We address this question in our Frequently Answered Questions, but I want to cover it in this space to help clarify the significance of issue badges.

Before Slatecard, when an online contributor clicked "submit" to send their credit card information for processing on any candidate's website or even a site like ActBlue, the process was finished. Not on Slatecard.

When a Slatecarder contributes a monetary donation to any candidate on Slatecard, after the credit card has been processed you are taken to a issue badges page where you can help qualify that candidate on the issue which you believe that candidate supports or represents well.

Here are the current issue badges that a Slatecarder can choose from:

Once the Slatecarder selects the issue badge, they are asked to enter a short message (100 characters or less) to send to that candidate, and a name to associate with the badge (e.g., first name, full name, nickname or anonymous).

Clicking "deliver badge" drops the badge onto the candidate's Ticker, onto the original Slatecard which the Slatecarder was referred from, and in our main Ticker on the homepage.

While the donation amount isn't public, all other information is public. That means that if the candidate happens to look at his or her Slatecard profile, they'll get your message regardless of when it was sent.

Further, once we've tabulated a solid stable of delivered issue badges, we're going to help visualize them better for our community so that in the candidate directory, along with being able to search by location or office, a Slatecarder will be able to find candidates who support their issue.

Think of it as a qualified wikipedia, regardless of where the candidate "says" they stand on the issue, the community that supports the respective candidate will help determine the candidate's position on the issues that matter to us.

And of course, we're also thinking creatively about how issue-based data might prove helpful to campaigns trying to figure out what their next piece of direct mail or message should be on the campaign trail.

That is how issue badges will help enhance Republican activism.

So why don't you get started today by supporting a candidate and delivering your issue badge.