Say Hello to the New Virginia Majority

Virginia Governor-elect Ralph Northam’s victory in the Nov. 2017 VA gubernatorial election  is being hailed by the press as “the first forceful rebuke of Trump and his party.” On a night that saw other exciting and improbable wins, the Northam vote was the widest victory in decades for a Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia. 

And yet, in the lead-up to the election, the Democrats had no Get out the Vote (GOTV) effort aimed at communities of color and others who would be needed to push the eventual winner, Dem. Ralph Northam, over the finish line. New Virginia Majority stepped into the breach to:

·      Register 30,666 voters in 2017

·      Organize a statewide plan with partners NextGen, Planned Parenthood, SEIU, For Our Future, and Equality Virginia that knocked on 689,000 doors

·      Run $150,000 in ads on African-American radio stations

·      Fight for 12 candidates—11 of whom won in November

New Virginia Majority, a part of Airlift's Voter Moter Fund, has been around a while and has demonstrated a track record of success organizing working-class communities of color to enact longstanding and large-scale change year-round on issues of racial, economic, and environmental

They’re poised to do more important work on the ground in 2018, and Airlift will be there to support them.

Photo: Mallory Noe-Payne/ WVTF

Airlift in Huffington Post!

Airlift’s launch was featured in the Huffington Post!

“If you get depressed about the state of the [Democratic National Committee], you can raise your spirits by looking at some of the sophisticated and high impact local organizing that is happening and led nearly entirely by volunteers. Airlift is a beautiful example of what this new wave of local community-level progressive groups are capable of” – Becky Bond, key strategic advisor to Bernie Sanders, longtime political activist, and advisor to Airlift.

Read the story.

Why Airlift?

Airlift grew out of the realization that the hard work in battleground districts and states is being done by unsung grassroots organizations on shoestring budgets, while the majority of political fundraising is channeled to the very top of the Democratic party and its fleet of high-priced consultants, focus groups and TV campaigns.

At the same time, it became clear that there was a desire among donors to stop throwing money at the same political sources and get funds where they could truly make a difference.

Airlift matches donors with grassroots groups who are making long-term transformative change­–the kind of change that endures even after the current election cycle is over. The kind of change that people are especially hungry for since the election of Donald Trump.

Airlift gets money directly to three distinct funds which have been carefully vetted for their effectiveness and track records of organizing and mobilizing voters, many of whom have previously been left behind and who are precisely the constituents Democrats need to capture in order to start winning again. The Airlift team maintains relationships with the groups we’re funding, and reports back to donors about the groups they support.

Airlift is poised to change the way money gets to the front lines, so that important progressive work can be done. We look forward to involving you and sharing our successes along the way.