About WFD

What are your membership requirements?

Members are registered voters sharing a commitment to WFD’s purpose. Although there is no required donation or membership fee, members are asked to contribute monetarily or to volunteer time. Members often do both.

What is your purpose in North Carolina?

Work for Democracy promotes:

Fair and free elections so that every vote counts
Non-partisan redistricting
Non-discriminatory legislation
Civil, political and human rights of all persons
Strong public education
Universal access to healthcare
Reproductive freedom for women
Protection of the environment
Rational, science-based public policy
A culture that reduces gun violence

I’m interested. How do I join?

Terrific! Prospective members may request a membership form through a current member or the "Contact" tab on this website. The membership form includes questions required by NC campaign finance law.

What are membership benefits?

Pooled financial and volunteer contributions helped WFD’s candidates win elections since 2018. Our members benefit from the results of collective work and success.

How are WFD member names shared or protected?

We take confidentiality seriously. Member database access is limited to administrative staff. We never share contact information without your permission.

Do you have regular business meetings? If not, how are members aware of what leadership is doing?

There are no regular member meetings. We stay in touch with email communication and postings on our webpage.

What about diverse opinions? Who decides what positions WFD will take?

WFD is managed by an Executive Committee (EC) with rotating leadership. We work by consensus and, when appropriate, by majority vote. We value and actively seek the contributions of all our members. If you have feedback to share, email us at: secretarywfd@googlegroups.com or mail to: Work For Democracy, P.O. Box 10664, Greensboro, 27404.

Will I have a chance to meet and greet WFD’s candidates?

Yes! We want members to know the candidates WFD supports. During election season, we hold candidate “meet and greet” events. Those events will be shared via email newsletters.

How does wfd select candidates to support?

In each North Carolina General Assembly election cycle, our Executive Committee establishes a Candidate Evaluation Subcommittee that is responsible for a thorough evaluation and vetting of candidates. The subcommittee also identifies contests in which WFD's efforts are likely to make a critical difference. In so doing, we consult with numerous trusted independent sources and interview candidates. The Executive Committee makes all final decisions on candidates we support.

How is WFD different from other groups, like the League of Women Voters?

Operating under the law and regulations of North Carolina, WFD is permitted to provide resources, funding and activities directly in support of candidates and political parties. We aim to influence the North Carolina Legislature by supporting candidates whose positions align with ours. We were formed to impact election outcomes.

The ACLU, the League of Women Voters and many other organizations are 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) nonprofits which are prohibited from supporting individual candidates or political parties.

What percentage of member contributions go to support WfD endorsed candidates?

Nearly 94% of the money spent goes to support our candidates' campaigns.

Our Success Story

Work for Democracy came of age in 2018 when Democrats had a chance to break the super-majority in the legislature that would prevent them from overriding vetoes from Democratic Governor Roy Cooper.

On election night, with incomplete returns, Democrats needed to win just one more seat in the Senate. That seat was Trudy Wade’s, a divisive Republican. This election was the last one to be called because the vote was so close. Near midnight, Guilford County posted its results and by a margin of only 763 votes, Michael Garrett had won. Garrett gave WFD credit for its role in fund-raising and canvassing door-to-door. “We knew in that moment on election night that the time and investment that people such as Work for Democracy devoted had delivered change for Guilford County,” he said. Also elected that night to the NC House was Ashton Clemmons, another WFD-supported candidate.

Building on this success, WFD has endorsed and donated to successful candidates across North Carolina.