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When the People Lead,

the Leaders Follow
The Backbone Campaign specializes in the creation of spectacle imagery, innovative messaging and political theater. Most of our work involves what we call Artful Activism, in which we engage progressive activists and organizers in the strategic use of creative tactics such as festival arts, flash mobs, music and other theatrical forms of nonviolent direct action.

Backbone-a-Thon!

A drive for new members with a Matching Grant to DOUBLE the value of every first time* donation!

On Christmas Eve, we received a letter from a long time supporter who believes deeply in the Artful Activism of the Backbone Campaign. In the Letter was a challenge, a $10,000 matching fund for bringing in new members! With many people making their last minute end of year, tax-deductible (while it lasts?) gifts, TODAY is the perfect time to launch our "Backbone-a-Thon."

Our current goals are to:

Win that $10,000 match (double it!) to fund more training and actions, Please Donate Now!
Receive 100 tax-deductible donations of ANY amount from new and existing members Please Donate Now! and
Get 1000 new Facebook "Likes" & Email sign-ups and volunteers HERE.

Backbone Campaign is a 501(c)(3) public charity so ALL donations are tax-deductible. Give $50 or more and receive a Backbone Campaign T-Shirt or a pound of bold and rich Backbone Blend coffee. Get both with a $100 contribution! [*There are exceptions for those who significantly increase their contributions, and a $3000 maximum donation according the matching grant stipulations.]

Though rebellion is a muscle that must be exercised, it should be clear from the 2012 Highlights below that this kind of exercise is FUN!

All of the below were taken at a actions we either led or provided tactical support for. Enjoy and then please proudly and enthusiastically invite your friends to become part of this joyful, innovative, effective Artful Activist organization! 2013 is the perfect time to amplify Backbone's capacity to invigorate our movement of movements using strategic organizing and creative tactics to deliver power to We the People!

It takes Backbone to stand up for progressive values, but it is rewarding. Although Devin is being escorted out of a sit-in in a Senator's office, neither he, nor anyone of our team was arrested in the past nine years.

Enjoy 2012 Highlights: Only when the People Lead, will the Leaders Follow:

More about achievements in 2012:

Backbone Campaign's 2012 goals were to strategically use and build expertise in creative tactics that incorporate elements of spectacle, humor, art, music, metaphor, ridicule, praise and ritual; as well as campaign strategy, media, and collaboration, in order to:

increase effectiveness, broaden appeal and strengthen resolve within the progressive movement;
galvanize citizen aspirations into winnable actions for sustainable energy, social, economic and environmental justice, human dignity and peace;
amplify victories in local communities and
build alliances within the grassroots progressive movement.

Thanks to the generous support of our many supporters, we continue to be enormously successful. Our 2012 Artful Activism Trainings deepened and expanded our partnerships with community-based activists around the country, enabling them to build local capacity to deliver victories through artful, “solutionary engagement” (i.e. - combining critique with proposal, proposition with opposition).

In 2012, the Backbone Campaign customized trainings and campaign support for activists in over 10 communities (Bellingham (WA), Bainbridge Island (WA), Biloxi/Gulfport (MS), Charlotte (NC), Olympia (WA), Pasadena (CA), Seattle (WA), Spokane (WA), Tacoma (WA), Vashon Island (WA), Washington (DC), and Baltimore (MD). We collaborated with over 35 grassroots and national partners to develop the overall strategy and conceptualize the most effective messages and creative tactics for their campaigns.

We tailored our trainings and image creation working hand-in-hand with our community hosts and collaborators to produce over 40 creative nonviolent actions.
Through these collaborative relationships, we trained over 500 activists around the country in creative tactics, arts for social change, campaign strategy, and techniques to earn positive media attention.
We created 30 new images and provided ongoing consultation to ensure that activists continue to integrate the new tools and concepts into their organizing.

Your support is crucial to our continued capacity to serve a growing progressive movement with generosity, intelligence and strategic creativity.

More in this category: « Projection As Protest Backbone-a-Thon! »