-- maybe the amount you spend going out for a lunch for two. For me that's about $25-40. And try to spread it around to ten different people or organizations.
Personally, I'm looking at people who are aiming to topple incumbents, and at organizations that stand for what I believe in. It would be great to hear from commenters on the orgs and candidates that they are supporting and how they are approaching donations.
Almost every month I hear from someone who is living on a small social security budget who makes a donation to the site I publish, OpEdNews.com. I know that their $3 or $5 or $10 donation is dear. I know because I'm not that far away. But we are giving because we believe that we have a responsibility to help keep the good fight going. We are giving because we know that just sitting on the sidelines and showing up on election day is absolutely not enough.
I will not give to the big D organizations like the incredibly obnoxious and annoying DCCC or DNC or DSCC. I no longer give to Emily's list, since they support the worst neoliberal incumbents, like Dianne Feinstein. But I want to support other groups. This month I'll make about $35 in donations. I'll spread it over about 10-12 different recipients. Think about doing something this. If all the people who supported Bernie Sanders and Jill Stein did this there would be a LOT of money going out to progressive, even socialist candidates.
The thing is, when a candidate accepts help from the DNC or the DCCC, they basically have to prostrate themselves and accept the policy dictates of these corporate, sold out DINO dinosaurs.
If millions of us start backing the good candidates and good organizations, we can enable them to stand up to these corporatist organizations and embrace really progressive principles like single payer medicare for all, free public university tuition, higher taxes on the wealthy, making it illegal to be a billionaire, heavily taxing stock transactions by high speed traders, including costs of ecological pollution and job losses in corporate impact studies, tighter regulations on banking and on all aspects of fossil fuel movement, including pipelines-- the list should be really long.
I'll say it again.
You $2 or $3 donations can really make a huge difference. Make a decision that you will fight the system, that you will fight the establishment. I think of these little donations like the bottom up image of the many little fish eating the big fish. If we work together we are more powerful than the big money. We can take back the power they've stolen from the people.
And again, I encourage you to, in the comments, suggests candidates and organization and people to support, with links.
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