Thank you to everyone who submitted feedback to us through our end-of-year email series. We took our internal and state debriefs seriously, and we appreciate the feedback that we received to our write-ups following those conversations.
After reviewing hundreds of responses, these are our takeaways.
1. Be Tangible, Visible, and Action-Oriented
You all want the Forward Party to demonstrate our impact at local and state levels.
- “To gain trust and differentiate ourselves, we need to organize and execute activities that embody our values in action.” (Derick T.)
We will implement visible, volunteer-led community projects (e.g., voter registration drives or local clean-ups). - “You need to have meetings in person, especially in big cities. People are relying too much on online connections for their activities” (Maria K.).
We will revamp our volunteer onboarding system to ensure better follow-up and training, with toolkits enabling supporters to form and manage local chapters. In particular, we’ll be driving towards creating socialization opportunities within the state chapters to build a community.
2. Improve Outreach, Communication & Messaging
Your feedback highlighted the need for messaging that is relatable, emotionally resonant, and widely visible.
- A short video about the goals of the Forward Party that I could share with them would be very helpful. (Dawn G.)
We will focus on more video content, putting a face to what Forward is about. - We will lean into our outreach programs, especially ones such as our College outreach program to amplify our presence among young voters.
3. Lean into Building Partnerships and Coalitions
Forward was founded through the merger of three organizations, and we’re always looking to bring more groups into our movement. This history and a desire to continue it was highlighted by many of you in your responses.
- We will continue to bring together various groups through regular convenings and find ways to work together, both with groups that are aligned with our long-term goals and ones with whom we can find “temporary alliances” to drive towards short-term goals.
4. A Note on Structural Reforms
Many emphasized the need to prioritize electoral reforms like open primaries, ranked-choice voting (RCV), and final-five voting to “break the duopoly.” We think that this one requires a special note.
The reform movement needs to take a beat and analyze what happened this election cycle. It would be unwise to fail to learn the lessons of 2024. These reforms were on the ballot in states across the country, and they had a very bad year. Most of the initiatives to implement these changes were defeated, and and while Alaska did defend its first-in-the-nation Final Five system, the vote was very close (fewer than 1,000 votes out of over 300,000 cast).
Forward maintains its commitment to these issues, and we’ll be working with partner organizations as they debrief on the actions of 2024 to see where things went wrong. However, we’re also mindful that doubling down on issues that lose at the ballot box is a poor way to build a winning coalition, so we’ll be spending time this year figuring out how to persuade people on these issues while not relying on them to bring in new members.
5. Candidate Recruitment & Support
You all want candidates who are relatable, credible, and aligned with Forward’s values. We spent 2024 building out a candidate recruitment and consideration process that could scale, and we plan to refine it in ‘25 in off cycle elections before hitting the ground running in ‘26.
- “We need more salt of the earth candidates who can actually relate to their neighbors and communities.” (Eric G.)
We will tailor our recruitment efforts to members and leaders who have been integral parts of their communities and reflect the profile of their constituents. - We will be more transparent with our vetting process and hold candidates accountable to the pledge they sign.
6. Organizational & Internal Improvements
You asked for better internal communication and transparency. Forward will:
- We will construct more responsive communications channels that are coordinated between states, the national organization, and other groups, to ensure that everyone is informed on the actions across the movement.
- “I’m looking for the Forward app. I want it to be a place where I can see candidates, discuss issues and policy, see local chapters, and stay informed” (Nathan S.).
We will work with individuals who have experience in the tech space on building out an app that has many of these features (eventually), and we’ll be focus group testing the initial features sometime over the next several months.
7. The “Why” — Party Identity & Values
Many of you highlighted love for the Forward mission while looking for more clarity on our identity. Honestly, that’s a thing that needs to be developed with each and every member. Many of the initiatives above are meant to do just that. For example, providing more training for state leadership teams while investing in socialization options will help build community and identity. Engaging in polling to find our winning coalition will help with that, as well. Building out communications channels, including an app that allows for more direct communication? That might be the most exciting one!
- We will focus on building out our state party support and communications processes to ensure that we build a collaborative identity that reflects our membership.
Summary and Other Suggestions
Finally, here are some summaries and elements that didn’t fit in elsewhere:
- Expand Visibility: Invest in creative marketing, local events, explainer videos, and national branding campaigns to reach new audiences.
- Forge Alliances: Explore partnerships or mergers with national groups and local grassroots organizations to pool resources and avoid fragmentation.
- Win Where You Can: Target winnable local and municipal races, providing robust support to candidates.
- Stay Human, Yet Focused: Maintain a grassroots, authentic feel while sharpening the party’s messaging with clear goals and purpose.