Are donations close to or after Election Day still helpful?

Are donations close to Election Day still helpful? Yes, unequivocally.

What about after Election Day? Yes, absolutely.

How quickly does MVP regrant to groups? In the final lead-up to an election, weekly and sometimes daily — even weekends (thanks to our stellar Operations Team!).

Early, year-round, and multiyear funding is always best. But gifts in the final weeks and days before Election Day, and in the weeks after it, still make a real difference for the organizations doing the work on the ground. Here are the details.

Where should I give close to Election Day?

One of the simplest options is to give to MVP, which works like a "mutual fund" for political giving. We’ll move your gift to the field according to our electoral strategy, fine-tuned to fund organizations working in the races that matter most and where the money will go the farthest, from the top of the ticket to downballot.

How quickly does MVP get money to the field?

In the final months before Election Day, we switch from monthly to weekly grantmaking approval meetings, often moving money to our partners nearly every day.

Can “late money” really still affect election outcomes?

Yes. The local electoral field is chronically underfunded, and the stakes are high every cycle. Our partners need last-minute funding for:

• Covering final costs to turn out every last vote. Groups often take on preelection costs that they have to cover after the election. For example, they scale up their door-to-door canvass so they can make multiple passes through their full universe of target voters.
• Protecting the results and making sure every vote counts. Winning an election doesn’t end on Election Day. In the face of voter suppression, threats of political violence, and organized election denial, partners pivot from persuasion and mobilization to election protection. That includes ballot curing (helping voters fix simple errors that would otherwise disqualify their ballots), defending vote certification, and organizing public shows of support for the results.

Our partners take real risks to win, sometimes drawing down precious reserves to do it. After Election Day, they’re on the hook for those risks. When we help cover those costs, they can go all out when it counts.

Is it too late to give after Election Day?

No. A gift the day after the election, or the month after, is crucial for funding the work ahead. Win or lose, candidate campaigns pack up their boxes after Election Day. Local organizing groups don’t. They’re still in their communities the next morning, and they need funding for:

• Counting the vote. In some close races, the work continues for days or weeks: ballot curing (helping voters correct ballot errors that would disqualify their vote), tracking provisional ballots, and mobilizing public support to count every vote and certify the results.
• Runoffs and recounts. Some races aren’t decided in November. Groups need resources to stay strong as they head into "overtime."
• Covering costs from the final push. Sometimes GOTV expenses come due after polls close. Postelection funding helps partners close out the cycle without draining reserves.
• Keeping staff and momentum. Too many groups are forced to lay off good organizers after Election Day, then rebuild from scratch the next cycle. Steady funding keeps staffing consistent.
• Seizing the governing window. The first months of a new legislative term are often the best chance to win the most consequential policy changes. Our partners need to be ready to hold newly elected and reelected officials to their promises from day one.
• Getting ready for the next election. Elections happen every year, including odd-numbered years, special elections, and local races. Postelection donations help partners learn lessons from this cycle and put those insights into action for the next.

When you give to local organizing, your dollars have a long tail of impact, whatever the results. Election Day is an inflection point, not the end point, in the long arc of change. For more on why, see Why not just give to candidates?.

What is the goal of year-round giving?

We envision a thriving field of local, state, and multistate voter organizing groups that are fully funded and working at their highest potential, year-round, year after year. Getting there means changing the culture of political giving and philanthropy.

The money is out there. Americans give hundreds of billions of dollars to charity every year, and much of it comes from people who vote for Democrats. That’s many times what goes to local organizing, advocacy, and voter engagement. If Democratic-leaning donors shifted even 1-2% of their charitable giving, the field would have the resources it needs, every cycle.

Whether it’s the week before Election Day or the weeks and months after, your gift helps the most effective organizing groups win in the most critical places, make sure every vote counts, and build power that lasts and grows.