Focus for Democracy, also called Focus for Democracy Action, is a data analytics group which claims to use voter data to help Democratic Party candidates, advocacy groups, and others use limited campaign dollars to make a bigger impact on Election Day. ¹    

The group was previously fiscally sponsored by Ground Game Fund, a left-of-center voter engagement group founded by former candidates for office. ^{2 3} In 2023, it filed an initial nonprofit tax return with the IRS as an independent 501(c)(4) advocacy group. ⁴

Background

Focus for Democracy claims to have an election impact methodology that identifies races where donor money will be especially valuable, vets campaign programs for quality and effectiveness, and makes recommendations to donors. It prioritizes funding groups that engage potential and actual voters in close races and targets races where a single victory can create impactful downstream impact, such as national races and state Secretaries of State races. ⁵    

The group’s website highlights examples where individual victories created other impacts, such as President Joe Biden’s victory in Wisconsin being the key to winning the 2020 presidential election and the 2021 victory of U.S. Senator Jon Ossoff’s (D-GA) being key to Democratic Party control of the U.S. Senate. ⁶

Focus for Democracy claims to have a network of over 20,000 people who have donated over $200 million since 2020 based on its recommendations. ¹

Affiliated Groups

Focus for Democracy claims to prefer donors to send money to its recommended Political Action Committees and other organizations. ⁷

Focus for Democracy has several sister organizations. These include Focus Action Network, which claims to have impacted key races and issues, such as engaging about 30% of Georgia’s registered Black voters who did not vote in the 2020 general election to vote for Jon Ossoff in a 2021 runoff election;  ⁸ and Focus for Democracy Advocacy Group, a 501(c)(4) organization that makes grants to left-wing organizing and electoral advocacy groups including Working America, National Redistricting Action Fund, and Citizen Strong Action Fund. ⁹

Potential volunteer activists are directed from Focus on Democracy’s website to Working America, the community and non-union engagement of the left-of-center AFL-CIO union federation. ^{10 11}

Leadership

Focus for Democracy was founded by Aaron Frank, Julia Chang, Liza Finkelstein, and Sandy Newman. ¹² Focus for Democracy states that the founders “do not, and have never, taken any compensation for our work for the network.” ¹³

Franks was an environmental lecturer who ran an investment firm. ¹⁴

Newman is a longtime consultant for left-of-center groups and founded three left-of-center advocacy and get-out-the-vote groups. ¹⁵   

Finkelstein runs Focus for Democracy’s day-to-day operations. ¹⁶

Chang is involved in left-of-center California community organizations and has held roles in both local government and with regional advocacy groups. ¹⁷

Frank and Newman are two of Focus for Democracy’s evaluators of key programs for donor recommendations. ¹⁸

Financials

In 2021, Ground Game Fund donated over $1.5 million to eight groups through Focus for Democracy. WV Freedom Alliance received nearly $1.1 million. $100,000 was sent to New Venture Fund, and $100,00 was sent to Hopewell Fund. ¹⁹ New Venture Fund and Hopewell Fund receive funding from Arabella Advisors, one of the largest left-of-center dark money groups in America. ²⁰

Ground Game Fund donated over $1.8 million in 2022 through Focus for Democracy, including $1 million to Future Now Action. Ground Game Fund’s total revenue that year was $2,550,545. It spent $2,572,657, and reported assets of $1,197,309. ²¹

In 2023, Focus for Democracy Action filed an initial nonprofit tax return with the IRS as an independent 501(c)(4) advocacy group, declaring that “Focus for Democracy Action did not conduct any programmatic activities during its first year of operation.” ²²

1. Who We Are + What We Do. Focus for Democracy. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.focus4democracy.org/who-we-are
2. Svitek, Patrick. “After 2020 disappointments, Democrats look to prioritize year-round organizing.” The Texas Tribune. June 6, 2021. Accessed April 28. 2024. https://www.texastribune.org/2021/06/09/ground-game-texas-democrats/
3. Ground Game Fund. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form-990). 2021. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/842487707/202233199349330068/full
4. Focus for Democracy Action, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2023, Box B https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/922097780/202423189349305617/full
5. Our Criteria. Focus for Democracy. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.focus4democracy.org/criteria
6. Key Competitive Race. Focus for Democracy. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.focus4democracy.org/key-competitive-race
7. C3 FAQs. Focus for Democracy. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.focus4democracy.org/faqs-c3
8. Turning out Voters of Color in the Georgia Runoff. Focus Action Network. Accessed April 28, 2023. https://focusactionnetwork.org/georgia-2021-runoff
9. Focus for Democracy Advocacy Group, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2023, Schedule I https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/873626015/202433189349305653/full
10. Our Recommendations FAQs. Focus for Democracy. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.focus4democracy.org/faqs-our-recommendations
11. About Us. Working America. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://workingamerica.org/about/
12. The Focus for Democracy Team. Focus for Democracy. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.focus4democracy.org/team
13. About Focus for Democracy FAQs. Focus for Democracy. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.focus4democracy.org/faqs-about-focus-for-democracy
14. Aaron Frank. Focus for Democracy. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.focus4democracy.org/team-aaron
15. Sandy Newman. Focus for Democracy. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.focus4democracy.org/team-sandy
16. Liza Finkelstein. Focus for Democracy. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.focus4democracy.org/team-liza
17. Julia Chang Frank. Focus for Democracy. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.focus4democracy.org/team-julia
18. Our Team of Evaluators. Focus for Democracy. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.focus4democracy.org/team-evaluators
19. Ground Game Fund. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form-990). 2021. Schedule I, Part II. Lines 3 and 5. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/842487707/202233199349330068/full
20. Fiscal Sponsorship. Arabella Advisors. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://www.arabellaadvisors.com/expertise/fiscal-sponsorship/
21. Ground Game Fund. Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form-990). 2022. Schedule I, Part I. Lines 8, 18, and 20. Accessed April 28, 2024. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/842487707/202323199349329312/full
22. Focus for Democracy Action, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2023, Part III Line 4a https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/922097780/202423189349305617/full