It’s yearend team fundraiser time!

Letter from CCI Action’s board chair Cherie Mortice I Double your gift here

It’s a cliché, but it’s true—the work we do together isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon.

Yes, as a former high school coach I use a lot of sports analogies. And I see lots of similarities between coaching and building political power. For both we’ve got to rally our folks, celebrate our wins, and learn from everything we do so we keep getting better. Winning the changes we want takes a strong team, a solid game plan…and time.

And, I’ll tell you this: As far as teammates go, CCI Action members are THE BEST. They’re engaged, involved, and take action for and with each other. You’re determined to make Iowa, and this country a better place. This year we’ve:

  • Talked with over 10,000 voters in key districts across the state about our issues and endorsed candidates who are serious about our kind of change
  • Canvassed and collected stories to stop price gouging by Big Pharma and Insurance
  • Organized with rural Iowans to stop CO2 pipelines and other greenwashing schemes
  • Showed up and persistently pushed the Des Moines City Council to act with us, and
  • Built a multi-racial, multi-generational coalition that trained 100 new climate fighters

Thanks to great teamwork, we’ve got serious wins this year to celebrate! Together we:

  • stopped a 5,000-head hog factory in Worth County
  • defeated Ag-Gag in the courts for a third time
  • won a policy requiring Des Moines police to record data for ALL stops – a move that will significantly reduce the unwarranted stops that black and brown community members disproportionately endure, and
  • helped elect people’s champions to office like Kimberly Graham as Polk County Attorney, V Fixmer-Oraiz and Jon Green as Johnson County Supervisors, and Sarah Trone Garriott to the Iowa Senate.

Pretty amazing, right? We couldn’t have done any of this without the dedication and financial support from our members and action takers like you throughout the state. Thank you!

We need more wins on our issues and at the ballot box – that’s why I’m writing you today.

To start 2023 as strong as possible, we want to raise $55,000 for the work ahead. To help us reach this big goal, generous CCI Action members have put up a $5,000 challenge grant to kick off our important year-end fundraiser and membership drive in a BIG way.

Join as CCI Action member, Renew Your Membership, Give a year-end donation
by Friday, December 2 and your gift will be DOUBLED!

The stakes are higher than ever and it’s going to take a lot more of us to move the ball forward. That’s why in 2023, we’re kicking off an ambitious membership expansion plan and what we’re calling an organizing revival!

We want many, many more people to experience the joy of working together for tangible wins. We’re doubling down on the fundamentals of organizing: building relationships, finding out what people care about and can make their life better, and working together to make it happen.

Why? Because we need to invest in the people and places we love here in Iowa. That’s how we build the political power we need to put people and planet before profits, politics and polluters.

Your membership is essential! Your contribution:

  • Keep our issue organizing strong: Issue organizing is where we meet new people, build our strength, and work together to take actions that make change and build hope.
  • Builds a bigger we: We want to reach and engage a lot more people across the state, including those we don’t typically talk with. In 2023, we’re adding two new staff organizers to help us expand our reach in rural areas of the state.
  • Builds a stronger we:  In 2023, we’re widening and deepening our training program to take our grassroots-leader-led organizing to a higher level. We’ll host trainings on organizing fundamentals, deep canvassing, and how to run for office.
  • Builds our political power: We’re going to come out strong at the Statehouse to make sure our issues are on the agenda, and block bills that are bad for people and bad for the planet. And, we’ll be increasing the number of our folks in elected positions—we’ve got our eyes on the 2023 Des Moines City Council and other municipal races across the state.

Donate today! Things change in this country when we stay connected, stay organized, and expand our people power.

We know we’re up against long odds and big money, but there is no quit in CCI Action! We’re in it to win it!

Be generous! Make a gift of $100, $60, $35 or any amount that works for you in this moment! Be a part of this tough and tenacious people’s organization. Be part of creating a better Iowa for us and future generations.

Thanks so much for all you do,

Cherie Mortice,
Board President, retired public school teacher and coach, and proud Des Moines East Sider

P.S. I hope you’ll follow along this week as we work towards our $55,000 goal

Double My Donation!