Earlier this year, donors Sam McVeety and Jordan Goldwarg decided to make their biggest donation to MVP yet — 20 times their previous donation amount. Whether donating $100, $1,000, or $1 million, we always want to know what motivates our donors, so we asked Sam to share his story. Read on to find out what led him to MVP and why he and his husband knew they had to invest big this year.
A government that works for everyone
Building a government for the people, by the people, has always been close to my heart. My mother spent her career working to make workplaces safer after unions fought for and won these protections through government oversight. My father is a teacher, like his mother before him, with an enduring belief in the power of education to transform lives and communities.
My upbringing instilled in me an orientation towards justice and equity. I watched my parents do the big and little things to make other people’s lives easier and safer, harnessing the power of government to work for people and filling in the gaps when it didn’t.
Despite holding many privileged identities, I have still come face-to-face with the precarity of a government that not only isn’t working for us — it’s actively causing harm. I remember anxiously awaiting the fate of the Defense of Marriage Act as it wended through the courts, waiting to see if my (Canadian) husband would be allowed to stay in the country where he had resided for more than ten years. As a Minnesotan by birth, I watched earlier this year — as so many of us did — weaponized federal agencies unleash misery upon friends and neighbors, merely because of the color of their skin or their country of origin.
We need a government that is responsive to the people. That is what drew me to MVP.
We all know the horrors of the past two years. Many of us have been fighting against these horrors in our own ways — marches, rallies, mutual aid, and community organizing.
These efforts are critical because, if we are to realize a society where everyone can thrive, we need a government that is responsive to the people. That is what drew me to MVP.
Change can’t happen without people power
MVP doesn't focus on engaging voters in a single election, but takes the long view of how we can support and amplify community power over time. MVP and its partners understand: Change can’t happen without people power.
Here in Washington State, I'm grateful for people-powered organizations like Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network, Rural People's Voice, and Firelands that engage community members year-round to understand their needs, develop issue-based campaigns, and shape policy advocacy accordingly.
MVP’s on-the-ground partners have the same vision, drive, values alignment, and strategic acumen. When I learned about Up North Advocacy in Michigan and Down Home North Carolina, I was inspired by their locally rooted organizing that brings regular people into civic participation by listening to their concerns and the solutions they want to see, then mobilizing them to make their voices heard in the streets, at state legislatures, and at the ballot box.
My investment in MVP is an investment in exactly what these organizations do best: build power with communities most impacted by injustice and inequality so they can play an active role in change-making that directly improves their lives.
My investment in MVP is an investment in exactly what these organizations do best: build power with communities most impacted by injustice and inequality.
With momentum behind big ideas for change, we’ve seen that people want a society that works for everyone, not just a small few. They want clean air and water and to feel safe sending their kids to school. They want to be able to afford housing, groceries, and gas — not be forced to choose which necessities to pay for. Through state referendums and other local victories, we've seen that people want livable wages, universal healthcare, and educational pathways that are accessible to everyone.
Delivering these kinds of policies requires organizing communities to turn out at election time and demand accountability from leaders at every level. It requires making our voices heard on November 3, 2026, and being ready to organize and advocate on January 3, 2027.
We've seen what can happen when people organize for change: Minimum wage laws across the country are improving people's lives with every paycheck; domestic workers are finally receiving the same protections as other professions after decades of exclusion; and state and local governments are ending agreements with ICE, putting restrictions on data centers, and standing up to unfair gerrymandering. MVP and its partners are helping us notch these wins where we can, while building toward durable power in communities across the country.
2026: The year to go big
I’ve always been involved in organizing and politics, but under the second Trump administration, that involvement became a necessity. The destructive chaos of the federal administration has resulted in harm that will take a huge amount of work to remedy, but we're not fighting for a return to the status quo. We can't go back.
That’s why 2026 has been the year for us to go big. As supporters of MVP for the past several years, we knew that the model — year-round organizing for meaningful change — works, and that even with seemingly insurmountable obstacles, we can and must still address the immediate threats while building for the long term.
My husband and I decided to make our biggest donation yet — 20 times our previous investment — to MVP earlier this year. We knew that with every day that passed, MVP’s partners were missing opportunities to organize the people who must be part of turning our country around. We translated that urgency into making our contribution as soon as we could, to get as much funding to frontline organizations as soon as possible.
We need to not only demonstrate our power in 2026, but also be ready for 2027 and 2028, through early and ongoing investment in communities and organizing infrastructure.
Giving now still has a huge impact
With just two weeks to go until Election Day, you may be thinking that your donation right now won’t make an impact, but it will.
You may be thinking that your donation right now won’t make an impact, but it will.
MVP partners have canvassers ready to knock more doors, hit more campuses, and talk to more voters — if they have the funds. Big or small, whatever you give now helps MVP partners get over the midterms finish line and be ready for 2027.
I’m grateful to be part of this work, and I hope you’ll join me in investing in MVP, its partners, and the future of our country.
