Nonpartisan App Aims to Reinvent Fundraising, Voter Engagement
WASHINGTON – As Americans across the country prepare to settle in and get their politics on watching the first Democratic presidential debate in Miami, a new, nonpartisan political app is promising to shake up fundraising and how voters engage in electoral politics.
Prytany, a one-stop donation platform that connects users to political and issue advocacy campaigns of all shapes and sizes, is that rarity in today’s polarized political environment — the product of people of very different ideologies coming together for the common good.
Created by a Republican, a Democrat and an Independent, Prytany enables people of all political persuasions to educate themselves about candidates and issues without bias.
“We decided to create Prytany because our country is becoming too divided and intolerant of different points of view,” said Royal Kastens, the Democratic co-founder of Prytany.
“Often the will of the majority does not directly lead to political change due to a variety of special interests. So, three of us … decided to create Prytany to close that gap and facilitate direct engagement among voters and with elected officials and candidates.”
In addition to serving as a virtual meeting space for constituents, candidates and elected officials to contribute and talk about the issues, Prytany is also a tool for learning about political races and, unlike other donor platforms, allows for an aggregation of political donations.
And if fundraising is your thing, company founders have worked hard to ensure Prytany is the cheapest, fastest and most transparent application of its kind.
It costs nothing to join as a user, and the fees for candidates are the lowest of any political contribution processor servicing candidates of any party.
ActBlue’s transaction fees are 3.95 percent on each contribution and WinRed’s are 3.8 percent + 30 cents on each contribution. Prytany’s are only 3 percent.
John Polis, the Republican among the founders, said Prytany is a balanced platform that doesn’t have its finger on the scale trying to advance one side over the other.
“It is important for people to be civil with one another, but it is essential for neither side to feel that the medium or outlet is against them from the start,” Polis said.
“Ultimately, Prytany is a call to action,” added Independent co-founder Chris Tavlarides. “This is democracy at its finest. Conversations and ideas turn into action.
Prytany received a unanimous vote of approval from the Federal Election Commission in April. You can download the Prytany app on the Apple Store or on Google Play. To learn more visit prytany.com, or join the conversation on Twitter @thePrytany.
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