Stacy Kramer: Why Grassroots Giving Will Save Democracy

This episode features Stacy Kramer who first came on the podcast two years ago as a newly activated Democratic fundraiser who was making fundraising more Democratic. But after the disappointing down ballot results for Democrats in 2020, she took a hard look at what had gone wrong and realized that giving large amounts of money directly to candidates and campaigns is not a winning strategy. Now she has changed activist gears and is a consultant at Blueprint, a division of the political action group Swing Left. At Blueprint, Stacy is dedicating her time to building up local grassroots civics groups in order to build Democratic infrastructure so that Democrats can win. Stacy and Nancy talk about the law of diminishing returns when it comes to campaign giving, how Republicans have been successfully cultivating the grassroots for decades, and the expertise that Blueprint provides, giving donors the assurance that their gifts will have maximum impact. To learn more about Blueprint, go to blueprint.swingleft.org or email Stacy at [email protected] talks about the following resources on the podcast:The Losing Democrats who Gobbled Up Money by Michael Sokolove in The New RepublicKyle Spencer’s book Raising Them Right: The Untold Story of America's Ultraconservative Youth Movement--and Its Plot for Power will be published in the fall.