How to maximize your political impact

Invest your limited resources for the best political return

It’s easy for national politics to feel more urgent today, even though local and state politics have the most direct impact on your day-to-day life. Your trains, parks, schools, and local businesses are shaped by the decisions made at the local and state levels. By dedicating time and energy at the local level, you not only help shape a community that reflects your values, but you also have the opportunity to see tangible results. Getting involved in local politics is the best way to forge new connections, more meaningful engagement, and to see how your efforts make a difference. 

I’m not minimizing how truly horrendous it is to have just elected Trump as our president. It’s dreadful. But now what? What do you have control over? Working to make your city a better place is the alternative to doom scrolling on the couch. And contributing to overall civic health is the best way to shore up our democracy.

So how do you have an impact in your community? You have three resources: time, social capital, and money.

Contributing time

🗓️ If you have time, consider:

• Joining your local democratic club 

• Serving as a local leader within the Democratic Party

• Reading up on local issues and joining a group that aligns with your views 

• Serving on your community board 

You have limited time, so think about the most impactful way to spend it. One-off volunteer activities, like serving meals to hungry neighbors, might be fulfilling, but if you’re optimizing for impact, you’d spend your time trying to prevent or decrease food insecurity instead. Systemic solutions impact more people and over a longer time period than one-off volunteer service. 

I’ve thought a lot about this: how I contribute my time. Of the three resources, time is the one that I have the most of. And politics is my hobby– I don’t play sports or watch movies, I just like being involved in my community. So I contribute more time than I do social capital or money.

When I was figuring out where to contribute my time, I knew I wanted to learn more about housing in New York City. When I moved here in 2021, I was shocked at the cost of housing and how that impacted me and my neighbors. So I set out to learn more about housing advocacy groups in NYC. I wasn’t sure where to start, since I was new to New York and also hadn't been involved in housing advocacy before. But I was coming from San Francisco where housing is also a huge issue, so I asked for advice from the SF YIMBY community in hopes they might know about similar efforts in NYC. I got a rec to look into Open New York, and reached out to grab coffee with one of their members. 

After that coffee, I went to a few Open New York events– I handed out campaign literature for their endorsed city council members, I went to a happy hour. I was impressed with how knowledgeable Open New York’s members were on everything from zoning to political strategy. They were also effective– they were up against incredibly difficult political headwinds, and yet they had succeeded in advocating for the rezoning in SoHo/NoHo. After a couple months, I found myself planning the happy hours, putting together materials for other organizers, and leading one of the neighborhood chapters. I now serve on the organization’s board.

There are other ways I contribute time, but organizing with Open New York is the most impactful. Contributing your time to an advocacy group has a high ROI in terms of the impact of your hours. For a couple reasons:

• They’ll make it easy. Advocacy organizations will let you know the most timely action to take– so that you don’t have to do all the research and work by yourself. For example, Open New York tells me when to contact my elected officials and gives me a head start with talking points. 

• They can leverage your unique skills. With Open New York, I can contribute in the areas I’m uniquely positioned to add value. I enjoy planning events, so I plan and lead trainings. I enjoy talking to neighbors, so I campaign for pro-housing candidates. There’s other members who help with social media, respond to members’ questions about housing policy, and analyze rezoning proposals. 

When I contribute time to Open New York, I’m building the power of a group of people, of an organization, and of a policy agenda. With advocacy, you’ve got to be prepared for more delayed gratification than say, serving on your PTA, but the impact of those hours advocating is much greater.

Contributing social capital

📣 If you have social capital, consider:

• Sharing articles, notes, recommendations with your network (like this substack!) 

• Hosting a fundraiser for an advocacy group or candidate

• Sharing actions with your network (e.g. write your city councilmember about XX)

My social capital contributions are few and small. I’m relatively new to NYC, so I don’t have a deep network here. And I don’t do social media, so me retweeting doesn’t get a message very far. 

Given my challenges in this area, I’ve optimized as well as I can. I enjoy planning events. So I asked the rest of Open New York’s board if they wanted to co-host a fundraiser. I put together the event link and invite language, another board member coordinated the venue and food, and we all invited folks from our social circles to raise awareness and donations. Co-hosting is a great idea for someone with a small network– the more hosts, the greater the invite pool.

Depth and breadth of network is helpful here: being part of many communities and having deep relationships in each. Whether that’s IRL communities or virtual. And being willing to make asks like “do you know anyone with space to hold a fundraiser?” or “can you sign this online petition?”

Working alongside an advocacy organization will not only leverage your social capital more effectively, but also build your network. Advocacy organizations have their own networks of coalition partners, organizers, and elected officials. Those networks provide access to a wealth of resources, knowledge, and opportunities that you can join and share. And their networks include leaders and elected officials, expanding your network to people with additional social capital who care about your issue.

Shameless plug for how you can contribute social capital today: Share this substack with a friend who would enjoy learning more about NYC politics!

Contributing money

💰What about money? 

I’m actually going to just write a dedicated post on this. Stay tuned!

In the meantime, some homework to level up your time and social capital contributions: 

Find an advocacy group that

1. advocates on an issue you care about,

2. is pushing evidence-based solutions, and

3. has a winning strategy to get them passed and implemented.

This might take some research. You might have to ask for help. You might even have to start it yourself. But it’s worth it to invest effectively and be able to see the results.