County Website Initiative:

A multi-county website drive to create stable, professional internet presence for Democratic organizing across all 99 Iowa counties.

Description:

Having a large percentage of County-level IDP organizations rely on FB is a crucial infrastructure gap.

While catastrophic scenarios regarding voter suppression via Facebook manipulations are possible, the more likely issues are incremental: reduced reach, temporary suspensions, or algorithm changes that hurt organic engagement. These “death by a thousand cuts” problems can significantly hamper organizing effectiveness even without dramatic disruptions.

Having each county represented online with coordinated but independent presence is about maintaining reliable, professional organizing infrastructure that doesn’t depend on a single corporate platform’s decisions.

Benefits of County Websites:

  • Better SEO and discoverability for voters searching for local Democratic information
  • Professional credibility that Facebook pages alone can’t provide
  • Email list building capabilities independent of social media algorithms
  • More control over messaging and content presentation
  • Better integration with voter databases and organizing tools
  • Accessible archives of positions, endorsements, and local issues

Platform Independence and Control:

  • Reduces reliance on Facebook’s algorithms, which can suppress political content or be gamed by bad actors
  • Eliminates risk of pages being taken down, hacked, or suspended at critical moments (like right before elections)
  • Provides backup communication channels if social media platforms experience outages or interference

Implementation Strategy:

  • Develop a standardized, cost-effective template system that counties can customize
  • Utilize WordPress platform that will allow easy content management by non-technical volunteers
  • Build in integration capability for with NGP VAN, ActBlue, and other Democratic organizing tools
  • Include essential features like event calendars, volunteer sign-ups, and donation processing
  • Offer free tutorials on using and managing the sites.

 

Implementation Plan:

  • Phased rollout strategy
  • Resource requirements
  • Success metrics and evaluation
  • Pilot program results (if any)

 

Model Initiatives:

Tech for Campaigns Tech for Campaigns is a nonprofit organization that provides free technology services and expertise to political campaigns, civic organizations, and advocacy groups to help them run more effective digital operations. The organization connects volunteer technologists with campaigns and causes that need help with web development, data analysis, digital marketing, and other tech-related challenges to strengthen democratic participation.

Texas Democratic County Website Project

  • State party developed standardized WordPress templates for all 254 counties
  • Bulk hosting arrangements to reduce per-county costs
  • Shared training program for county website administrators
  • Integration with state party voter database and event systems

Virginia Democrats’ “Blue Commonwealth Digital” Program

  • Template-based websites for rural and small-town Democratic committees
  • Shared content management and event calendar systems
  • Coordinated with candidate websites for endorsement integration
  • Mobile-responsive designs optimized for rural internet speeds

North Carolina’s “Every County Connected” Initiative

  • State party provided website templates and hosting support
  • Focus on counties that previously relied only on Facebook
  • Training workshops for county chairs on website maintenance
  • Integration with state party donation and volunteer recruitment systems

Sister District Project’s County Support

  • Provides website templates and digital organizing tools to competitive districts
  • Shared hosting and technical support for smaller campaigns
  • Mobile-optimized designs with built-in voter contact tools
  • Training materials for non-technical volunteers

Indivisible’s Local Group Web Platform

  • Centralized platform allowing local groups to create customized websites
  • Shared event management and action coordination tools
  • Template library with local customization options
  • Integration with national campaigns and messaging