📚 The Democratic Fundraising Split | Digging into the Data 💸

Welcome back! 👋🏼

Congratulations to everyone who survived Giving Tuesday! Have you taken a moment to celebrate? 🥳

No, really? Have you celebrated the hard work you've put in this year to create positive change for people and planet? Most of us "forget" to celebrate after big efforts. I know I fall into this trap. Urgency culture convinces us to jump to the next thing.

But that is a road to burnout. So, I want to take a moment to celebrate you and all of your accomplishments this year! Crank up the volume if you're alone or pop in your headphones and take 3 minutes to shimmy, shake, and thank yourself. You're still here and doing the work and that's a big thing.

Today, we're touching on audience segmentation. Specifically, how macro research sources can be powerful insights for your organization and cause. Read on for more...

In corporate marketing, companies can hire global advertising agencies to research and know their target audience intimately. They invest in millions of dollars of research and analytics to know exactly why Sheryl wants to buy Charmin instead of Angel Soft. (I'm a ​Who Gives a Crap​ fan, myself)

Non-profits, campaigns, and grassroots organizations simply don't have the funds for that kind of deep audience research. So where do you go for the macro insights that give your organization a picture of social trends and audience behavior?

Why not try research about Democrats? Understanding how this segment is feeling, thinking about issues, and how they're using technology and media, can give you a unique insight into people who are more likely to support progressive causes. Click on the video below for more insights into the why, how, and what of using political data for audience insights to apply to your communications strategy. And scroll down to Getting to the Roots for more research.

• 🔬 ​Research​ The top two research sources I would recommend for social change organizations is ​Pew Research Center​ and ​Data for Progress​.
• 📖 ​Read​ M+R's hot takes on this year's Giving Tuesday fundraising trends. It could be a hopeful note for 2024 that this year's fundraising seems to be generally up!
• 🤓 ​Read​ Not to be alarmist, but the fundraising dip in progressive organizing is clear and a big iceberg ahead. If the trend continues, it will hurt our collective ability to amplify and advance a progressive narrative during an election year.
• 📗 ​Dive into​ Middle Seat Consulting's research on 2023 donor trends. Key takeaway is campaign fundraising continues to fall short of expectations.
• 👯‍♀️ ​Get​ our audience segmentation guide. For only $35, '​Finding Your Audience & Segments: A Guide for Non-Profits​' includes a guide and a self-guided worksheet to craft your unique audiences.

And that's a wrap on this week’s newsletter! We hope you found this newsletter helpful in your work. If you have any topics you want covered or have any questions, please ​reach out​ to let us know.

In Solidarity,
Sam Chavez
Roots of Change Founder

About Us

The Roots of Change Agency was founded to support nonprofits, campaigns, and activists to avoid burnout and tell empathetic stories to cultivate connections that empower social change. We were officially founded in 2020.