Tag Archives: reform

Demand Progress

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Type of Activity: Project Grant
Grantee: Demand Progress
Amount: Updated to $375,000 in 2021 — originally approved as $250,000 in 2019 over two years

What is Demand Progress?

Demand Progress, a fiscally-sponsored project of Sixteen Thirty Fund, is a charitable organization with two million affiliated activists focused on civil liberties and government reform-related issues. Demand Progress works to implement policy changes that keep the federal government accountable and support congressional reform.

Why do we think this project is important?

Demand Progress helps Congress make sense of the complex set of impediments that hold back its ability to innovate and hamper its legislative capacity. A modernized and more functional Congress can develop stronger policy solutions to the challenges facing the American people.

Democracy Fund Voice will provide support to Demand Progress to advocate for congressional rules changes and legislation to strengthen congressional offices’ policymaking abilities and allow for technological innovation that will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of congressional staff. With the help of our grant, Demand Progress will be able to track all hearings, markups, and legislation related to congressional capacity, deepen relationships with congressional leadership, lobby new measures supporting Congress’s ability to do its job, and build upon existing coalitions to support grassroots mobilization.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting Demand Progress?

In 2019, Democracy Fund Voice approved a two-year grant to Demand Progress in the amount of $250,000. In 2021 an amendment was approved to increase the amount of the grant by $125,000, for a total of $375,000. Previously, a two-year grant of $200,000 was approved in 2017.   

GeoElections Project: Geographic Technology for Better Elections

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Type of Activity: Project Grant
Grantee: National States Geographic Information Council 
Amount: Updated to $400,000 in 2021 — originally approved as $300,000 in 2019 over two years.

What is the GeoElections Project?

The GeoElections Project, led by the National States Geographic Information Council (NSGIC), aims to improve geographic technology for better elections. The effort will tap state-level geospatial information officers, election directors, and other subject matter experts to champion the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) map technology. 

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are technologically advanced computer systems that use data to describe the earth’s surface and analyze the relationships between locations. Digital map representations of precinct boundaries are more transparent and easier to use for election administrative purposes. For this project, NSGIC will develop and promote best practices for leveraging GIS in district creation, maintenance, and voter placement.

Why do we think this project is a good idea?

Democracy Fund Voice supports NSGIC’s efforts to facilitate the adoption of geographic information systems and related processes to enhance election management and citizen engagement across the United States.

Providing additional states and localities with the information they require to utilize mapping technology will lead to more accurate and accessible electoral databases and help further innovate elections management best practices.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting the project?

In 2019, Democracy Fund Voice approved a grant to the National States Geographic Information Council of $300,000 over two years. In 2021 an amendment was approved to increase the amount of the grant by $100,000 for a total of $400,000. A previous grant of $300,000 over two years was approved in 2017.

Advocacy for Good Governance

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Type of Activity: Project
Grantee: Bipartisan Policy Center Advocacy Network, Inc.
Amount: $415,000 in 2017 over two years. $150,000 in 2016.

What is the Commission on Political Reform?

The Commission on Political Reform was launched by the sister organization of the Bipartisan Policy Center Advocacy Network (the Bipartisan Policy Center) in 2013 to investigate the causes and consequences of America’s partisan political divide and to advocate for specific reforms that will improve the political process in a polarized atmosphere. The Commission proposed 24 recommendations to strengthen the electoral process, the process by which Congress legislates and manages its own affairs, and the ability of Americans to plug into the nation’s civic life through public service.  These reforms and solutions, championed by both ends of the political spectrum, include reinvigorating the central role of the congressional committee and reestablishing bipartisan interpersonal contact.

Why do we think this project is important?

We believe that bringing together a coalition of organizations to support bipartisan political reform can increase the likelihood and the impact of those reforms. BPCAN is uniquely positioned to develop and implement a strategy for this work because of its powerful voice in congressional bipartisan policy. They will promote an ongoing conversation about how to overcome political divides and make our government work better.

How is Democracy Fund Voice supporting BPCAN?

In 2017, Democracy Fund Voice approved a two year grant of $415,000 to the Bipartisan Policy Center Advocacy Network to facilitate coordination with other organizations advocating for recommendations of the Commission on Political Reform and other congressional reforms. A previous grant of $150,000 was made in 2016.