TL;DR: Run for Something will be raising money for candidates in 14 states. There is no precedent for this kind of mass direct-to-candidate effort on the local level — we’re breaking new ground by connecting grassroots donors to previously under-funded races.

The first group of candidates are folks running against NRA-backed opponents. It’s critical that these incredible people have the resources they need to hold their opponents accountable for prioritizing the gun industry over the safety of our kids.

The details:

Run for Something will be raising money for candidates directly in the following states:

Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

These states were chosen for a mix of reasons — in some states, we have a chance to either flip a state legislative chamber or break a supermajority (AZ, CO, FL, MI, MO, NC, PA, and WI). In others, we evaluated the potential impact our candidates can have on up-ticket races (PA, GA, FL, TX, TN, and MI). Others still are long-term infrastructure investments, like NC, GA, FL, MI, WI, TX, AZ, and CO. Finally, we added states where our candidates are simply so kick-ass we couldn’t not contribute financially, which includes all the states above but explains MD, KS, and OK in particular.

(In the future, we’d love to fundraise in all 50 states plus D.C. Hopefully, one day as we continue to build out our infrastructure!)

We’ll be using ActBlue’s tandem-fundraising feature to give directly to candidates. Every cent goes directly to the candidate without Run for Something ever touching the donation, as indicated on the donation page.

This is good for supporters — any contribution is going to the folks who can use it best: The campaigns themselves. It’s also good for the campaign, which gets the donor’s information (including email address), meaning the candidate has a chance to build a relationship with that donor. Win-win for both parties — hopefully resulting in a win on Election Day.

We’ll be asking supporters to contribute over email, social media, in one-to-one conversations and anywhere else we can reach folks.

Run for Something will be grouping candidates by a number of different categories including:

Geography

Office

Issue Orientation (both candidate and opponent)

Gender

Race/Ethnicity

Additional Identifying Characteristics

Additional lenses as needed

In 2017, Run for Something did direct-to-candidate giving in Virginia, investing more than $200,000 in the state through both direct donations and additional work (including digital ads, canvasses, and staff support.) Where we can — and as much as funding allows — we’ll be doing similar work in the above states in 2018.

Read more in Politico: