It’s been rare in recent years for the U.S. president’s party to hold onto power after the first two years in office. We saw this in 2010, when the Democrats lost their supermajority in Congress two years after President Obama’s election in 2008, and again in 2018, when the so-called “blue wave” propelled Democrats to a majority over Republicans in the House following President Donald Trump’s election two years earlier. If these historical trends hold, Democrats are likely to lose ground this November.
One funder, however, is looking to make sure that doesn’t happen. Way to Win is an LLC umbrella and donor collaborative dedicated to building progressive power. Philanthropy is on the menu at Way to Win, but so is overtly political funding. That’s because it works through three vehicles — Way to Rise, a donor-advised 501(c)(3) fund housed at Amalgamated Foundation; Way to Win Action, a 501(c)(4); and Way to Lead, a hybrid PAC that operates independently of Way to Win and works to support progressive candidates in several key states.
Founded in 2018, Way to Win moved more than $110 million during the 2019–2020 election cycle, with about 85% of that funding going to state programs, including some of the organizations that have been widely credited for helping to flip Arizona and Georgia blue in 2020 — places like Living United for Change in Arizona (LUCHA) and New Georgia Project. Building on its previous work and the strategies it developed in 2021, Way to Win has announced a new $12 million effort in the Sun Belt ahead of this year’s midterm elections.
Last year, Way to Win raised a total of $36 million and spent $18 million. Its co-founder, president and CEO Tory Gavito, however, estimates the scale of need across key states at more than $200 million. That number reflects what Way to Win has given in the past to the strongest state-based organizers working to build a multiracial democracy, according to Gavito. Way to Win is seeking to raise an additional $120 million before the midterms.
Way to Win’s donor community is made up of about 200 individual and institutional donors, as well as political donors who also give philanthropically. Gavito hopes that by sharing its strategies, Way to Win can catalyze greater giving across philanthropy.
“At the end of the day, to protect and heal our democracy, we need a scale of resources that meets the moment,” Gavito said. “Way to Win is a key player, but we’re not going to be able to do it alone. Other institutions and philanthropy are key players, but they can’t do it alone. The more we share out the direction we’ve been heading and the more we’re transparent about that, the more we can work in collaboration.”
Strategies and spending in 2021
As a window into its strategy ahead of the midterms this year, how, exactly, did Way to Win spend its money in 2021? For Way to Win, the most effective way to build progressive infrastructure is to break the “boom and bust” cycle of democracy spending. In other words, rather than only funding organizations during election years, Way to Win offers continuous support.
“If you look at funding materials, there are giant booms in on-cycle years, particularly in the democracy space, where folks are scaling registration efforts or mobilizations efforts, and it requires a ton of resources,” Gavito said. “Then all of that shrinks down to a very small bit of resources to help people, and then they’re expected to scale it all back up again in two years.”
Way to Win wanted to make certain that the organizations that carried out key organizing and voter engagement work in 2020 had the necessary resources to continue their work in 2021 and be prepared for 2022. In its 2021 audit report, Way to Win outlined its “Plan to Govern,” what it calls its “north star” for the year, which was made up of three pillars: (1) policy to improve lives, (2) narrative and messaging, and (3) preparing for 2022.
“We focused on lobbying for progressive policies by following movement leaders and funding their coalition plans,” Gavito wrote in the report. “We created better narrative strategies and funded new narrative ecosystems from the state up, and worked with specific constituencies like the Latino community to get in front of the right’s sharpest tool — using race to divide us.”
Crucial to Way to Win’s work has been its Midterm Message Project, which used research to create a messaging roadmap for Democrats in 2022, emphasizing the Democratic Party’s accomplishments. Additionally, Way to Win also created Data to Win, partnering with more than 30 organizations to review voter data from the previous election to understand what worked and what didn’t. Way to Win will also serve as a “space to build a data community and break down silos across national and in-state groups… to develop and implement data solutions across the sector,” the report noted. This, in turn, will allow Way to Win to track data needs, fill funding gaps and catalyze greater funding.
Research partners for Data to Win include AdImpact, Data for Progress, Equis Labs, Public Wise and TargetSmart.
Way to Win’s spending in 2021 totaled $18,217,437. A breakdown of its spending by vehicle is as follows: 501(c)(3) spending was $6,793,750; 501(c)(4) spending was $10,508,100; and PAC spending was $735,587. In total, it supported 99 state and 57 national organizations. Broken down by pillar, that’s $7,149,250 for policy work, $2,165,000 for narrative and messaging work, $7,584,500 to prepare for 2022, and $1,318,687 in other work.
Consistent funding
In 2021, Way to Win funded 156 organizations across its three vehicles. Its 501(c)(3) grantees include the Arizona Center for Empowerment (ACE), Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, Black Voters Matter, Equis Labs, New Georgia Project, Run for Something, One Arizona and More Perfect Union.
Another 501(c)(3) it’s backing is United We Dream, a leading immigrant-led organization in the U.S. that fights for the rights of immigrants and people of color. United We Dream’s work has been crucial in recent years, both in pushing for the creation of DACA during the Obama administration and in defending DACA during the Trump administration.
United We Dream has also impacted elections, running digital and on-the-ground campaigns to reach low-propensity voters in states like Texas, Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and California.
“The partnership [with Way to Win] played a pivotal role in our 2020 work,” said Juanita Monsalve, United We Dream’s senior marketing and creative director. “We were able to contribute to help grow a multiracial coalition of voters that needed to mobilize, and we engaged them through culturally competent outreach that provided our community with the information they needed to assert their right to vote.”
In addition, United We Dream continued its work to combat misinformation in immigrant communities. “Through the support of Way to Win, we were able to build anti-misinformation campaigns that ensured that immigrant communities, including Spanish-speaking communities, know how to vote both by mail and in person,” Monsalve said.
In 2022, United We Dream is looking to protect and expand progressive power while combating voter suppression across the country. “For us, 2022 is not only about 2022. It’s about looking into what’s coming in 2024, as well,” Monsalve said.
On the political funding side, Way to Win has also supported the Working Families Party (WFP), a multiracial grassroots organization that recruits, trains and elects next-generation leaders across the U.S. WFP is active in all types of elections, big and small, from school board races to U.S. Senate contests.
“We have been very intentional about building a multiracial grassroots movement that includes working-class folks, that includes folks in rural and in the major metropolitan hubs across the state, and really focusing on how we build power,” said WFP’s Southeast Regional Director Britney Whaley.
For WFP, the work doesn’t end on election day. Instead, it looks to continue to support its candidates in office and co-govern alongside them.
“We really think about co-governing, what it means to open up government for people and make sure that we’re using our government and using our positions and using the power that we are building to change material conditions of folks who are really struggling,” Whaley said.
According to Whaley, WFP places a premium on understanding the concerns of the community. After engaging in meetings with residents, WFP then vets candidates to ensure their stances line up with issues the community expressed. “Our North Star is to grow our governing power to get people elected who will unapologetically represent the interests of multiracial working class people,” Whaley said.
Whaley added that there is no off-season when it comes to building power. For WFP, like for Way to Win, the work must be done 365 days a year, every year.
Supporting a diverse coalition
One of Way to Win’s guiding beliefs is that a diverse coalition of voters is needed to ensure that democracy works for everyone, not just a specific subset of the population. While Democrats traditionally concentrate their electoral work on states where white swing voters may make the most difference, Way to Win was ahead of the curve in its recognition of an emergent “new South” in states like Arizona and Georgia. This paved the way for historic wins in 2020.
Gavito noted the large influx of people moving into states like Arizona and North Carolina, which far exceeds the number moving into coastal regions and traditional battleground states like Michigan and Wisconsin.
“I felt that there was a gap in what philanthropy was doing and felt like, frankly, they were leaving power on the table by not thinking about Democratic demographic changes in the South and Southwest,” Gavito said.
Ahead of this year’s midterm election, Way to Win will build on its Plan to Govern and focus on key battlegrounds in the Sun Belt. Way to Win’s anchor states are Arizona, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada and Texas. They’ll receive the most funding and capacity-building support in 2022 and remain a priority through 2024. “Cycle opportunity” states, which Way to Win considers just as important to the 2022 midterms, are Missouri, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Way to Win is also beginning to build infrastructure in states that it believes will be critical battlegrounds in the future. These are Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina.
“Democrats can no longer only prioritize high-frequency voters that traditional campaigns often covet without also focusing on high-potential voters with the same level of commitment,” the report noted.
In addition to its focus on the Sun Belt, Way to Win is also employing other strategies to support progressives ahead of the midterms. These include early advertising to create more favorable ground for candidates and the Midterm Message Project, leveraging data to help Democrats better tailor their messaging to persuade voters and take on manufactured issues like critical race theory.
Both in the Sun Belt and elsewhere, getting the message across will be crucial if Democrats hope to stave off a midterm pounding. Numerous polls show Democrats struggling to make progressive messages stick among voters of color (and voters in general), a phenomenon that threatens to erode perceived progressive gains in Southern states and other Republican strongholds. Meanwhile, the debate over the politicization of philanthropy continues — on both sides of the aisle — as do debates over the influence big donors exert on the public sphere.
For Way to Win, being open about its funding strategies in 2021 and 2022 is crucial, as a way to inspire trust and encourage philanthropic leaders to support mobilizing a multiracial coalition of voters.
Monsalve echoed this sentiment. “I think that… having these conversations about philanthropy and the way in which philanthropy shows up is extremely important to building power for communities,” Monsalve said. “I’m hopeful that this conversation about both the massive need ahead of the midterms, but also the massive need for long-term movement-building, inspires other people in the philanthropy world to be transparent and to be accountable to the movement and to the people.”
