Georgia Muslim Voter Project: Incorporating Fundraising Into Community Events

The Georgia Muslim Voter Project (GAMVP) is a nonpartisan nonprofit created to increase political participation among Muslim Americans. Since its founding in 2015, GAMVP has created programs that outreach to Muslim communities across Georgia by holding voter registration drives, voter education sessions, and community conversations to increase civic engagement in these communities. 

With a grant from Progressive Multiplier, the Georgia Muslim Voter Project set out to utilize their voter engagement activities as opportunities to build donor engagement. Their original goal was to create a new community block party incorporating fundraising, but staffing challenges paused this plan. 

GAMVP pivoted from the block party but focused on events to leverage its presence within the Muslim community. They regularly host and attend mosque events to engage with the community, register voters, and recruit volunteers. To build on the strength of their relationships while incorporating a fundraising mindset, they started asking for donations and collected names, phone numbers, and email addresses. 

Later, the new contacts were put into a pipeline for further engagement, including solicitations via email and text messaging. GAMVP also created holiday cards celebrating Eid to sell at events and online – meeting a community need while bringing people and resources together. 

In the future, GAMVP will expand its use of events as engagement, list-building, and fundraising opportunities.  

The Georgia Muslim Voter Project (GAMVP) was founded in 2015 in response to prevailing anti-Muslim rhetoric in mainstream politics. GAMVP has activated over 100,000 Muslims across Georgia by hosting programs that make the electoral and legislative processes accessible.