NGP VAN provides tools used by Democrats, from the White House to local school boards, to raise money and mobilize voters. But with new management in recent years, it has been stripping its operations to the bare bones.
The potential decline of these tools — which have given Democrats a significant technology edge over Republicans over the past few cycles — would be so threatening to operations that a handful of top Democratic digital firms recently called a roughly hourlong Zoom meeting with leadership of the company to seek answers. Among their demands: reassurance that NGP VAN wouldn’t dismantle one of its top products, an online organizing and fundraising tool called ActionKit. Without it, Democrats worried about their prospects during the 2024 cycle and beyond.
“I’m hoping that I’m wrong, that we’re all wrong, that everyone’s fine,” said a former NGP VAN employee, granted anonymity to speak candidly about their former employer. “But this could mean something really bad for 2024.”
The alarm relayed on the call reflected a larger concern: that the Democratic Party has grown too dependent on a small handful of companies to carry the bulk of its campaign operations.
Democrats up and down the ballot have long relied on NGP VAN to run their campaigns. Now, consultants and former employees are concerned that repeated layoffs will lead to problems with the party’s most vaunted tech tools. Some consultants are on the precipice of turning their back on NGP VAN altogether, according to six NGP VAN clients who spoke with POLITICO.
But the company’s monopoly-like grip on Democratic campaigns means there’s no clear alternative that can immediately replace it.
It would be nice to know which FOSS alternatives exist or alternative routes. There needs to be as many options possible to make sure Republicans stay underwater as they’re not a legitimate political party.
The Republicans want to end democracy and convert the US to an oppressive fascist oligarchy like Russia, but make no mistake. They are not underwater and they are a legitimate political party with all of the power, funding and infrastructure that comes with it.
They have near absolute control of the judiciary and strangleholds on most of the federal and state legislatures.
The Democrats need to equip themselves to compete with that but I fear they’ve squandered whatever technology edge they had. One vendor having the ability to screw their entire operation is proof of that.
You assume FOSS even exists for this use case, which I sincerely doubt.