The Sister District Five-Year Fund

The Five-Year Fund

The next five years will be even more critical for the health of our democracy than the last. Our Five-Year Fund is part of our ambitious strategy to build long-term progressive power in every part of the state legislative ecosystem.

Donate to support our work over the next 5 years now!

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We’re not just fighting back, we’re pushing forward

Electing great candidates is a critical step in protecting our communities, but it is not the only way we can fight back. We have leveraged our electoral experience and network of experts to develop a comprehensive and forward-thinking plan of action focused on building progressive power in state legislatures across the country.

Since 2016, we have expanded our programs to include not only electoral work, but also training newly elected legislators and former candidates, providing a full suite of campaign services to our endorsed candidates, conducting academic-quality civic research, supporting community-based organizations, and working directly with on-campus student organizers.

Join the fight by supporting our Five-Year Fund!

Every dollar you contribute to the Five-Year Fund supports the next phase of our ambitious and comprehensive strategy to build progressive power in state legislatures, including:

Organizing our nearly 60,000 grassroots volunteers across the country to provide field and fundraising support to the highest value state legislative races.
Providing campaign services free of charge to candidates, including strategic consulting on campaign plans and budget development, vendor and staff management, paid communications, and more.
Even in Red states, our strategy and efforts put progressives in the statehouse. “How ‘Sister District’ Helped Shanda Yates Unseat Longtime Mississippi Republican”– Jackson Free Press (2019)
Training newly-elected legislators on best practices, governance techniques, and strategies for being effective legislators in purple districts.
Preparing exceptional former candidates to run for office again, building the pipeline of progressive talent at the state level.
Conducting academic-quality experiments to determine the highest impact tactics for our work, from voter registration to persuasion to turnout.
Partnering with and funding community-based organizations that do year-round organizing in our target states.
Working with high school and college student organizers and campus affiliates to train the next generation of organizers on-field tactics, voter messaging, budgeting, and more.

As a first-time millennial candidate who had to work a full-time job while running in a year unlike any other, I am honored for the opportunity to represent the community that raised me. There is no way I would be in this position without Sister District in my corner every step of the way! Because of Sister District, I had the chance to communicate my personal commitment to my community and had countless volunteers across the nation assisting me in doing so. Whether it be making phone calls, writing postcards, hosting virtual fundraisers, or making the trek to the 51st District to canvass, Sister District was with me every step of the way.

-Briana Sewell, Delegate-elect from District 51

First 5 Years of Action and What We’ve Accomplished

How it all started

Sister District was founded in 2016 to build progressive power at the state level across the country. Since then, we have grown from a small group of activists working to elect Democrats to state legislatures; to a nationwide powerhouse and the only national grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to state power.

Since 2016 we’ve made incredible gains at the state level, building momentum for progressive policy and helping to elect Democratic candidates that uphold a shared vision for our future.

We Grew Our Team, Expertise, & Community

180 active volunteer teams and affiliates in 32 states including Michigan, Georgia, Arizona, and Pennsylvania.
Nearly 60,000 volunteers nationwide (and constantly growing!)
87 Organizing Fellow and Student Organizer terms completed
10 community-based partner organizations in 9 different states funded through the State Bridges Program
Our State Bridges partners include Pennsylvania Stands Up and Rural Arizona Action (RAZA), two Progressive organizations that are fighting for fair representation and increased civic engagement in their state’s communities.
21+ progressive organizations partnered with on-field, fundraising, research, candidate training, and legislator support programming, including Run For Something, EMILY’s List, Swing Left, the DLCC, and Vote Save America!
28 large-scale studies on voter and volunteer behavior conducted by Dr. Gaby Goldstein and Dr. Mallory Roman, with our research team at Sister District Action Network earning 4 Analyst Institute Expy Awards for outstanding research in the progressive and civic engagement communities!

Grassroots Organizing: Small Investment, Huge Impact!

1,385,851 phonebank calls made to voters
1,003,616 text messages sent to voters
96,493 voters canvassed at the door
939,813 postcards mailed to voters

Electoral Strategy, Candidate Support & Fundraising

131 progressive state legislative candidates endorsed in 17 states
73 state legislative races won
$4.25 million raised directly for candidates and power-building organizations
16 former state legislative candidates who are planning to run for office again in 11 different states trained through the Future Winners Program. Read Dr. Gaby Goldstein’s Op-Ed!
58 progressive state legislators from 32 different state legislative chambers joined the Purple District Network

2021: A year in review

12 CANDIDATES

Including 9 women and 8 candidates of color

225,978 DIALS

Comprising over 70% of our candidates’ total campaign dials

332,052 TOUCHES

Total Field Touches from 50,000+ volunteers across the country

$558,574.31

Raised directly to endorsed candidates

106,074 POSTCARDS

10,607 volunteer hours (10 postcards / hour)

79%

Of phonebank calls went to races decided by less than 5%

$162,719.05

Raised directly for State Bridges organizations

16,960 DONATIONS

Made up of 13,782 donations to candidates and 3,178 to State Bridges organizations

19,646

Volunteer Hours

You don’t have to wait for an election to make your voice heard

As Sister District founders Dr. Gaby Goldstein and Lala Wu told Jonathan Van Ness on his podcast Getting Curious (ep. 220), there is no such thing as an off-year for state elections. The work of building progressive power in state legislatures never stops, and neither do we!

We are working year-round to combat the influence of dark money flooding right-wing politics. With Sister District, you can volunteer your time, or contribute to support the programs in our Five-Year Fund. Together, we’ll continue to fight for our values and build progressive power in state legislatures!