The Election Has Started, but Voter Outreach Groups Are Running Out of Money: In America, Even the Word "Black" Has Become a Financial Risk

The first Americans are already casting their ballots in the congressional elections. Meanwhile, the organizations that are supposed to get people to the polls are cutting jobs. Programs are disappearing, employees are leaving, and donors are holding on to their checkbooks. Some of the biggest left-leaning voter engagement groups and civil rights organizations are short millions of dollars. Democrats are counting on high turnout in the midterms. Many of the people who have helped them in the past are now having to figure out what work they can even afford to keep doing. The makeup of Congress, which voters will decide in November, will determine the balance of political power during the final 2 years of Donald Trump's term.

America Votes, the coordinating hub for more than 400 progressive organizations, has significantly less money available than it did during the 2022 midterms, according to its executive director, Daria Dawson. The coalition includes the NAACP and Planned Parenthood. The League of Conservation Voters is also part of it, along with the AFL-CIO and SEIU labor unions. Smaller civil rights organizations are involved as well. Dawson warns that there is still time to reach more people and bring them into the election, but that window is getting smaller every day. The timing could hardly be more concrete: While the groups are negotiating for additional funding, voting is already underway.

A memo circulated among major Democratic fundraisers in July put a number on the shortfall. Organizations that had registered millions of people and encouraged them to participate in the 2018 and 2022 midterms had raised nearly 40 percent more money at the same point in those election cycles than they have today. The authors warned that funding this work was especially important because Democrats were performing worse in generic ballot polls than hoped, both compared with historical figures and in light of the president's approval ratings.

The funding pullback has already had consequences. Organizations are cutting staff and eliminating programs aimed at people who rarely vote. Younger voters and members of racial and ethnic minority groups are particularly affected. In rural areas, face-to-face voter outreach is also being scaled back. Democratic strategists fear that these groups may also lack the resources to counter possible interference in election procedures by the Republican administration. The everyday work of registering voters is now under pressure, along with efforts to protect voting rights.

Esosa Osa, a veteran Democratic strategist and founder of the research group Onyx Impact, calls it a surrender. Her organization focuses on misinformation in Black communities. The retreat by donors is handcuffing efforts to persuade people to vote, she said. At the same time, legal protections have been significantly weakened. The Supreme Court eliminated one of the last major protections under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 this year. Osa sees the donors' behavior as abandoning work that has already been done.

The causes of the funding shortage go back to the 2024 presidential election. Nearly 2 dozen organizers and fundraisers described different reasons for the pullback. Some wealthy supporters were so disappointed with Democrats and their allies that they stopped funding liberal causes altogether. Others are still giving money, but now prefer legal organizations that are taking the Trump administration to court. Apparently, it's easier to find a check for a lawyer than for the person knocking on doors in a remote community.

Then there is the fear of political consequences. According to several organizers, philanthropic institutions and other donors are now reluctant to be associated with voting rights work or initiatives fighting racial discrimination. They fear retaliation from the administration. The administration's actions against political opponents and diversity programs have dampened the willingness to provide financial support, according to people who have spoken with potential donors.

Tameka Ramsey-Brown, founder and executive director of the Michigan Coalition on Black Civic Participation, describes just how far that fear has gone. Since the 2024 election, several donors have asked whether her organization could remove the word "Black" from its name. Others have wanted to know whether donations could be routed through intermediaries so their source would remain hidden. The supporters feared pressure and attacks from the administration.

Ramsey-Brown describes the consequences with bitter clarity. Simply being Black in this country is once again being treated like a dirty word. Raising money has become considerably more difficult as a result. A civil rights organization whose very name explicitly refers to the political participation of Black people is being asked to remove that designation so its donors can feel safer. The money is welcome, as long as the people it's supposed to help are as invisible as possible on the donation receipt.

The Democratic National Committee is also struggling financially. Party leadership has consolidated its voter outreach programs this year, partly in response to past shortcomings among affiliated organizations. Spokesperson Angelo Fernández Hernández said the party is making historic investments in its organizing efforts. It is expanding its voter protection efforts and intends to hold Trump and Republicans accountable in court. People across the country are being registered and encouraged to vote. His statement, however, did not address the financial difficulties facing allied organizations.

The situation is particularly clear at Vamos a Votar. The coalition of major civil rights and advocacy organizations serving Latino communities has already scaled back its plans because of a lack of funding. Juan Proaño, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, complained that investments were failing to adequately reach the very Black and Latino communities whose votes he believes will be decisive in this election. In a fundraising appeal circulated in September, Vamos a Votar put its planned total spending on voter outreach and persuasion efforts at $27.5 million. It still needed another $5.4 million to fund efforts to increase voter turnout across 10 states and 17 congressional districts. Even that plan had already been scaled back from earlier funding proposals made at the beginning of the year.

Héctor Sánchez Barba, CEO of the affiliated organization Mi Familia Vota, expressed deep disappointment that progressive donors were failing to rise to the occasion. His organization would keep working. It would remain on the front lines for its communities and democracy. That promise, however, does nothing to make up for the missing millions.

With fewer staff members, the organizations are now trying to change how they operate. Some are increasingly using artificial intelligence to create voter registration guides and make information available in multiple languages. They are also using it to identify potential problems during the election. Others are working with ride-sharing companies to provide free rides to polling places. Bus services that were previously available are being replaced in some cases. Where in-person voter outreach workers are missing, social media is becoming more important. The organizations are also increasingly working with left-leaning online content creators to spread their messages.

Melanie Campbell, president of the nonpartisan civil rights organization National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, has worked in this field for more than 30 years. Never before has it been this difficult to raise money for Black causes, she said. The state affiliates are continuing to do everything they can. In her view, anyone who believes democracy matters must also fund the work that supports it. While the first votes are already being cast, civil rights organizations are being forced to scale back their plans even further. The Democratic Party is announcing historic investments while its longtime partners are cutting staff. Wealthy donors are funding lawsuits while, elsewhere, the money for everyday voter outreach is running out. And in Michigan, a civil rights organization is facing the question of whether it should change its name so its supporters don't have to fear political consequences.

The polls are open. The people whose job is to help others get there are still waiting for the money they need to do their work.