Type of Activity: Project
Grantee: SPLC Action Fund
Amount: $200,000 in 2023

What is SPLC Action Fund?

The SPLC Action Fund (SPLCAF) conducts policy advocacy at the state level in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, and Florida as well as advocacy targeting the federal government. This allows them to complement and reinforce state-level advocacy with federal advocacy on priority issues, such as countering hate and extremism, promoting voting rights, eradicating poverty, advancing criminal justice reform and other relevant areas of focus that advance racial justice and the human rights of all.

Why do we think this project is important? 

States in the deep south face some of the most difficult and longstanding abuses of power in the nation. Generations of legal and structural barriers aimed at limiting the civic participation of communities of color have created an environment where abuses are common and opportunities for accountability are rare. The impacts of these abuses are most often felt by Black communities, who are often prevented from meaningful participation in democratic governance in an attempt to depress their civic power.

SPLCAF responds to these challenges by serving as a catalyst for social and racial justice in the deep south. Through strategic litigation, issue advocacy, public education, investigations, and communications, SPLCAF advances racial justice policies and legal doctrines. Specifically, it is focused on voting and civic engagement, combating white supremacy, criminal justice reform, and poverty eradication.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting SPLC Action Fund? 

In 2023, Democracy Fund Voice approved a one-year grant of $200,000 to SPLC Action Fund.

Type of Activity: Project
Grantee: Local Progress Policy Action
Amount: $200,000 in 2023

What is Local Progress Policy Action?

Local Progress Policy Action is a 501(c)4 and a movement of local elected officials advancing racial and economic justice through all levels of local government. Local Progress Policy Action is comprised of elected leaders who build power with underrepresented communities, many of which they are a part of, and work to reshape what is possible in localities all across the country.

Why do we think this project is important? 

Democracy Fund Voice supports Local Progress Policy Action’s work to shift governing culture toward one that centers collaborative governance, provides tailored leadership and governance training opportunities for local elected officials, increases public awareness and understanding of the dangerous impacts of state preemption, and mobilizes local elected officials across localities and regions towards shared policy goals grounded in racial and economic justice.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting Local Progress Policy Action? 

In 2023, Democracy Fund Voice approved a one-year grant of $200,000 to Local Progress Policy Action.

Type of Activity: Project
Grantee: Fix Our House
Amount: $150,000 in 2023

What is Fix Our House?

Fix Our House is a bipartisan effort to make our politics more competitive and responsive through the adoption of proportional representation.

Why do we think this project is important? 

Fix Our House champions urgently needed reforms to pull politics out of its doom loop of polarization and dysfunction by offering America’s diverse electorate full and fair representation in the House of Representatives.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting Fix Our House?

In 2023, Democracy Fund Voice approved a one-year grant of $150,000 to Fix Our House.

Type of Activity: Project
Grantee: Center for Ballot Freedom
Amount: $200,000 in 2023

What is the Center for Ballot Freedom?

A fiscally sponsored project of Tides Advocacy, the Center for Ballot Freedom is a unique structural reform initiative led by a cross-partisan coalition focused on reviving and relegalizing fusion voting in order to solve our nation’s polarization problem.

Why do we think this project is important? 

Fusion voting is one of many promising reforms that could counteract the dominant winner-take-all dynamic in our elections by empowering new voices, new ideas, and new parties to emerge—and in the process, increasing healthy competition in our political system.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting the Center for Ballot Freedom? 

In 2023, Democracy Fund Voice approved a one-year grant of $200,000 to the Center for Ballot Freedom.

Type of Activity: Project
Grantees: Pay Our Interns Action Fund and Vote Mama Action Fund
Amount: $10,000 per grantee in 2022

In 2022 Democracy Fund Voice approved grants to support wellness and capacity among staff at two of our grantee organizations within our Governance program. These grants were made in recognition of the increased demands on time and other resources among staff at these organizations during a year with a mid-term election and ongoing pandemic.

These grants were separate from other grants intended to provide project support or general operating support. More information about the work of these grantees can be found by visiting the grant descriptions for Pay Our Interns Action Fund and Vote Mama Action Fund.

Type of Activity: General Operating Support
Grantee: Demand Progress Action
Amount: $250,000 in 2022

What is Demand Progress Action?

Founded in 2010, Demand Progress Action works to secure progressive policy changes for everyday people. Demand Progress Action brings together large and diverse coalitions that transcend political lines and embrace shared values — and leverage that backing to work effectively in Washington, serving as an advocate for the public in key decisions.

Why do we think this organization is important? 

Demand Progress Action advocates for reforms that improve congressional capacity to legislate and conduct oversight. Working in partnership with a broad and diverse coalition of allies, Demand Progress Action has been very successful in improving the congressional workplace, enabling technological innovation, and democratizing rules and procedures in the House and Senate.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting Demand Progress Action? 

In 2022, Democracy Fund Voice approved an 18-month grant of $250,000 to Demand Progress Action.

Demand Progress Action was formerly named Demand Progress and was originally fiscally sponsored by the Sixteen Thirty Fund.

Type of Activity: Project
Grantee: The League in Action
Amount: $150,000 in 2022

What is The League in Action? 

A fiscally sponsored project of Sixteen Thirty Fund, The League in Action works at the intersection of culture and democracy. They use storytelling to help people imagine an America rooted in justice, equity, and abundance, and then design and execute strategies to achieve it.

Why do we think this project is important? 

This project is focused on diversifying the federal judiciary, with a particular emphasis on elevating Black women’s political leadership. It also aims to increase accountability for the federal judiciary and improve public awareness about the key role that courts play in the broader movement toward racial equity and justice.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting The League in Action?  

In 2022, Democracy Fund Voice approved a one-year grant of $150,000 to The League in Action.

Type of Activity: Project
Grantee: National Women’s Law Center Action Fund
Amount: $150,000 in 2022

What is the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund?  

National Women’s Law Center Action Fund aims to drive progressive change in our policies and laws so that all women and girls can live, learn, and work with safety, dignity, and equality. NWLC Action Fund educates voters and advocates for policy change across issues that affect women the most, including child care, abortion access, and sexual harassment.

Why do we think this project is important? 

This project is focused on diversifying the federal judiciary, with a particular emphasis on elevating Black women’s political leadership. It also aims to increase accountability for the federal judiciary and improve public awareness about the key role that courts play in the broader movement toward racial equity and justice.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund? 

In 2022, Democracy Fund Voice approved a one-year grant of $150,000 to  the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund.

Type of Activity: Project
Grantee: Pipeline Fund
Amount: Updated to $150,000 in 2023

What is the Pipeline Fund? 

Pipeline Fund, a fiscally sponsored project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, is a network of organizations, philanthropists, and strategists all dedicated to building a pipeline of diverse progressive leaders.

Pipeline Fund’s long-term strategy convenes and connects national and state pipeline organization, funds and supports organizations that recruit, train, and support leaders to run for office, and provides organizations with the data and tools they need to do their work more effectively.

Why do we think this project is important? 

The 2022 State & Local Candidate Research Project is a unique research project designed to understand the experience of state and local candidates from underrepresented communities in elected office. The Project is done each election cycle in partnership with organizations in the Pipeline Fund’s coalition to understand and learn from the experiences of these candidates to strengthen and improve the resources and support that are available to future “pipeline” candidates.

The results of this research project are used to inform and improve the overall pipeline ecosystem’s approach to supporting diverse leaders at the state and local level.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting Pipeline Fund?  

In 2023 an amendment was approved to increase the amount of the grant by $75,000 for a total of $150,000.

In 2022, Democracy Fund Voice approved a one-year grant of $75,000 to Pipeline Fund to support their State & Local Candidate Research Project.

Type of Activity: General Operating Support
Grantee: National Popular Vote, Inc.
Amount: $225,000 in 2022

What is National Popular Vote?

Founded in 2006, National Popular Vote is a 501(c)4 organization that studies, analyzes and educates the public about the counter-majoritarian nature of the Electoral College.

Why do we think this organization is important?

The Electoral College is one of the most gravely undemocratic institutions in our system. Winner-take-all rules in most states allocate all state electoral votes to the winning candidate, even one who wins only a plurality of the state’s popular vote. The Electoral College has a dramatic and polarizing effect on how campaigns are run, and discrepancies between the popular vote and Electoral College further diminish trust in governing institutions. National Popular Vote promotes lasting, bipartisan solutions to restore the core principle of “one person, one vote” in national elections.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting National Popular Vote?

In 2022, Democracy Fund Voice approved a one-year grant of $225,000 to support National Popular Vote.