At Goods Unite Us, we’re all about making corporate money in politics transparent, so that consumers can vote with their wallets. For example, if you vote Republican and consider yourself to be a conservative, you might want to purchase Sparkle paper towel as opposed to Seventh Generation. Or, if you’re progressive, you might want to buy Adidas instead of New Balance shoes.
We want to encourage you to vote, not only at the polls, but every day when you’re spending your hard-earned money.
But that’s not what this post is about. We recently connected with another cool startup that’s doing awesome things in the political space – Motivote. Motivote is a voting accountability platform that aims to help young people overcome the micro-barriers to voting. Micro-barriers include things like not knowing enough about the candidates, missing the registration deadline, or simply not being able to get to the post office to purchase stamps. As it turns out, we learned that these micro-barriers prevent 56% of registered voters from following through and actually voting. So, Motivote is obviously solving a real problem.
Here are a few other cool facts about Motivote:
- It started out as a school project at New York University. The team had great success proving that Motivote did actually increase the number of young people who voted, so now they’re raising a pre-seed round to have a bigger impact.
- Motivote uses behavioral nudges and gamification. Motivote participants are encouraged to take all of the necessary steps prior to voting (registration, ID verification, etc.), vote, and then share their actions with their friends.
- Motivote participants can earn prizes!
- And like us, Motivote is women-led.
The Motivote team has proven that their methods work, and as is the case with all start-ups, their work is just beginning. Definitely check them out.
And, of course, don’t forget to vote everyday too with your wallet; it’s our job at Goods Unite Us to keep ya’ll informed.