SWIM AND PARTNERS UPDATES
See SWIM's website here for more news and events!
WHAT'S UP? with SENATOR PETERS
Meet with Senator Peters: Join SWIM as we host Kevin Hrit and other members of Senator Peter's staff for updates on their activities in Washington, DC. Our next meeting will be October 10 at 11:00 am. Register here!
Please send your questions to info@statewideindivisiblemi.com a week in advance so we can share them with the senator's staff ahead of time.
WHAT'S UP? with SENATOR STABENOW
Meet with Senator Stabenow: We have only ONE more session with Terry Campbell, Senator Stabenow's unparalleled Regional Manager, as the Senator is retiring at the end of the year. Don't miss this always-enlightening discussion. The last meeting is October 31 at 11am. Register here!
Please send your questions to info@statewideindivisiblemi.com a week in advance so we can share them with the senator's staff ahead of time.
BI-MONTHLY MEMBER MEETING SEPTEMBER 24, 2024 TEXT-A-PALOOZA
The next SWIM Member Meeting is September 24 at 7:00. Join our Text-A-Palooza benefiting our Michigan Protect the House/Flip the House candidates. Some of our candidates will be on the call to introduce themselves. We promise this will be a very fun event for everyone! You can register here.
SWIM HOSTED THREE SUCCESSFUL EVENTS!
SWIM set up a series of events to push out information to our members.
We partnered with the Grassroots Collaboration Project to present a "Forum on Michigan" featuring our Supreme Court candidates Justice Kyra Harris Bolden and Kimberly Ann Thomas.
We also hosted a Town Hall with our future Senator Elissa Slotkin and had a huge turnout! We thank all who attended and would love your feed back on this format. Please send your comments to info@statewideindivisiblemi.com.
Last but not least, SWIM with our partners at WAVE Michigan, using a GROW Grant from Indivisible National, put on a wildly successful Text-A-Palooza to Michigan women on the absentee voter list to make sure they vote! Join our Member Meeting, September 24 at 7pm to join the second Text-A-Palooza and help push us over 100,000 texts for this outreach!
CALLS TO ACTION
RUST BELT RISING VOTER REGISTRATION CHASE
We partnered with Rust Belt Rising's (RBR) innovative voter registration programs helping thousands of Great Lakes state residents register in 2020 and 2022 and will do so again this year. They will again be providing a program targeting Michigan.
How it works: RBR partners at Civitech identify people who would likely vote our way but are unregistered at their current address as they compare commercial mail lists and voter files (read more here). They will mail these targets a pre-filled voter registration form with a motivational flyer and postage to their clerk. That's where we come in. In addition to our texting them, we need volunteers to call these targets to encourage them to complete the easy process of registering. You can register here to join this important initiative.
VOLUNTEER BLUE OFFERS COACHING TO YOUR MEMBERS
Sign up for a 1-1 session with an Action Coach to start your volunteering journey! Action coaches help you find the right activities for your schedule and interests. When you sign up you’ll get a link to a zoom session with a coach (yes, a live person!) who will explain available activities and actions that you can do that can make a difference. They’ll work with you to pick activities that best fit your skills, interests and schedule and that are in the most important races in the country. Click here to sign up.
THIRD ACT MICHIGAN LOOKING FOR A FEW GOOD MEN AND WOMEN
Introducing THIRD ACT, a grassroots group of Elders (60+) who are committed to fighting for the environment and democracy. They are a national organization founded in 2021 by long-time environmentalists Bill McKibbon and Vanessa Arcaro. Since then about three dozen Working Groups have taken root across the country, including here in Michigan. Members of their working groups engage in the campaigns set forth by THIRD ACT national: Advancing Fossil Free Fuel Finance (AFFFF) , Powering up Communities (PUC) and Uplifting Voter Democracy (UVD). Recent local and national actions include protests against Big Oil and mobilization to support climate-conscious candidates as well as fair and accessible voting for all. If climate and voting accessibility are your passions, check them out here. Or email them at michigan@thirdact.org
MICHIGAN NEEDS MORE DEMOCRACY MVPS!
Become an Election Inspector!
Share this resource with your networks to make sure this election has enough poll workers to shut down claims of fraud! Working an election is the best way to understand how secure our process really is. Even Rs can learn things by doing this!
NEED HELP LEARNING ABOUT CANDIDATES?
It is often difficult to know who to vote for, especially in the down ballot races. Here are some of the voter guides available. Be aware that as of this writing, Michigan's Secretary of State webpage has not updated to the general election information yet, so some of these sources may as of yet be incomplete on their candidate listings!
Keep checking back!
NEED RECOMMENDATIONS ON WHERE TO DONATE MONEY TO CANDIDATES?
Our Protect the House and Flip the House candidates need your financial support and a donation right now is extremely important. Check out the Demcast Michigan's Protect the House and Flip the House candidates here.
Many of you are familiar with Jessica Craven's Chop Wood Carry Water newsletter. She has put together a list of strategic organizations she's vetted and deemed worthy of your donations. Check out her document here.
Jessica mentions Oath in her email and it is worthy of an extra look. We also learned about it from Rust Belt Rising. Oath is a one-stop shop for political giving that helps donors maximize their impact. Their platform allows donors to search for individual candidates by name or discover new candidates by issue or state. They rate each race using their proprietary Oath Impact Score which is determined by competitiveness, stakes, and financial need. Oath never takes a cut of any donation and never shares your personal contact information so you will never receive political spam. To learn more, please visit https://app.oath.vote/donor If you filter their search criteria with the word 'Michigan' the following recommendations come up: Kimberly Ann Thomas, Trevis Harrold, Nate Shannon, Jim Haadsma, Kyle Wright and Daniel Mahoney. Great resource to check out and to donate through!
INDIVISIBLE NATIONAL NEWS
INDIVISIBLE WOMEN WEDNESDAYS FOR HARRIS
Check out the new, weekly Women for Harris on Zoom. Every Wednesday, at 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm ET, now through the election, they’ll come together around the most urgent and effective ways you can take action. Let’s keep the momentum going until Kamala Harris is in the White House! Register here.
GREAT SCOTT TO THE RESCUE! CONTACT OUR INDIVISIBLE REGIONAL ORGANIZER FOR HELP, CONCERNS, IDEAS!!!
Scott Ickes with Indivisible National is the definition of a great Regional Organizer who works hard on our behalf. The next Statewide leader meeting with Scott will be October 22 at 7:00 (register here). You can access the full list of available resources here.
Reach out at scott@indivisible.org, with any questions you may have.
POSTCARD WRITERS UNITE!
POSTCARD ORGANIZATION OPPORTUNITIES
It is evident that postcarding is something all groups enjoy. Here is a list of other organizations providing postcard opportunities. There are some great postcards and materials available for order on line - check out here and here.
VOTE FORWARD
We all know how important it is to get "souls to the polls"! Vote Forward's data shows that letters can boost voter turnout by as much as 3.4% This is BIG! Want to become a writer? Vote Forward currently has campaigns in key states including Michigan. Sign up with Vote Forward's well-established campaign here.
RESOURCES TO AMPLIFY YOUR MESSAGING
PARTNER TOOL KITS
FREE ADS FOR DEMOCRATS AT trueblue24.com!!
You read that right! FREE ADS FOR DEMOCRATS at trueblue24.com with Winning Issues for Down-Ballot Dems! TrueBlue24 is offering free Democratic ads for campaign managers, candidates and politicians. These images are perfect for billboards, yard signs, and postcards. With over 80 ads, covering 15 decisive issues--from climate to gun safety--you're sure to find the message that resonates.
Copy digital files for social media directly from the TrueBlue24.com site. Files are also available for postcards, yard signs and billboards.
Share this free resource widely!
KEYBOARD WARRIORS NEEDED TO AMPLIFY ONE DEM MINUTE!
View and share these videos via YouTube link OR click "Download Video" for an .mp4 file that you can share to the social media platform of your choice. You can even embed the files into your emails, newsletters. etc. Share widely!
PROJECT 2025 IS THE REPUBLICAN MANIFESTO TO DESTROY DEMOCRACY! SPREAD THE WORD!
SWIM put together a list of resources, from deep dives to a 3 minute YouTube video and to TikTok created materials. You'll find all the info you need to teach your voters how important it is to defeat the Orange One in November and maintain global security! This is a living document and will continue to be updated.
IS YOUR GROUP LOOKING TO FORMALLY RECOMMEND CANDIDATES?
Indivisible Huron Valley has given a nod to "Blue Ribbon Candidates" for years. Avoiding a formal endorsement, this is a path for progressive groups to promote the best local candidates for their community. Check out their format here - they share because they care, so feel free to use and/or adapt!
ADD YOUR GROUP TO THE GRASSROOTS COLLABORATION PROJECT DIRECTORY
We've all been at that exhaustion point in the last 6 years; don't let it get to you this year - there's a lot to do! But let's work smarter, not harder. Collaboration is the key to getting many efforts off the ground and building effectiveness in what we do. Networking helps us achieve that. Sign on to the Grassroots Directory here and find other activists willing to help your project!
INDIVISIBLE'S NEW MEMBER PIPELINE
If you missed this in previous newsletters and emails, be sure to sign your group up for National's New Member Pipeline - easiest sign-up ever. National will forward contact info for folks in your zip code who have signed up with them. Do it today!
NOT SURE HOW TO PHRASE MESSAGING OUR VALUES?
Check out this Guide to Messaging Our Freedoms from We Make The Future and ASO Communications (Anat Shenkar-Osorio). They provide sample messages for a wide range of issues from our freedom to vote to our freedom to be our true selves.
And here is a link to Anat's latest toolkit: From the Indictments to the Courts: Freedom Over Fascism Toolkit!
USING THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA TO AMPLIFY GOOD NEWS
Use these terrific resources to pick up memes to spiff up your messages, use great .gifs in your newsletters and social media posts, and gather talking points for your discussions:
Into Action Labs allows you to download and add your own message(s).
MI Right to Read offers a toolkit of graphics.
Demcast Michigan has a wealth of rich, sharable content.
Field Team 6 takes the fear out of posting on social media with this fun video explaining simple step-by-step simple instructions to social storming - at whatever level you want to dive into! FT6 also has a Field Team 6 Current Storm page with prepared posts that can be one-click shared across many platforms.
Indivisible's Trainings-to-Go include materials such as slides, handouts, or discussion questions, as well as facilitation notes/directions for the person leading the space. Start with a pilot batch of 3 Trainings-to-Go: Recruitment 101, Indivisible 101, and Tools for Building Inclusive Groups - and more are coming! These are located in the Support Hub along with a lot more! Questions or suggestions can be sent to training@indivisible.org.
STAY CURRENT ON SWIM ACTIVITIES & PARTNER EVENTS
HERE ARE WAYS TO SHARE WITH YOUR NETWORK AND OTHERS:
Bookmark the Website: www.statewideindivisiblemi.com New events from SWIM and our partners are posted regularly! The website is designed to be a central repository of the resources and network partners that SWIM has amassed since 2016.
Members: Send us your announcements, events, photos or writings here! We need to share our successes!
Follow us on Facebook: SWIM private group is open to all interested members. Simply answer a few simple questions on the page and you are in! This is a great way to keep current on events and issues in between newsletters. This is the sole Facebook page for SWIM so join the group today-our past public page has been archived.
Follow SWIM on X (Twitter) @SWIMIndivisible and Instagram at Statewide indivisible Michigan: We are always looking for members with experience on alternative social media platforms, so if you are familiar with Threads, Mastodon, WhatsApp, TikTok, Tribel, Post, etc. please contact our SWIM social media maven Vickie Gutowski at info@statewideindivisiblemi.com
STAY IN CONTACT WITH YOUR GOVERNMENT REPS!
Contact Michigan House of Representatives: https://www.house.mi.gov/AllRepresentatives
Contact Michigan State Senate: https://senate.michigan.gov/FindYOurSenator/
Contact the Governor:
Phone: 517-335-7858
Mail: PO Box 30013; Lansing, MI 48909
Contact the Attorney General:
MI Portal: https://www.michigan.gov/ag
Email: miag@michigan.gov
Phone: 517-335-7622
Mail: 525 W. Ottawa St. PO Box 30212; Lansing, MI 48909
Contact Members of Congress:
Phone: 202-224-3121
Senators: https://www.senate.gov/senators/
Using Fax Zero (a free faxing service):
Senators: https://faxzero.com/fax_senate.php
Representatives: https://faxzero.com/fax_congress.php
Contact White House or Other Federal Agencies: usa.gov/federal-agencies
GET INVOLVED
in any and every way that you can!
Comments