For Immediate Release
November 22, 2023
[email protected]
New Georgia Project Action Fund Launches “Thank You, Georgia” Campaign to Educate Voters and Build Power Ahead of 2024
(Atlanta, GA) — In 2020 and the years since, Black Georgia voters have shown up at the polls in unprecedented numbers, turning Georgia purple and reimagining a world of progressive possibilities in the South. Now less than one year out from another crucial presidential election, with national polls drawing increased attention to a divided electorate in key swing states, New Georgia Project Action Fund (NGPAF) has set out on a mission to remind Black Georgia voters of their power. The “Thank You, Georgia” campaign, launching this Thanksgiving, is a groundbreaking field and messaging effort to educate Black Georgians on the positive impacts and outcomes of their votes in 2020. The campaign will employ a multifaceted approach, combining research-informed digital messages and stories with face-to-face conversations with voters on the ground. By year-end, NGPAF has a goal of knocking 100,000 doors to thank voters for voting in 2020 and share with them the tremendous impact they have made.
“We talk with Black Georgians every day. Those conversations have made abundantly clear that the Biden administration has a messaging problem,” says Kendra Cotton, CEO of New Georgia Project Action Fund. “Our research shows that Black Georgia voters are motivated by knowledge of what their elected leaders have done for them lately—what tangible impact has been made in their communities. That is how they define political power. And, right now, their perception of power is down. While the Biden administration has made significant progress on issues like access to affordable healthcare and good paying jobs—issues Black Georgians tell us matter to them—these wins are not being effectively communicated to voters. So, New Georgia Project Action Fund is staging a narrative intervention.”
In October 2023, NGPAF affiliate New Georgia Project completed a survey of over 1,000 Black Georgia voters. The survey finds that perceptions of power have decreased from 70 percent in 2022 to 59 percent this year. However, after delivering test messages to participants, 41 percent shifted towards feeling like their vote was more powerful. That drastic of a jump over the course of a 20-minute survey inspires hope for what is possible over the course of the next twelve months. NGPAF is confident that the messages delivered over the next year have the power to shape voter turnout and the outcome of the 2024 election. But the work must start now.
“Thanksgiving is a time for more than personal gratitude,” says Keron Blair, Chief Organizing and Field Officer at New Georgia Project Action Fund. “It is an occasion for us to thank each other for showing up—a moment to recognize the incredible impact our communities can have when we exercise our democratic rights as a collective. Through the ‘Thank You, Georgia’ campaign, we aim to add fuel to the fire of civic engagement that already exists in Georgia. We will remind voters that their voices are being heard; progress is underway, even if it is felt in tidal waves and not tsunamis. This campaign is a necessary and strategic intervention because if we don’t help voters who showed up in 2020 appreciate the power of their vote, progressives will lose big time in 2024.”
In addition to door knocking and digital organizing, NGPAF is also providing interested supporters with all the informational tools they need to host a Politics 101 class for their peers at Friendsgiving. We encourage folks to have conversations with their loved ones about the power of voting, the incredible progress we’ve seen because we turned out in 2020, and what it’s going to take to build on that momentum heading into 2024. It’s time to break norms and bring politics to the dinner table this holiday season!
###
