So . . . you’re angry, you’re motivated, and you want to make a difference. But what comes next? It’s easy to feel as though you’re getting swept up in a Twitter/Facebook/news spiral that leaves you with a whole lot of anxiety and very little idea of what to do about it. Luckily, we have it much easier than the women who came before us, because many of us are walking around with tiny computers in our hands at all times. Thanks to smartphones, data, and readily accessible Wi-Fi, it’s easier than ever to access our elected representatives basically anytime, anywhere.
To get you started, here are some apps, websites, and guides that can help direct your activism, keep you on track, and make sure you’re using the time you have to dedicate to the cause wisely. You can fax your senator via text, donate funds to fight for women’s rights and criminal justice reform with a few taps, and get (a gif of) Beyoncé delivered into your inbox along with a call to action.
What a time to be alive.
If you want to text your reps . . .
USE: RESISTBOT
WHAT IT IS: A bot that lets you send official-looking faxes to your senators and congresspersons, all through text message.
HOW IT WORKS: To get started, text “RESIST” to 50409. The bot will prompt you to give your name and address in order to locate your representatives. Once you’ve done that, you just type the message you want to send to your reps and text that to the bot. Resistbot does the rest of the work for you, putting together an official-looking fax, complete with your address, your representative’s DC office address, the date, and a signature. You even get a follow-up text confirming that the fax has been received.
WHY IT’S GREAT: You’re not reading off a script or copy-pasting someone else’s talking points. You can really personalize your messages, but because it’s over text, it just feels easier than sitting down and crafting an email. And if something pisses you off while you’re out with friends or doing work or trying to come up with that truly perfect 140-character zinger, within five minutes you can let your senator know exactly how you feel.
If you want your action to come with a side of comprehensive information . . .
USE: COUNTABLE
WHAT IT IS: An app (which is also available as a website) that keeps you up to date on political news and upcoming local and national legislation—and lets you contact your representatives directly from articles.
HOW IT WORKS: Countable has several moving parts. The core of the app is a running list of bills that will be voted on in Congress. When users tap into a bill, Countable provides a summary and details of the legislation, a “yea” argument, a “nay” argument, an explanation of how far the legislation has progressed, and the ability to vote on said legislation. These yea or nay votes are then tallied and sent along to your representatives. The app also has a news feed that gives neutral updates on and explanations of political news. Users can comment on specific bills or news within the app and have the option to call or message their reps directly from articles.
WHY IT’S GREAT: Countable has it all—unbiased explanations of legislation, easy ways to take action and share information, and a simple way to keep up with all the things your representatives are voting on. You can even register to vote through Countable and get email alerts when your reps cast votes!
If you want to turn the country blue . . .
USE: SWING LEFT
WHAT IT IS: A mailing list that sends its members curated calls to action, based on the swing district closest to where they live. Swing Left’s goal is to help Democrats take back a majority in the House.
HOW IT WORKS: You go to swingleft.org and type in your address or zip code. Swing Left then determines where the closest “swing” district—that is, a district that Democrats may have a chance of winning or won narrowly in the previous election—is. You can then sign up to join the “team” helping in that district. Once you do that, Swing Left will send you emails (but not so frequently that they will overwhelm your inbox) with ways to get involved: fund-raising, knocking on doors for a specific candidate, registering voters, phone banking, events, and more.
WHY IT’S GREAT: If you are someone who wants to be involved in progressive electoral politics but lives in a solidly blue district, Swing Left gives you tangible ways to help.
If you want to put your money where your mouth is . . .
USE: SUPER GOOD
WHAT IT IS: A platform that lets you make daily donations to organizations that support the causes you care about.
HOW IT WORKS: You can create a profile on super-good.org through your Gmail, Facebook, or Twitter account. Once you’ve signed up, you can choose causes to support and choose an amount of money to donate per day. Your daily donation is multiplied by thirty, and that amount is charged to your credit card on a monthly basis. Super Good then handles splitting up your donations among the causes you’ve selected and donating the total funds to each organization they support on a monthly basis. Super Good focuses on ten major causes: free press, education, environment, civil liberties, women’s rights, anti-hate, criminal justice reform, immigration, indigenous rights, and LGBTQ rights. The funds that Super Good collects for each cause are distributed among three different organizations per cause—for example, Planned Parenthood, Black Lives Matter, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and Earthjustice. According to Super Good’s website, the causes and organizations will evolve over time.
WHY IT’S GREAT: It can be super overwhelming to feel like you can’t afford to donate to all of the causes that matter. Through Super Good, you don’t have to choose between fighting police brutality and fighting climate change, and you don’t have to set up fifteen different recurring donations. And since you can donate as little as fifty cents per day, it all feels financially manageable.
If you want something to do every day . . .
USE: DAILY ACTION
WHAT IT IS: A text bot that sends you a call to action each weekday and connects you directly to your representatives.
HOW IT WORKS: To get started, you text “DAILY” to 228466. You will then be prompted for your zip code. Once that’s all done, Daily Action will text you each morning with something to do. Past calls to action have focused on things like calling members of Congress to demand that stronger economic sanctions be imposed against Russia, joining the Women’s March, and urging representatives to oppose the Trump administration’s health care bill. The bot also connects you directly to your reps with a quick swipe.
WHY IT’S GREAT: Calling your representatives is considered one of the most effective ways to get their attention—after all, often a staffer has to physically pick up the phone. Daily Action makes that call easy and routine. During the first week of Donald Trump’s presidency alone, more than ten thousand people made calls to Congress through Daily Action.
If you’re phone-shy . . .
USE: 5 CALLS
WHAT IT IS: An app (which is also available as a website) that guides you through five calls to your representatives each day, depending on what’s important to you.
HOW IT WORKS: Download the app or go to 5calls.org and type in your location. You will be asked what’s important to you that day, from a list of ten options. These choices change depending on where you live, what legislation is upcoming, and what’s going on in the news. Once you choose, 5 Calls will direct you to a summary of an issue and provide you with a fill-in-the-blanks script to guide calls to your representatives. You can call your congressperson and senators right from the app, and after you call, the app lets you log the outcome: Did you make contact? Leave a voicemail? Was your rep unavailable? No matter what, log it and move on to call number two.
WHY IT’S GREAT: Sometimes it’s just too exhausting or nerve-wracking to figure out what to say once you get someone from your representative’s office on the phone—phone calls can be super awkward! And while it’s ideal to personalize every call you make, having a script can be a huge relief.
If you need motivation to keep fighting . . .
USE: SIGNAL BOOST
WHAT IT IS: A kickass intersectional feminist online newsletter (and a weekly SiriusXM show!) dedicated to “boosting the hell out of the great work being done in the resistance,” founded by former Hillary Clinton campaign staffers Zerlina Maxwell and Jess McIntosh.
HOW IT WORKS: Sign up and wait for the emails to arrive. Each one contains an update on a few key issues and suggestions for concrete ways to act on those issues. Think of it like theSkimm for the resistance (an archive of Signal Boost blasts can be found at signal-boost.com).
WHY IT’S GREAT: It’s concise, women-led, and fun to read. Some weeks are harder than others, and when you get exhausted and feel like giving up, Zerlina and Jess are there to remind you to keep going. Plus, the gifs are excellent and often feature Beyoncé. #DoItForTheGifs
If you want to play the long game . . .
USE: INDIVISIBLE
WHAT IT IS: A comprehensive guide to resisting the Trump agenda using local actions, as laid out by former congressional staffers.
HOW IT WORKS: The guide grew out of a simple post-election question: For progressive America, what comes next? Two congressional staffers looked at the basic tactics of the Tea Party during the Obama years and used them as a framework to create a guide (originally put online in a Google Doc) for progressives who wanted to know how to resist. The guide also included information on how members of Congress think, and suggested the best ways to get under their skin and command their attention. Since then, Indivisible has grown into much more than a guide. Indivisible groups have popped up all over the nation, and the Indivisible website (indivisible.org) lets you find resources, locate local groups to join, and register your own group in the Indivisible network.
WHY IT’S GREAT: Indivisible isn’t just a guide—it’s a movement.
If you don’t have easy access to a computer or smartphone . . .
USE: THE LOCAL PUBLIC LIBRARY! (or your school’s computer lab, if you’re in school)
WHAT IT IS: You already know this one.
HOW IT WORKS: Log on to a computer and go to usa.gov/elected-officials. This website will allow you to look up the senators, congressperson, and local elected officials who represent you, then figure out who it makes the most sense to contact. Are you worried about a bill that the House is considering? Call or email your representative. Do you want to make sure your city remains a sanctuary city or upholds the Paris Climate Accord? Call or email your mayor. Elected officials have their office’s phone number and email address on their individual websites, and if you go to house.gov/representatives or senate.gov/senators/contact, you can find all the contact information for members of Congress in one place.
WHY IT’S GREAT: Because anyone can do it!
AND JUST SO YOU HAVE IT OFFLINE, HERE IS A VERY BASIC SCRIPT TO HELP GUIDE YOUR CALLS AND EMAILS:
CALLING YOUR REP?
Hi, I’m a [YOUR STATE/DISTRICT] voter, and I’m calling to urge [NAME OF ELECTED OFFICIAL] to [WHATEVER YOU WANT THEM TO DO].
As a [YOUNG PERSON/WOMAN/PERSON OF COLOR/OTHER IDENTITY], this is deeply important to me and other voters like me. [ADD ANY RELATED PERSONAL STORY, IF YOU HAVE ONE].
Thank you for your time.
EMAILING YOUR REP?
Hi, [NAME OF ELECTED OFFICIAL],
My name is [YOUR NAME], and I’m a voter in your [STATE/DISTRICT]. I’m writing to express [YOUR FEELING] about [X ISSUE]. [INCLUDE ANY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE YOU’VE HAD WITH THE ISSUE HERE].
Thank you for taking the time to consider this, and I urge you to [SUGGESTED ACTION].
Best,
[YOUR NAME]