Thank Hillary Clinton (and leave your data too)!

A Democratic interest group needs you – yes, you! – to help thank Hillary Clinton for her service as secretary of State.

Over the last week, countless thousands of liberal-leaning voters have received emails from advocacy organizations enlisting them in a triumphant sendoff for the former first lady. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, EMILY’s List, Planned Parenthood and the Human Rights Campaign have all contacted supporters with a simple request: sign a thank-you card for Clinton and show her how much you care. Of course, there’s more than simple gratitude at play here. By urging recipients to sign their names to a list, groups can collect information about their backers and the issues that engage them. Using social media to push out thank-you messages – or petitions, “birthday cards” and other such signature-gathering items – campaigns and outside groups expand their universe of contacts for the future. Ideally, recipients forward the messages to their friends and family, and more email addresses pile up. It’s a testament to Clinton’s unique place in Democratic politics that so many groups would hold her up as a figure for their supporters to rally around: more than any other politician, except maybe President Barack Obama, she commands broad and energetic loyalty across the center-left.