Breaking! New $ Support for Grassroots Activism
Info on How to Apply for Micro-Grants to Support Voter Engagement
Tough Week? Here’s Some Good News on this Friday!
In all I write, one of my central themes is that in the battle for democracy we find ourselves in, there is no asset more important than the growing grassroots army of activists, fighting so hard to protect democracy, from the bottom up and everywhere!
Think about the last two years.
Recall the big wins—the winning streak! The Kansas referendum to protect reproductive freedom; Ohio’s Issue 1 in August and November; flipping the Wisconsin Supreme Court in April 2023; flipping statehouses in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Virginia; election deniers losing across the country when they ran for Secretary of State; Moms of Liberty losing everywhere; Suozzi replacing Santos in Congress; special election after special election, including in Alabama; and so on.
Grassroots activists (working hard from every corner of America) have been a key part of every one of these wins—maybe the common denominator in a wide variety of elections. Many of these victories were surprises—unexpected. And the growing energy of grassroots groups, stoking voter engagement and turnout, explains so much of that over-performance.
So, in the short- and long-run battle to protect democracy, supporting the growth of this grassroots infrastructure could not be more important.
But often, that is not where pro-democracy financial support is directed…first, second, or ever. Which means many of these groups and efforts are woefully underfunded, leaving activists paying for almost everything out of their own pockets. Which limits the scale of this critical work.
BUT….I’ve got some exciting news to share about changing that!
A group called “Clean and Prosperous America” understands the opportunity and dilemma I’ve just described.
As their director Greg Rock says: “Clean & Prosperous America believes that entrusting grassroots, community-based organizations to directly engage voters is the most effective way to win critical races up and down the ballot.”
But as Rock pointed out, there’s a chicken and an egg problem when it comes to scaling up of these efforts. As the Grassroots Connector explained, because “these smaller, often unaffiliated, grassroots groups are generally under-resourced and working below the radar….for funders,” “it can be challenging to learn about their efforts and find contact information.”
So Clean & Prosperous America is stepping up to help. They are offering grants of up to $2,500 per group working on voter engagement: “These micro-grants are for groups needing funds to integrate electoral activities into their regular programing, support volunteer-led efforts, or to help foster new low-cost creative ideas.”
The grants are open to nonprofits, LLCs, and volunteer-led groups.
The application process should take less than 30 minutes to complete. Link to APPLY HERE.
And the first application deadline is May 15, 2024.
So, if you are part of a group focused on any of the many pivotal states Clean and Prosperous America is targeting (you don’t need to be located there, simply doing work there)…
…take a look at the opportunity and see if it makes sense for you.
Thank you too the Grassroots Connector (a great newsletter to follow, btw) for bringing this great opportunity to my attention.
Let’s keep building, everyone!
Starting at the grassroots level, it is OUR work—more than criminal trials and frustrating Supreme Court arguments—that will save our democracy, this year and beyond.