But this movement relies on collaboration with key allies and funders. Without this collaboration, organizations can sometimes feel disempowered to make the kind of bold changes our communities need.

MED believes that collaborative partnerships between racial justice organizations and philanthropists are key to empowering communities to create a racially just democracy.

That’s why we created a More Equitable Democracy. Since 2018, We have re-granted $100,000’s, worked on half a dozen campaigns, and collaborated with dozens of organizations all led by and working in communities of color.

here’s what we do:

• Foster collaborative relationships with funding partners and allies
• Co-create electoral transformation plans with community organizations
• And in the process, we build a movement to radically transform our democracy.

So, join our funder or collaborative network today and begin to build a movement for a more racially just democracy.

Feeling disempowered is a thing of the past.

Collaborate with us at equitabledemocracy.org

one liner

We love our one-liner to explain our work. Use it freely.

We are building a network of funders and BIPOC-led organizations to create an inclusive, representative and multi-party democracy.

writing style

We prefer to use Chicago MLA for our writing style. This is especially important for writing blogs, letters to the editor, or editorials for magazines, or newspapers.
The Oxford comma is definitely a must for us.

reading level

We write for accessibility. This means writing for a 7th-8th grade reading level.

tone of voice

Tone of voice refers to the characteristics of how we present ourselves to our audience. Here are a few descriptions of MED’s voice:

• Knowledgeable
• Caring
• Collaborative
• Urgent
• Conversational

1. Understand the audience
   Electoral reform attracts many types of people. But MED is a racial justice organization first and foremost.
2. Write for translation
   MED wants to create content that can be easily translated. This means we want to avoid euphemisms, too many metaphors, and slang. The simpler the language, the easier it is to translate. This means avoiding jargon, slang, metaphors, and similes while also writing at middle-school level.
3. Be casual but not too casual
   Like, totally, be yourself. And use exclamation marks! Do we like short, personal emails? YES! Do we refer to supporters or audience members as “Bro” or us LOL after sentences? Definitely not. MED should be approachable, personable and always professional.
4. Be accurate
   Being casual doesn’t mean being careless. Talking about democracy reform, it’s history and its technical aspects can be challenging. MED should strive to be inspirational about changing the world, but we also want to be technically accurate about the details.
5. Be accessible
   We have to write for a middle-school audience. Research demonstrates that the majority of readers in the United States have a 7th-8th grad reading level. There are plenty of online tools that can be used to analyze writing. Use them and adjust the content accordingly.
6. Use lists
   Many people reading articles online will scroll through articles. They are looking for the most efficient way to consume information. Bulleted lists are a great way to provide bite sized pieces of information that potential readers can absorb.
   We have to write for a middle-school audience. Research demonstrates that the majority of readers in the United States have a 7th-8th grad reading level. There are plenty of online tools that can be used to analyze writing. Use them and adjust the content accordingly.
7. Be friendly
   How would you talk about an issue with friends? Let’s communicate with them in a way that is neither condescending, flippant or aggressive.
8. Be positive
   The decline of democracy is tragic. But there are opportunities within this crisis. We must move our audience to action by providing them with the tools
   and resources and hope.
9. Be inspirational
   We want to rally tens of thousands of supporters around a multi-racial, multi-party democracy. We want to avoid focusing our communications on the problem. Rather, we want to bring people’s attention to what is possible.
10. Be clear
    Always make your language simple and easy to read. Superfluous commas, colons, ellipses, parenthesis, and other punctuations can distract
    the reader.
11. Be brief
    People are busy. Let’s respect their time. Say what we need to say and then stop writing. Here is a great resource on writing content for the digital age.

1. Be careful with the word crazy
   This is a word we should avoid using altogether. Mental health is a serious issue and using this word instead of a more appropriate descriptive adjective can turn some audience members off to the message we want to provide.
2. Be considerate
   MED is a people centric organization. We want to be considerate and respectful of how people identify.
3. Use topic sentences
   Topic sentences are great. They help the reader clearly understand the information in front of them without having to delve too deeply into the content. They are encouraged in all of our digital and print material. Use topic sentences with a word count of 15 or less. Ten words is ideal.
4. Use can, not will
   When talking about donations, let’s remember there are no guarantees in life. However, people’s donations can contribute to a more meaningful, representative democracy.
5. Talk about real people
   We want to connect our donors with real people and the organizations they help. If MED is writing about people who are participating in our programs, talk about them! Give them a name and a face. Share their story.
6. They aren’t our members
   MED does not have members. We have co-creators. Audience members, donors, or program participants do not belong to us. Rather, work in concert to create a multi-racial and just democracy.
7. There is no RCV
   Let’s not confuse the audience. Be clear about what kind of electoral system we’re talking about. There’s a big difference between Instant Runoff Voting and Proportional Representation systems. Be clear about which one we’re writing about.
8. You are a who
   It’s helpful to center people in our communications. When talking about the democracy crises, it’s helpful to say “who” and not “that”. For example, there are millions of people who don’t have meaningful representation.
9. You are a hero
   We want to use the Hero Narrative in our storytelling and position our allies as heroes. This means replacing “us” and “we” with you. Whenever possible, “you” should be the hero. MED is the guide to help audience members achieve greatness.
10. Use RCN framework
    Research shows how the RCN framework can persuade people to action. By combining race and class into a single narrative, identifying the villains and their tools, while also providing the tools necessary to win campaigns, we create compelling stories and encourage people to stand with us.
11. Use a simple structure
    Five paragraph essays work. Using a somewhat consistent framework can work for MED and almost audience. Do we always want to use the five paragraphs? Probably not but keeping with a simple structure can help guide our writing and keep our audience focused.

focus less on us and more on them

Ask yourself the following three questions before you start writing. These questions will help you create shorter sentences and more effective documents.

1. Why is the reader reading this document?
2. What does the reader need to do with the information?
3. How can I effortlessly convey the main message to the reader?

PROSPECTUS ILLUSTRATION EXAMPLES

ELECTORAL SYSTEMS EXAMPLE