A few days ago, someone posted a question on social media, asking what Backbone actually accomplishes and “what exactly are you raising funds for?” That is a perfectly fair question. So, I shared the story of this past year and how Backbone’s capacity, strategy, and experience made - and continue to make - outsized impacts that are tangible and critical for sustaining We the People’s progress toward creating a more just, humane, and sustainable world.

"I’m not trying to be rude, and I see that you do quite a lot of fundraising, but what exactly are you raising funds for? I understand that this is an organization that is pretty liberal, but what has it actually accomplished? What does the money go to? Just more visible protests? I just don’t understand it as an organization. Is it sponsoring anyone or funding anything? I don’t get it."

To which I replied:

Ok, that's a fair question. I'm gonna try to be brief, since I am really supposed to be using the holiday to catch up on house projects like the bathroom trim that has been waiting 24 years to be completed.

Last January, after inauguration and the pardoning of the Jan. 6th insurrectionists, the idea of heading out to an overpass to express an idea like "Immigrants Make America Great" actually seemed potentially dangerous. At moments like that, when the fear of expressing one's ideas, exercising one's 1st Amendment speech, actually feels dangerous - is EXACTLY the moment when doing so is essential.

Liberty is a muscle that must be exercised. Failing to do so, or leaving those who are most vulnerable to fend for themselves, is not just cowardly, it is a moral retreat and abandonment of hard-won freedoms that we have inherited from those who have struggled and sacrificed for generations. And in doing so, ie taking action, one breaks the spell of fear for oneself as well as for the people driving by. One no longer feels hopeless or fearful but encouraged and connected.

But knowing how to do this safely, legally, and effectively is not something any of us are taught in civics classes. Protest is inherently a threat to the status quo, so its practices and tradition are not something that institutions tend to foster.

Which starts to get to why a group like Backbone Campaign, and our expertise in nonviolent, creative tactics, and strategic communication have a role to play.

Last January, we not only went out to overpasses with our deer fence banners with changeable messages, we also built banners for others, provided toolkits and info for them to folks across the country to make their own. We organized people into weekly banner squads so that they could feel the same sense of connection and empowerment. We held multiple virtual trainings in which we not only described the construction process, and legal parameters, we also helped people understand the importance of the message framing and presentation.

In 2025, around 2,000 people participated in our virtual trainings. We sent out over 100 banner toolkits to over 30 states, and helped even more people source their own materials.

Standing at an overpass for one hour in Seattle during rush hour, four people can reach approximately 8,000 people. Multiply that by 150 overpasses across the country and the reach is way over 1 million people with just one, one hour action each. Some places go out more than 1 hour a week and some less, but when combined over a year, that amounts to a large portion of the US population seeing a message that is created to affirm widely held American values of fairness, human dignity, government accountability, and due process.

Now, take for instance the images coming out of LA when Trump sent in the military. The images that seemed to dominate the coverage was the same photos of burning robo-taxis and Mexican flags. So, I packed up a couple suitcases with our giant We the People (Constitution Preamble) prop and brought it to the first No Kings march. Almost immediately, that image supplanted the burning car photos. And rightly so, as it was far more representative of the vast majority of people offended by the brutality they were witnessing and due process they were protesting for.

For the second No Kings mobilization, Backbone had built two more Preambles and multiple extensions, and we flew teams to support marches in Chicago, DC, and in Seattle, which resulted in many millions of people seeing that positive symbol of our common mission to create a more perfect union.

All of the above costs money, mostly for staff to organize and support, but also to maintain a workshop and office, and for the materials and transportation. And contrary to what some may think, that money does not come from Soros or any big foundations. (I have been joking about sending Soros an invoice since he seems to get a lot more credit than he deserves - and we could use the support.)

Backbone's funding comes from people who understand that social movement is now and has historically been the source of political and social change. And that Artful Activism work is only one part of Backbone Campaign's strategy. We also put a great deal of time and energy into our Solutionary Rail project, which is another way we balance opposition with proposition.

Solutionary Rail is a project for putting rail, our critical national infrastructure in service of long term public and national interests, rather than short term Wall Street greed. Rail intersects all parts of our society and offers a way to find common cause in a time of heightened polarization (a divide and conquer strategy that benefits a few at the expense of the rest of us).

All of this work is informed by grand strategy and an understanding that our capacity to deliver change requires alliance building and an enrolling vision for the future. Backbone's populism is one that strives to appeal in the best in people, not the worst.

I'll leave you with my explanation of the concept of "political calculus". Politics is the "art of the possible" and calculus is the mathematics of changing variables. In order to shift the political calculations of elected officials toward the priorities and values we champion, they must feel confident that they can do so without losing their next election. Thus the visibility of our tactics, and unassailability of those tactics and the messages they convey, and our capacity to expand alliances are critical for shifting what is considered politically possible and necessary.

Doing this work for 22 years has resulted in a level of expertise that is worth sustaining and sharing with others. Teaching about strategy and making communications tools available that are legal, effective, and available to pretty much everyone requires an organization to support and implement that work.

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The person who asked the question later replied:

“Bill Moyer, that is actually the best pro fundraising post I’ve seen you guys make. Because it really points out exactly what you’re doing and why and how much it costs. And how effective it is. It’s something that’s kind of missing from your flyers. I think people are more willing to give money if they know where the money is going. And that’s a really great response.”

Friends, you can support this work with a tax-deductible donation at this link: BackboneCampaign.org/dec2025

In community,
Bill Moyer, Executive Director and co-Founder, Backbone Campaign