Dear MoveOn member,
I’m Erica Mauter, and I’m one of the senior staff at MoveOn. I don’t typically get to write to you, but I need to share with you a big change we’re making at MoveOn and ask for your help.
You probably know that MoveOn pioneered digital organizing 26 years ago and has been a leader and innovator in digital campaigning ever since. Digital tools enable us to bring more than 10 million people all across the country together to have far more power and impact together.
And, yes, we have our work cut out for us now more than ever—as an organization and as a community of millions of people who care deeply about justice, freedom, equity, and building a country in which everyone can thrive.
Here’s what’s happening and our news: In the early days of MoveOn, we invested in technology—cutting-edge at the time—to enable us to communicate quickly and effectively with all of you. But several years ago, that technology platform was acquired by a large international private equity firm, Apax Partners, which operates under the corporate name Bonterra. That means that the backbone of MoveOn’s work—a technology platform called ActionKit—that enables you to read this email, take immediate action in response, and much more, is at the whim of a corporate giant out to make money. And it’s not just MoveOn. Many progressive and Democratic organizations are in the same boat, since Bonterra also owns NGP VAN, EveryAction, and Mobilize—core tools widely relied on to connect with voters and mobilize volunteers.
After Bonterra laid off roughly one-third of its workforce last year, MoveOn knew we needed an exit plan—and last week, we publicly announced that we’re moving to Action Network—a platform developed by a nonprofit tech organization with its roots in the labor movement. The decision will secure MoveOn’s future and hopefully will help prompt other progressive and Democratic organizations to move from corporate platforms to movement-owned and movement-governed technology platforms and tools.
Here’s where we need your help: MoveOn’s move from ActionKit to Action Network is a massive undertaking that is taking many thousands of hours of work by our team of engineers and data scientists.
Imagine you decided to switch over all your social networks, your streaming services, your cell phone carrier, and get a new TV and a new phone, all at the same time, while also keeping your watching history, likes, contacts, 100,000 photos, and your old text messages and voicemails intact while doing it, and if you don’t get it exactly right, you’re going to miss the one-hour window you have to get your car fixed so you can still get to work.
It’s an ENORMOUS undertaking.
Here’s where you come in: This transition is hugely expensive for us, given the complexity of the data and our systems and the sheer amount of data. We need your urgent support to enable us to make the transition seamless. We know our tools can’t be down for a single day, given the millions of us who rely on them each and every day, and knowing the imminent threats we face from Donald Trump, his administration, and the MAGA-controlled House, Senate, and Supreme Court.
So, will you help us get out from under the corporate thumb? By making a $5 monthly donation, you will help MoveOn transition to a nonprofit platform over the next several months to enable us to continue our essential campaigning.
No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.
Thanks for all you do.
–Erica
Want to support MoveOn’s work? Donald Trump and his MAGA allies expect us to give up. But we will not give them what they want. We will never stop working to defend our fundamental freedoms and protect our democracy. MoveOn has been leading the movement against right-wing extremism for 26 years, and we promise you that we will still be here every step of the way forward.
Will you donate to power MoveOn’s work to protect our freedoms and democracy under Trump’s administration?
No, I’m sorry, I can’t make a monthly donation.
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