Our Impact in 2023

2023: A Good Year for Democracy

From a modest beginning in 2017, when ten people gathered at a dining room table in Northwest Washington DC, NOPE has grown to 3,000 members across the country – adding 400 new members in 2023 alone. We are proud of the impact our volunteering and fundraising has had in defending democracy and electing Democrats up and down the ballot.

Even in the “off-year” of 2023, we worked strategically to partner with grassroots organizers and win elections. After a quick campaign in the battleground state of Wisconsin, we went all-in for the important state legislative elections in Virginia, our neighbor across the Potomac. We donated, volunteered and partnered with loclal grassroots organizers.

Victory in Virginia

Build momentum for 2024 and prevent Virginia from becoming a battleground state.
Preserve rights for Virginians by stopping conservatives from rolling back abortion rights, environmental protections, sensible gun controls, and access to the polls.
Derail Governor Glenn Youngkin’s 2024 Presidential aspirations.

We supported a carefully vetted slate of 12 Democratic candidates and 2 grassroots organizing partners. NOPE members donated, canvassed, called, wrote letters and cured defective ballots. Our grassroots partners knocked on over 277,000 doors. And our efforts paid off. Democrats held the VA Senate and flipped the VA House. Nine out of the twelve candidates that we supported won their races.

Winning in Wisconsin

In January 2023 we jumped into the April 4 election for the Wisconsin Supreme Court, where electing a progressive judge in a critical battleground state could impact rulings on abortion rights, voting rights, redistricting and the legitimacy of the 2024 election results.

NOPE members contributed to the victory of progressive Juge Janet Protasiewica by donating, making phone calls, writing and helping to “cure” flawed mail-in ballots. This flipped the balance of the court with tangible results — in December 2023 the Court mandated redistricting after rejecting Republican-drawn legislative maps.

Meetings Report

Our large Zoom meetings are our flagship organizing tool. Through our meetings we raise funds, recruit and engage volunteers, and motivate attendees to stay in the fight, regardless of the headlines and the polls.

Our guest speakers inspire and educate. In 2023 they included Senator Tammy Baldwin (WI), Senator Tim Kaine (VA), and Congresswoman (and now gubernatorial candidate) Abigail Spanberger (VA). At the height of the campaign season we were so close to the action that two of our speakers called in from their cars while out on the campaign trail.

Our meetings also included dynamic speakers from our grassroots partners in Wisconsin and Virginia, and we finished the year with thoughtful analysis and words of encouragement from analyst Simon Rosenberg of Hopium Chronicles.

Fundraising Report

Since 2017 our all-volunteer team has raised $3.5 million to keep our democracy strong. Starting in 2021, our primary focus has been directing funds to grassroots organizing partners. These groups work year-round in communities of color, forming relationships that engage and empower community members and turn out voters on Election Day. Their role is crucial. Democrats cannot win without voters of color.

In 2023 our donors contributed over $400,000, directing two-thirds of their donations to grassroots partners and one-third to candidates.

To improve support for our partners, we promoted recurring monthly donations that allow these groups to hire and make long-term plans. We also improved and promoted opportunities for charitable giving to our partners’ community engagement affiliates, which support efforts like voter registration.

Volunteering Report

canvassing

More than fifty NOPE volunteers collectively donated 157 days to knock on more than 6,000 doors to support Democratic House and Senate candidates in Virginia. We strategically focused on candidates in close races where our face-to-face conversations with voters would make the most difference, canvassing for seven candidates in the Northern Virginia, Richmond and Virginia Beach areas. Four of these candidates won their seats – contributing significantly to flipping the Virginia House and keeping the Virginia Senate blue.

democracy writers

In 2023 NOPE’s Democracy Writers surpassed their goal of writing 2,500 letters to get the vote out for Virginia’s state legislative elections. Joining forces with Vote Forward and our local partner Silver Spring Progressive Action, our team of nearly 80 writers worked both from home and in person, meeting in person for two community-building write-a-thon sessions. Earlier in the year we also wrote letters urging WI voters to vote in the state’s Supreme Court race election.

phonebanking

NOPE volunteers hit the phones to get the vote out for seven Virginia statehouse candidates. Our small-but-mighty crew of over two dozen callers joined with Silver Spring Progressive Action to make over 12,000 calls. NOPE also worked with SSPA in January to help flip a vacated Virginia State Senate seat to blue in January. And we pitched in to make calls for the successful campaign of Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Janet Protasiewicz.

voter protection

In 2023 NOPE volunteers worked with VoPro Pros, a well-regarded, national, all-volunteer group that focuses on voter protection. In Virginia we worked to cure ballots - helping voters fix defects that would prevent their votes from being counted. VoPro Pros staffed 39 public phone banks with 560 volunteers who made over 10,000 calls and sent 8,000 text messages to voters with defective ballots. More than 3,000 ballots were cured. Some 36 NOPE folks joined these efforts.

Friendraising Report

In 2023 we launched a new initiative to introduce friends and family to NOPE and to foster community within our organization. Our goals were to increase our membership, expand our national reach, and multiply our ability to defend democracy. As a result, we added more than 400 new members in an “off year” when many political organizations like ours lost members. We credit our success to the extraordinary efforts of NOPE members, who spread the word - one person at a time. It’s also due to our hard-working, friendly leaders, who welcome all comers. They even provide homemade brownies for canvassing volunteers!

Moving Forward to 2024

We’ll be working in seven battleground states to support candidates up and down the ballot, with a priority on partnering with grassroots groups to empower and turn out voters of color. Democrats have consistently been winning since 2017, especially against MAGA-supported candidates. We plan to do it again in 2024.

Acknowledgements

We thank every NOPE supporter who donated, canvassed, called, wrote and volunteered behind the scenes to keep our organization going. Our growth and success this year and since 2017 has been made possible by our outstanding leadership team and our dedication to our mission: defending democracy by supporting Democratic candidates, partnering with grassroots groups and protecting voting rights in battleground states.