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Award-Winning Democratic Strategy

Ascend Digital Strategies is an industry-leading Democratic digital firm known for blending high-level technical precision with breakthrough creative. Our work has been recognized with multiple Reed Awards and Pollie Awards for setting new benchmarks in digital persuasion, fundraising, acquisition, and creative experimentation.

2026: Four Reed Award Wins Across Email and SMS Fundraising

Best Email Creative/Copy — Gubernatorial Campaign (Democratic)

  • Client: Mikie Sherrill for Governor (New Jersey)
  • The Strategy: Service-Driven Contrast
  • The Impact: In just 200 words, this email tied Mikie’s Navy service and leadership philosophy to the Medicaid cuts in the Big Beautiful Bill — connecting a gubernatorial race to the dominant national story without an obvious tie. It pulled no punches while avoiding the attack-only trap, offering supporters a hopeful reason to give.

Best Fundraising Email Creative/Copy for US House (Democratic)

  • Client: Congresswoman Brittany Pettersen (CO-07)
  • The Strategy: Authentic Moment, Maximum Impact
  • The Impact: After Speaker Johnson blocked a resolution allowing new mothers to vote remotely, Brittany traveled to DC with her newborn to cast her vote in person. We built an email around that moment that broke through a brutal April 2025 fundraising environment, yielding 4x the campaign’s average donation count. High-profile partners including Senator Booker adopted it as split copy — broadening Brittany’s profile and donor base well beyond her district.

Best Subject Line (Democratic)

  • Client: Congressman Dave Min (CA-47)
  • The Win: “My kids will think this email is cringe”
  • The Impact: Self-deprecating in ways Members of Congress rarely are, this subject line capitalized on the 6-7 trend by leaning into the joke rather than trying to sound cool. It delivered a 30% higher open rate than normal and strong fundraising returns while showing Dave as a family man and a different kind of politician willing to be himself.

Best Fundraising Text Creative — California (Democratic)

  • Client: Congressman Dave Min (CA-47)
  • The Strategy: Creative Experimentation
  • The Impact: Where other campaigns tried to capitalize on the 6-7 craze, this SMS did it better by owning how cringe-y it was. Leaning into Dave’s brand as a fighter who loves dad jokes, the text turned a hard-hitting partisan message into something fun, family-focused, and different from the usual talking points filling people’s inboxes.

2025: Breakthrough Creative & Messaging

Best Fundraising Text for Federal Campaign (Democratic)

  • Client: Chris Deluzio for Congress
  • The Win: Best SMS Message
  • The Impact: This award honors a single, high-performing SMS execution that redefined direct-response efficiency. By prioritizing message power over volume, we proved why we are a top-tier firm for Democratic mobile fundraising.

Best Campaign Meme

  • Client: Jon Tester for U.S. Senate (IE)
  • The Strategy: Creative Experimentation
  • The Impact: In a saturated battleground market, we used “pattern-interrupt” meme content to force a conversation. This win highlights our willingness to take bold, creative swings to ensure our clients break through the noise.

2024: Data-Driven Persuasion & Growth

Breaking Through in a 17-Candidate Field (Pollie Award Winner)

  • Client: Mayor Mike Johnston (Denver)
  • The Strategy: Full-Funnel Persuasion & Brand Lift
  • The Impact: We reached 85,000 voters across Denver with a narrative-driven program that integrated bio-spots and policy messaging.
  • The Metric: Independent testing showed a 7%+ Brand Lift on YouTube, meaningfully boosting Mike’s favorability. This program turned a 17-candidate primary into a decisive victory, solidifying our reputation for Democratic digital persuasion.

Best Email Acquisition Program (Reed Award Winner)

  • Client: Mayor Mike Johnston
  • The Strategy: Public Matching Maximization
  • The Impact: We built a custom acquisition funnel designed to leverage Denver’s public matching funds, converting small-dollar donations into massive campaign capital through personalized creative.

2023: Innovative Gubernatorial Fundraising

Best Fundraising Email Creative/Copy (Gubernatorial – Democratic)

  • Client: Governor Jared Polis (Colorado)
  • The Win: “How Colorado is faring on shark attacks”
  • The Strategy: This “anti-fundraising” creative used humor and absurdity to skyrocket engagement, proving that high-level creative risk-taking drives superior long-term donor loyalty.

Official Recognition

To verify our records, visit the official award archives: