Research Report: Fund Our Future Revisited - Results from 2026 RCT Testing on Care and Taxes
In 2021 and 2022, ASO Communications and We Make the Future demonstrated how messaging that foregrounds the caring future we desire, the families who will benefit, and the tangible goods taxes can deliver is far more effective at mobilizing our base and persuading the middle than messaging that leads with tax policy itself. Grounded in a Race Class Gender Narrative (RCGN) framework, this Fund Our Future (FOF) research and messaging guidance has helped shape revenue campaigns and secure victories across several states, including Colorado, Michigan and Washington, in the years since its release.
Building on the 2021-2022 Fund Our Future research, and following elicitation interviews with advocates and focus groups of voters in Arizona, Florida, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, ASO Communications and We Make the Future conducted two rounds of Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) testing on Swayable. The first round, conducted on May 14, 2026, was a survey of 6,936 adults nationally, with oversamples in Arizona, Florida, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
This 2026 Research Report explains how anger over authoritarianism can be harnessed to persuade Americans that we can and should make billionaires and corporations pay what they owe, and to demand our leaders fund the services and supports our families deserve.
All of the Race Class Gender Narrative messages we tested succeed in turning this authoritarian moment into a rallying cry for a better future. In contrast, older messaging about growing the economy, everyone paying their fair share, and making smart investments falls entirely flat – and that’s in a forced view survey where we are not battling to capture people’s attention. For persuasion, our strongest approach is to highlight what taxes are supposed to be and the agency we should have in deciding how to care for our communities. For mobilization, emphasizing how billionaires, corporations, and the regime they’ve bought have robbed and divided us can inspire the defiant action we need.
While there are differences in strengths between these RCGN messages, including how each resonates for different audiences, they are essentially the same story told with differing emphases. They support and complement each other, and can be deployed in concert within the same campaign.
Most important is the overarching narrative they share – one that directly confronts the people taking away our freedoms, abducting our neighbors, and giving corporations more and more control over our lives. Indeed, this research suggests that failing to acknowledge and meet the severity of this moment is one of the biggest mistakes advocates for revenue can make.
You can also check out our Fund Our Future page for messaging guides and more resources.
