The Colorado Democratic Party unveiled a new grassroots initiative called the 546 Project. Named after the number of votes Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert won her seat by, the goal of the project is precisely that, turn those voters and flip that seat.

In an email to their supporters, the Democrats laid out an ambitious goal starting 17 months before the election to engage more than 500 “neighborhood leaders” and make thousands of voter contacts (phone calls and knocking on doors).

Their email was positive, clear and concise. They briefly explained what they are going to do (make thousands of voter contacts), why they wanted to do it (beat Lauren Boebert) and then asked for volunteers.

Stay up to speed: Sign-up for daily opinion in your inbox Monday-Friday

The Colorado Republican Party was quick to respond, sort of. The Republicans sent an email to their supporters with the Democrat’s email attached. What was the Republicans’ call to action? “We need grassroots donors across Colorado to help fund our efforts.” What efforts? The sentence ends with “to make Colorado free and keep Congressional District 3 safe from out-of-control Democrats.”

It is clear the purpose of the Republicans’ email was solely for fundraising, an important thing, but we need a grassroots response. We need to counter what they are doing in CD3 and go on the offensive in the CD7 and CD8.

On Dec. 4 last year after the election and Republican losses here in Colorado, I laid out the three major changes Republicans must make to be successful in a Sunday Perspective piece in The Denver Gazette, “How the Colorado GOP can prevail.” Making voter contacts is one of them.

This must be handled by the state party. These targeted areas (congressional districts and state legislative districts) often engulf numerous counties within their boundaries making it difficult or outright impossible for a county party to adequately provide the grassroots oversight for a district-wide approach.

This cannot be left to individual campaigns for these districts. As of when I sent this to the editor, there is not even one declared Republican with the Federal Elections Commission to run in either the seventh or eighth congressional districts.

Even if there was a declared Republican, there is no guarantee one of those candidates would be the eventual nominee. They would have to focus the first months of their campaign on getting on the ballot and then winning the Republican primary. In order to start now, as our friends on the left side of the aisle seem to realize and embrace, the state party must take the lead.

For those of you who are in leadership within your own county’s Republican party and wish to take initiative on the grassroots front without the state party, I encourage you to do so, but this will not replace the need to have the state party’s involvement.

At a minimum, the Colorado Republican Party should mimic the Democrats’ grassroots plan. It is not all doom and gloom, we have dedicated volunteers across this state, and they are just waiting for a plan – it is time to come up with one.

Alec Hanna is a Colorado-based Republican campaign strategist and founder of Dark Horse Campaigns. He previously served as a Director for former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and has served on dozens of campaigns nationwide including three presidential campaigns (Walker, Rubio and Cruz).