Many political organizations rely on grants or huge sums of money from wealthy donors. We don’t roll like that. Those kinds of arrangements inevitably end up as a tit-for-tat relationship, and even with the case of public grants, accepting that kind of money makes one beholden to certain political actors, and would limit the kinds of protest and agitation we could perform. Most importantly, it would undermine the project of radical democracy that we hold central to our mission.
Instead, we are a completely member-funded organization. That means our vision and our work are guided only by our members and our shared vision of socialism—our vision of a more just society. No establishment politician, cor- poration, or NGO can tell us what to do, how to organize, or threaten to cut our funding. In fact, through our independence and solidarity, it is we who threaten them.
National membership allows you to access national teleconferences and webinars put on by the national organization, and gives you the right to vote in DSA-LA matters. These dues help to pay for our wonderful staff members and traveling organizers, as well as fund our organization's national campaign efforts chosen democratically at the biennial national convention.