Note: This guest post is from Brian Lowe, an advisory committee member of the Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund and managing partner at Assembly Theory. Thanks, Brian!

Nearly one year ago, we created the Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund. Our goal was to support and expand legal resources available to organizations that protect asylum seekers, immigrants, and other marginalized people facing deportation or detention.

We set a goal of $1 million, announced our campaign at a news conference, and asked for online donations. As our volunteer fundraising advisor Andy Robinson told us, we were using an “upside down and backwards” approach for our campaign … and he’s right!

Nonetheless, we’ve raised more than $930,000 from thousands of donors, living in every Vermont county and 39 U.S. states. Most of the money has already been distributed to legal aid partners to build their capacity, hire more staff, and train more volunteers.

We expect to complete the campaign this month, a year from when we began.

The traditional approach

As we discussed in our planning meetings, the traditional campaign model looks like this:

1. Clarify the case for your campaign; set a financial goal and build a gift chart. (Yes, we did these things.)

2. Start with a quiet or silent phase. Reach out to major donor prospects first, starting with those who have the strongest connection to the mission. This is sometimes called the “top down, inside out” approach.

3. Once you’ve secured commitments for the majority of your goal – traditionally, 60% to 80% of your target –then announce the campaign and seek a more diverse mix of gifts. That’s the public phase.

Here’s the upside-down part: we went public without a quiet phase. At our kickoff event and news conference, we promoted our web page and asked everyone to donate. Through online giving, plus an anonymous lead gift of $100,000, we were well on our way.

Since then, we’ve been using a combination of major and matching gifts, fundraising events, house parties, and online giving. Here’s what we learned.

Begin with partnerships

Our success began with strong partnerships. In early 2025, state Treasurer Mike Pieciak, a founder of the Defense Fund, organized a task force to study how changes in federal policy would impact the state’s economy. The anticipated decline in federal funding was a significant risk for a state reliant on both federal money and immigrant labor.

The task force identified a big problem: to serve a population of about 30,000 immigrants and refugees, Vermont had only two (!) attorneys with relevant experience in defense removal proceedings.

That system needed to change. We launched the Defense Fund to address this problem and recruited a politically diverse organizing committee – with Democrats, Republicans, and independents – to lead the effort.

Cast a wide net

After a great kickoff event, which followed the internationally publicized release of advocate and Vermonter Mohsen Madawi (who spoke at our news conference), we had some momentum.

The United Way of Northwest Vermont stepped forward to manage the funds so donations would be tax deductible. Partners like the Vermont Green soccer club adopted the cause. When the Green went on to win their league’s national championship, they helped us raise money and spread awareness at every sold-out playoff game.

Everybody host a party!

This attention helped validate the effort and led to a series of fundraising house parties around the state from Brookfield to Burlington.

House parties led to public events with Vermont companies, including The Alchemist Brewery, Phoenix Books, Brattleboro Museum, Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation, Hula, Twincraft, and many more.

Even as our organizing committee was scheduling fundraisers, others popped up independently: a bluegrass concert in Calais, a garden party in East Montpelier, an auction in the Mad River Valley … a long list of independent actions to support immigrant rights.

Pairing a strong message with tangible action

This campaign was (and remains) a tangible response to the deeply problematic actions of the current federal administration. Their disregard for due process, rule of law, and human dignity remains a unifying force for our donors.

The Vermont Immigration Legal Defense Fund sends a clear message: Due process matters. In immigration court, the presence of an attorney – unsurprisingly – makes a massive difference in outcomes … and we need more attorneys.

This message was paired with a simple action step: Donate! These donations create an immediate impact on the lives of their neighbors, friends, and co-workers.

Demonstrating impact

Last month, we completed our fourth grant round, awarding $316,000 to the Association of Africans Living in Vermont, Vermont Asylum Assistance Program, and Vermont Law and Graduate School. Prior rounds went to AALV, VAAP, The Family Room, and Vermont Afghan Alliance. These awards funded:

• Eight attorneys who were newly hired and/or shifted their time to provide more legal defense services.
• Training roughly 100 attorneys, paralegals, and interpreters for pro bono (free) legal support.
• Creating improved intake systems.
• More in-person visits with prisoners.
• More people safely returned to their families and communities after unlawful detentions.

These results have been shared and re-shared with donors and partners. In many cases, this feedback loop has prompted additional donations.

You don’t need to do this perfectly

To summarize: If you have strong partners; a clear message; a compelling, timely cause; and concrete ways to demonstrate your impact, don’t feel bound by the conventional model. Under the right circumstance, upside down and backwards can work well enough.

Create your own model – then get out there and do the work.