If money talks, Tennessee’s progressive bloggers have found their voice!
This week, we planned and launched a surprise fundraiser for the Tennessee Democratic Party (and it’s kick-ass new chair Chip Forrester).
No one at the state party had advance notice what we were doing. But believe me, they noticed pretty damn fast once it launched!
We beat the absolute hell out of our fundraising goal – and it’s not too late to donate over at ActBlue if you want to support the cause.
We hope this will serve as an inspiration and template for regional bloggers throughout the country. This is stunning success and proof that local blogs can make a real-world impact! Check out the victory press release we just sent to the media all across Tennessee below.
Congrats to R. Neal at Knoxviews.com for coming up with the surprise fundraiser and making it happen!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOGGERS SHATTER GOAL FOR ONLINE FUNDRAISER
Online Progressive Movement Declares Victory after Tripling Original Target
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 6, 2009) — Progressive bloggers hit their target not once, not twice, but three times in a surprise online fundraiser this week. Today is the final day of the "Chip In!" campaign which has raised $3,515 so far, and the dollar amount is still growing.
The fundraiser benefits the Tennessee Democratic Party and its new chairman Chip Forrester, although neither Forrester nor the party was notified of the effort in advance and played no part in its planning. Instead, the campaign was the brainchild of blogger R. Neal of KnoxViews.com, who recruited more than a dozen other progressive bloggers to join in. The effort was conceived and launched in less than 24 hours, demonstrating the speed of online communications in politics today.
The "Chip In!" campaign hit the Internet at 8:00 am Wednesday with a goal of $1,000. By 12:20 pm, that number was in the rearview mirror and the bloggers doubled their expectations to $2,000. Less than four hours later, they had reached the new goal as well. At that point, the group decided on a $3,000 goal and a 5:00 pm Friday deadline.
By Friday morning, the bloggers were well over $3,000 with donations continuing to roll in. The popularity of the effort is raising eyebrows inside the Tennessee Democratic Party and across the state. "We got their attention, that’s for sure," said campaign organizer R. Neal. "We’ve proven to the skeptics that Tennessee’s progressive bloggers have the audience and the influence to make a tangible difference in the real world. And believe me, this is just the beginning."
In a response to the "Chip In!" campaign posted on KnoxViews.com, Chip Forrester said, "From the beneficiary of this effort, on behalf of the Party, let me give you my heartfelt thanks for doing this. This effort will allow us to, 1) expand the base of the Democratic Party in Tennessee and 2) involve a whole new group of donors in our efforts to Take Back the House in 2010. My deepest thanks for this."
In order to track donations to the Tennessee Democratic Party that are raised through the "Chip In!" campaign, the bloggers have established a donations page at the website ActBlue.com. To take part in the campaign, you can visit any of these Tennessee blogs:
RussMcBee.com
NewsComa.com
LeftWingCracker.blogspot.com
CupOfJoePowell.blogspot.com
Goldni.blogspot.com
Vibincblog.com
RoaneViews.com
Nashville21.com
ProgressiveNashville.com
SharonCobb.blogspot.com
KnoxViews.com
BlountViews.com
WhitesCreek.blogspot.com
BrianArner.com
PlanetRye.blogspot.com
# # #