There are countless reports and think pieces out there about why and how we must reform the Democratic Party. Today, Movement Voter PAC (MVP) is putting our money where our mouth is.
We are announcing an initial $1 million investment in an eight-part agenda to reform the Democratic Party, as part of a $50 million commitment in political funds over the next three years to community organizations to build a winning Democratic majority.
Here is the 8-part action plan:
- Restore trust by rebuilding the party from the ground up.
- End corruption in the party broadly, and the consultant class specifically.
- Serve communities directly with material help.
- Win the narrative with a bold economic vision and a modern media strategy.
- Prioritize Gen Z as majority-making voters and leaders, including non-college youth.
- Level up the ground game and take back the tech stack.
- Lead on structural reforms to unrig our political system.
- Maximize collaboration with outside, bottom-up efforts.
Since 2016, MVP has helped tens of thousands of donors move tens of millions of dollars to support over 600 year-round organizations in 45 states. After the 2024 elections, it was clear that a successful outside game depends on a strong inside game. We can fund the best local organizers in Arizona or Ohio, and it will not be enough if the official party structures they interact with run on outdated rules, get fleeced by consultants, or do not reflect the people they represent.
A successful outside game depends on a strong inside game.
We didn’t set out to do an “autopsy.” But we did quietly spend nearly a year having over 100 in-depth conversations across the Democratic ecosystem, surveying 250 donors in our community, holding a lively panel at Netroots Nation, kicking the tires with subject matter experts, and eventually discussing our findings with Democratic National Committee (DNC) leadership.
In so many ways, insiders and outsiders alike agree that the corrupting influence of money and selfish interests has hollowed out the Democratic Party, undermined trust in the party brand, and depleted the goodwill of Democratic voters and donors — leaving the door open for demagogic charlatans to seize power. Too often, the Democratic Party feels like a technocratic, top-down, money-driven racket instead of a people-powered, mission-driven vehicle to improve our country.
So we wanted to understand what we could realistically do to fix it.
The good news: Leaders across the party, from county chairs to campaign managers to donors to digital organizers, are far more aligned than not — even across lines of ideology. Almost everyone we talked to emphasized the need for fundamental changes in how the Democratic Party operates.
Leaders across the party are far more aligned than not.
To complement our qualitative research, we also partnered with Data for Progress to poll Democratic and independent voters (whose views largely reflected what we heard in our interviews) and gained empirical validation that there is strong support to make these changes.
What surprised us most throughout our research was how many people shared appreciation that MVP, as an outside entity, was leading this effort. Many insiders strongly urged us to keep going.
After much listening and synthesizing, we now have a modest three-part plan:
- Catalyze solution-oriented discussions — starting with this report.
- Fund leaders and groups working on the eight solutions in the report.
- Organize toward a Reform Agenda over the next three years.
We are starting a three-year initiative to invest in the unglamorous but necessary work of reforming and improving the Democratic Party.
We will continue to invest the vast majority of our funding in grassroots organizing, media, and outside strategies for change. But we are officially starting a special three-year initiative to invest in the unglamorous but necessary work of reforming and improving the Democratic Party. This report is a first step — to be followed by a series of actionable conversations and strategic grants.
We learned the hard way in 2024 that responsibility for the success of the Democratic Party is all of ours, whether we like it or not.
We invite you to join us in supporting and pushing the Democratic Party to improve as a vehicle for defeating authoritarianism — and for advancing a hopeful new era in which everyone can flourish.
Read the full report here.
