There’s something about a front porch in summer.
It’s not quite inside and not quite outside. It’s a place where neighbors stop to say hello, conversations stretch a little longer than expected, and someone who began as a visitor gradually starts to feel like part of the community.
That image feels especially fitting for Crossing Party Lines right now.
After nearly ten years, CPL is entering a new chapter. We’ve launched a redesigned CrossingPartyLines.org and a new Member Hub—not because we needed more technology, but because we want to make it easier for people to find us, feel welcome, participate, and eventually help sustain the community they’ve joined.
And, frankly, because CPL needs to become less dependent on me.
Ten Years of Building
For most of CPL’s history, I have done the majority of the work required to keep the organization running.
That has meant developing and teaching workshops, answering emails, managing websites and registrations, supporting volunteers, creating resources, solving problems, experimenting with new ideas, and doing hundreds of small tasks most members never need to think about. Without pay.
I’m proud of what we’ve built. But after ten years, I need to step back from day-to-day leadership and devote more of my time to writing. For CPL to continue, the work I have been carrying has to become easier for other people to share—and eventually, some of it needs to become paid work.
That is the larger story behind these two launches.
From .com to .org
Our CrossingPartyLines.com website had grown crowded and complicated. It also relied heavily on red-and-blue imagery that could make CPL look as though our work was simply about bringing Democrats and Republicans together.
It isn’t.
The new CrossingPartyLines.org is quieter, more spacious, and less overtly political. It was designed especially for people who are curious about talking across differences but aren’t yet convinced they want to try it.
People wondering:
- Will this turn into an argument?
- Will I be judged?
- Could I actually do this?
We want the answer to be reassuring: Yes, you can. And we won’t throw you into the deep end alone.
Think of the new website as the path leading up to the porch. The new Member Hub is the porch itself.
Member Hub — Your Space
We built Member Hub because members kept asking for things: easier registration, one reliable place to find events and Zoom links, more transparency about what CPL is doing, opportunities to suggest topics, ways to connect between meetings, and more influence over the community.
Some features are free: event registration, upcoming events, topic and book lists, our community bulletin board, and experimental tools being developed by our Apps and Agents team.
Members who contribute $5 a month or more can participate more deeply—joining discussions, suggesting and voting on topics, recommending books, accessing additional resources, and helping shape what CPL becomes.
Our hope is that Member Hub helps CPL become more than somewhere you attend a Zoom conversation. We want it to feel like somewhere you belong.
Why Membership Matters
For years, donations have covered CPL’s basic expenses while volunteers—especially me—provided the labor. That model allowed us to offer an extraordinary amount at very little cost. But it isn’t sustainable forever.
We don’t want to simply put a price tag on something that used to be free. That’s why basic participation remains free and why paid membership comes with more ways to connect, learn, participate, and influence CPL’s future.
But your $5 a month is more than paying for new features. It is investing in our future.
If enough people contribute a little each month, CPL can begin paying someone part-time to do the essential work that software can’t automate and that is simply too much to ask one volunteer to carry indefinitely. That could be the difference between an organization that depends on one person and a community built to last.
The Next Chapter
Websites don’t build communities. Neither do apps, membership systems, or clever technology.
People do.
People who show up. People who listen. People who volunteer. People who contribute what they can. People who decide that creating spaces where Americans can disagree without becoming enemies is worth sustaining.
This next chapter of Crossing Party Lines is about ensuring that our community can continue long after any one person steps away.
We hope you’ll be part of it.
