Historical source: 2020 report. References to past elections, people, programs, and contact details reflect the original period.
The Role for Progressive Donors
To achieve the transformations we need, it will be crucial for a cohort of progressive donors to understand this history, this strategy, and be willing to join together in a vision for the future. This will require a break with some old habits.
To date, to be “a good political donor” has meant giving to the Democratic Party’s institutions, such as the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee or the Democratic National Committee. We need a strong party, but we must make sure that party stands for something and is accountable to its base. To accomplish this, donors will need to be willing to fund organizations that support the progressive wing of the party, and willing to hold party leaders accountable.
This requires a shift in understanding conflict as inherent to politics, and a broader perspective on the dynamics to which elected leaders are responding. In the attempt to avoid conflict, donors and donor groups that are conciliatory will result in elected officials having to face far more pressure from the Right. It is no wonder, then, that the country moves in that direction. Progressives must have an independent force that can counter the power of corporations and right-wing opposition. And thus, donors must understand that organizations that pressure party leaders are a necessary part of the process.
The way forward requires bold ideas and a willingness to take risks. But most of all, it requires an understanding of power, and the relationship between an organized base, a vision, and political leadership.
Conclusion: Building a More Powerful Progressive Movement
In this report, we made the case that, to win on the issues we care about — from climate change to health care to racial justice and inequality — it is not enough to elect Democrats. In the American political system, the parties are vehicles over which diverse interests contest for control. To achieve progressive ends, we must build progressive movements that change the landscape of what’s possible, and we must engage in the battle of ideas. We must develop new leaders and support them, while also supporting organizations that aim to shift the balance of power within the party, by aligning progressives around shared political priorities and strategies, by holding elected officials accountable, and by engaging in primaries.
Progressive donors play a key role in all of this, because they can either enable or constrain organizations who seek to influence the Democratic Party. Too often, Democratic-leaning donors have felt committed to the party as a vehicle, rather than committed to a policy agenda. Meanwhile, the Right took control of the Republican Party and has successfully used it to advance their priorities. Progressive donors have an opportunity to learn from this history and align themselves with progressive movements, so that together they can fight and win historic reforms.
As we head toward 2021, we are working to ensure that the current Democratic nominee prevails, as well as candidates for U.S. Senate, U.S. House and those contesting for power in state chambers around the country. But that win will not be the end of the effort to defeat Trump and the crises that we currently face.