Current Projects

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Andrew Goodman Foundation

Founded in 1966 by the parents of Andrew Goodman, a student at the University of Wisconsin – Madison who was a freedom rider killed by the KKK in Mississippi in 1964, the Andrew Goodman Foundation supports voting accessibility and voter engagement on college campuses across the country, with a big focus on Wisconsin. 

AGF’s Vote Everywhere program (https://andrewgoodman.org/vote-everywhere/) (AGF), a 501 (c)(3) non-partisan organization, is a leading force in increasing youth civic power and creates voter registration and engagement teams targeting young people, the largest voting bloc in the country, on college campuses.  These teams of undergraduate ambassadors and post graduate fellows encourage student voter registration and voting through campus events and a robust texting program. They identify barriers to registration and voting, such as ID and proof of residency requirements, absentee voting rules and polling place restrictions, and AGF engages in organizing, advocacy and litigation to combat them.

Young people historically have the lowest voting rate of any demographic group, but the situation is improving.  In 2018, 40% of college students voted, double the number in 2014.  AGF has programs on 60 college campuses with nearly a million students. The results have been remarkable with substantial increases in student voting on those campuses.  Much more needs to be done and AGF is rising to that challenge.

  Its 2020 strategy is to fund over 350 student ambassadors and champions on 140 campuses, reaching a population of about 2.5 million students, roughly 12.5% of the eligible student voting population in America. AGF is also forging partnerships in certain states with Fair Fight Action 2020, and other local groups.  Like AGF, Catalyzing Impact understands the importance of Wisconsin in the 2020 Presidential election.  

AGF’s goal in Wisconsin is to expand its presence from one campus (UW Madison) with 44,000 students to six Wisconsin colleges with 140,000 students. Trump won Wisconsin by less than 23,000 votes in 2016.  This is where Catalyzing Impact and you can make a real difference.  It costs AGF about $25,000 to fund a voter registration and engagement team on each campus.  That money provides stipends and grants to undergraduate ambassadors of about $2,000, post-graduate fellows of $4,000, and funds on-campus activities to educate students about voting, facilitate voter registration, and encourage students to turn out in November.   

Our goal is to raise funds AGF needs to expand to one more Wisconsin campus.  AGF is targeting Madison and Milwaukee Technical Colleges, Marquette, UW Milwaukee, and UW Oshkosh.  AGF’s targeted expansion is data-driven – focusing on campuses mostly likely to boost student turnout significantly and it is a concrete, practical and potentially transformative effort we can make together.  

Wisconsin Voices

Catalyzing Impact supported Wisconsin Voices in 2018 and we are committed to doing it again in 2020.  This time, we plan to raise funds to train Wisconsin Voices’ community- based partners to do voter registration AND voter follow-up which is key to making sure registered voters actually VOTE.  In Wisconsin, registering doesn’t guarantee turnout, but it is an important first step in a longer engagement process that Wisconsin Voices’ community-based partners facilitate. 

Wisconsin Voices is using innovative technology and partnerships with a network of 51 grassroots organizations to register 78,300 new Wisconsin voters in 2020 and to get out the vote in November.  Trump won Wisconsin by only 22,748 votes in 2016 so Wisconsin Voices’ success could turn the tide in the presidential election as well as impact down ballot elections. 

Using a racial equity strategy and building on its success in engaging voters in the 2018 midterm elections, Wisconsin Voices has upgraded its voter registration technology and aims to make Wisconsin’s Online Voter Registration system accessible to all.

Wisconsin Voices noticed two key weaknesses with Wisconsin’s Online Voter Registration system.  First, people without a driver’s license or state ID have to go through a cumbersome process that involves snail-mailing the clerk’s office. Second, for groups registering people through voter registration drives, there is no way to track and follow up with new registrants.

 Wisconsin Voices, in partnership with PF Data, developed an innovative app that solves both of these problems.  It removes obstacles for voters without a driver’s license/ID. A third-party vendor prints and submits any necessary paperwork, making registration easy and hassle free for all Wisconsin voters. Crucially, it also allows groups to follow up with newly registered voters, strengthening Get Out the Vote efforts and building relationships beyond elections.  This technology makes it possible to register electronically every eligible voter in Wisconsin.

The tax free donations raised through Catalyzing Impact will help fund upgrades to the voter app as well as fund dynamic texting tools, social media ad buys, and phone bank tools for following up with individuals registered through Wisconsin Voices’ partner organizations.