In 2012, I was on staff at EqualityMaine during the election and would knock doors with our volunteers. Maine is a very friendly state, but even back then, people were often wary of a stranger at the door. I would put on a big smile and say, “I’m here to talk about voting!” That seemed to put them at ease, and I had so many great conversations about why voting is important for our community. 

Now, a dozen years later, organizers and volunteers with our member organizations are having those same conversations across the country (albeit with much better technology). LGBTQ+ people and our allies are a vital voting constituency, and Equality Federation uses our specialized voter targeting tools to help our members across the country find the right people to talk to about voting. 

Collectively, our members will contact millions of voters, spend over 10 million dollars doing this work, and help turn out the voters we need to elect pro-equality candidates. 

As of today, Equality Federation has finalized $240,000 in seed grants for our partners' electoral work. Many groups have been using these grants to leverage more funding. However, members still report that they need to raise $6M to contact every voter we need to win. 

To help us move more resources quickly to states with the greatest needs: 

• You can make a tax-deductible donation here. These funds will be used for general voter education. 
• You can make a non-tax-deductible donation here. These funds may be used for work in targeted districts or to help elect specific pro-equality candidates. 
• If you’d like to make a large donation and want to understand gaps better, email vivian@equalityfederation.org to receive our gaps list and schedule a call. 

To fund a particular state, find your state here. 

What will your money be used for? Each state has a solid plan that uses tactics they know will help our people get out to vote! From classic, effective methods like door knocking, phone banking, voter guides, mailers, and texting to innovative methods like tailored, targeted digital campaigns, relational organizing, and GOTV parties and events, our members are rolling up their sleeves and doing the work to create a rainbow wave in November!

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