( - promoted by Chris Bowers)
New Progressive Coalition and Democracy Alliance have both sent very thoughtful and interesting responses to my recent post on bloggers and donors, and I encourage folks to read them and respond. I like both of the posts a lot, and I think their ideas about how to move forward are useful. I have also gotten a lot of other constructive feedback from individuals in the donor, and plan to do another post soon on this topic. -Mike
First of all, I would like to thank OpenLeft for the opportunity to respond to your post about connecting donors to the blogosphere, and offer some insight from one donor's perspective as well as some insight into the Democracy Alliance organization.
As a longtime donor to progressive causes and campaigns, I have witnessed the evolution of the progressive movement. As a Board member for a number of progressive organizations, including Mother Jones and the Ms. Foundation for Women, I've had valuable insight into the challenges facing organizations as they seek out individual donors for the multi-year funding that is crucial for building capacity. Over the years that I have been involved in the progressive movement as a donor and activist, the environment has changed significantly. I believe there are powerful forces and constituencies that are replacing the old guard and bringing new voices and new ideas into the process. I have grown frustrated with the approach of "targeting" voters through expensive television ads that often miss the intended audience by a mile. I believe that blogs, and other new media tools, are a more efficient way to reach voters and we must find ways to support this work. As an individual donor I have supported and will continue to support bloggers, and the use of new technology and the online space to reach critical audiences who are often missed by more traditional media.
Political events in 2000, 2002, and 2004 galvanized the progressive movement at all levels. Progressives came together across the country, in a variety of ways, to unite around shared beliefs and a shared desire for change. As a Democracy Alliance Partner since its founding in 2005, and Board chair for the past year, I've seen firsthand exactly how much we've accomplished in the two years since our inception and I'm heartened to see the movement expanding on all fronts.
The netroots community and blogosphere have grown in the last several years into a powerful force that was almost unimaginable just a few years ago. In the last two years the Democracy Alliance has begun to form a first of its kind community of donors committed to strengthening democracy by partnering with, making human and financial investments in, and fostering collaboration among leaders and institutions committed to building a sustainable progressive infrastructure.
In his post Mike correctly enumerated some crucial barriers to funding the blogosphere, and the near impossibility of realizing a significant impact by giving to individuals. However, those barriers are neither permanent nor insurmountable. As an individual progressive funder I, and others like me, will continue to fund bloggers and those who are making progressive change happen. As a Partner in the Democracy Alliance the goal is to fund collaboratively, and as the Chairman of the Democracy Alliance, we look forward to finding opportunities to support the entire netroots community through organizations and institutions that are enabling the long-term health and sustainability of the community.
I hope this marks the beginning of an honest and productive conversation between donors and the netroots, about how to leverage the power of both groups to move forward in a strategic and effective partnership.
On behalf of the Board of Directors, and the Democracy Alliance staff, I want to thank you again for the opportunity to share my thoughts.
Rob McKay
Chairman
Democracy Alliance
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