The Pen (plus .35 stamp) Is Mightier Than Yelling At Your TV

BREAKING NEWS! We’re having our May postcard party this weekend! Sunday May 6 from noon to 2 PM at the El Cerrito Royale, please let us know you’re interested by RSVP’ing here (so we know how many cards/stamps to bring, plus… snacks!)  And see more information here.

Can’t canvass? Phone phobic? Tired of texting? Or just want a new tool to add to your activism kit? The grassroots resistance is made stronger when we all contribute our diverse skills and interests, and apply our ingenuity to use new and old techniques and technology to reach out to get people informed and motivated.

So – think postcards! Old-school analog paper and pen, sent anywhere in the USA for a mere thirty-five cents. Perfect for blue state activists, postcards are a fun and effective way to help flip faraway red districts and states. You can do it alone while you watch the news (gah…), or come out and join one of the many postcard parties popping up all over. Postcard resisters meet in cafes and living rooms, around tables full of snacks and a rainbow assortment of pens and markers that make even the most artsy-challenged among us grin.

A few basics:

• Some groups write postcards directly to other voters, others write to Members of Congress or other officials and groups about specific issues. If you’re postcard-ing on your own, decide which most suits your interest, and if you want to attend a party, check in advance what they have planned.
• Before you go to a postcard party, check whether you need to bring your own stamps and postcards. Most parties will have stamps and/or cards for you to purchase at their cost, or will ask for a donation. At minimum the organizer will provide addresses and what you will write on each card for the specific campaign.
• Currently stamps cost 35 cents for postcards sized a maximum of 6″ x 4.25″. If your postcard is larger than that, you must use a first-class letter stamp (currently .50). Is your local PO out? You can order online for a small delivery fee: pre-stamped postcards for .39 each, or the current forever seashell postcard stamps.
• You can buy postcards specifically designed to send to voters, use appropriate postcards you already have (nothing controversial, please), or download and print professionally designed cards from Postcards From the People and the Postcards For the Resistance tumblr page, which also has a helpful summary about how to print postcards at home.
• Or you can make your own postcards! Cut up stiff card-stock sized to a max of 6″ x 4.25″. Cut up a piece of letter-sized card-stock (8.5″ x 11″) to make four perfectly good postcards! USPS regs specify the minimum thickness for a postcard; since most of us don’t have a ruler to measure that small, your best bet is to feel whether the paper resembles the heft of commercial postcards. Most construction paper is not thick enough.

And now, for the meat and potatoes, check out the two main groups. 

First, Postcards to Voters and its Postcards to Voters Facebook page: volunteers in every state have collectively written over half a million postcards to voters in dozens of key, close elections. After you sign up you have to get verified: follow the directions to write your first postcard, take a photo and send it to be checked. Get started using one of these options:

• Click here to fill out a volunteer form, or
• Send an email to join@TonyTheDemocrat.org or
• Text HELLO to ABBY The Address Bot at 1-484-ASK-ABBY (1-484-275-2229)

Once you’re verified, request the number of addresses you’d like:

• Click here, or
• Send an email to postcards@TonyTheDemocrat.org, including the number of addresses you want, or
• Text ABBY The Address Bot at 1-484-ASK-ABBY (1-484-275-2229), or
• New! Use Facebook Messenger to send a direct message to Abby the Address Bot (it’s free for Postcards to Voters, whereas they pay for texting). You must provide a texting phone number even if you’re using the FB Messenger feature because Abby is a texting robot. Click here for more info about Abby.

Second, through Postcards for America and its main Facebook group and state sub-groups — ours is Postcards for America / California — people write postcards to their own federal and state elected officials on issues that concern them. Search the master issues list at Postcarder Calls to Action,

And breaking news! Indivisible East Bay is throwing postcard parties — save the date for our first: Sunday March 18 from noon to 2 PM at Sports Basement in Berkeley.  All info, a map, and register (free) here.

Interested? Want to let us know about your own postcard parties? Email us or contact @heidirand on Slack.