Progressive MultiplierHelping progressive non-profits go big.
Progressive MultiplierWe help organizations build a progressive movement of, by and for everyday people.
We do this by organizing and leveraging funding to create onramps for progressive organizations to start, strengthen or scale individual giving and earned revenue programs.
Through both an online community of practice and our grantmaking and support program, we build the progressive sector’s revenue generation knowledge and skills so that it can amplify a people-powered movement.
Please follow these steps to sign up for the Center of Excellence:
The Center of Excellence is open to 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations, projects housed in these entities, LLCs in which a 501(c)(3) or (c)(4) are the only members, and their consultants that work on the following issues: Clean Energy, Climate Change, Corporate Accountability, Criminal Justice Reform, Democracy/Voting, Disability Rights, Economic Justice, Education Justice, Environmental Justice, Gun Control, Health Care, HIV/AIDS, Housing, Human Rights, Immigrant Rights, LGBTQ Rights, Mass Incarceration, Minimum Wage, Neighborhood Issues, Protecting Medicare, Protecting Social Security, Puerto Rico Justice, Racial Justice, Refugee Crisis, Reproductive Rights, Gender Equity, Social Justice, Wilderness Protection, Women’s Rights, Workers Rights, and other progressive issues.
You do not need to be a grantee of PM to have access to these resources.
Grantees must:
The PM would consider funding coalitions, and if regranting to coalition members is needed we can execute grant agreements with them directly. We fund our grantees directly. The PM does not fund PACs, political parties, or organizations that do not meet the criteria above.
Clean Energy, Climate Change, Corporate Accountability, Criminal Justice Reform, Democracy/Voting, Disability Rights, Economic Justice, Education Justice, Environmental Justice, Gun Control, Health Care, HIV/AIDS, Housing, Human Rights, Immigrant Rights, LGBTQ Rights, Mass Incarceration, Minimum Wage, Neighborhood Issues, Protecting Medicare, Protecting Social Security, Puerto Rico Justice, Racial Justice, Refugee Crisis, Reproductive Rights, Gender Equity, Social Justice, Wilderness Protection, Women’s Rights, Workers Rights, and other progressive issues.
If your organization does not consider itself progressive but works on multiple issues above in a way that would be considered progressive while reaching out “across the aisle,” you may qualify for PM funding.
We understand that it is not for a small group of people to define progressive; if the issue you’re working on is not listed, please write us at [email protected] to see if your mission fits.
Please note: as long as your organization works on the issues above, you fit our mission. Your particular revenue generation program does not need to be focused on any particular issue above.
PM gives three kind of grants:
We accept applications on a rolling basis and make grants when we have funding available that matches the grant criteria. As a funding intermediary, our calls for applications are driven by when we receive funding versus the calendar. Please contact [email protected] with any questions.
PM has the right to share all lessons learned, techniques, overall results, and materials used from any form of grant given with ALL other progressive organizations. Best practices and lessons learned are shared through the Center of Excellence.
Any Kickstart or Test & Innovation Grants are given in the form of a traditional grant without any repayment obligation.
The PM will evaluate the proposal you submit, and ask if you have the capacity to do that type of project. For example, if you are generating interest on Facebook and calling interested people to ask them to join your organization, we would review your team’s background in Facebook marketing and telemarketing.
You can cover staff costs with PM funds, but we evaluate your grant proposal based on the leadership and team that you have in place, including your consultants, and your vendors. If your proposal does not identify the staff person who will run this program who has a proven track record of success, we are unlikely to fund your project. If you need to use funds to add additional, junior staff, this may be acceptable.
Yes. Your reporting template throughout your project will need to include the entire cost of your fundraising effort, so that you can determine if this effort can truly return a 2:1 return over three to five years. This includes consultants, vendors, tools, staff time, and other direct or indirect expenses of the project (running ads, purchasing lists, renting lists, etc).
The Progressive Multiplier does not suggest any specific vendors or technology. However, the vendors that organizations have worked with on different projects are available in the write-ups of fundraising tests and projects in the Center of Excellence.
We evaluate your grant proposal based on the leadership and team that you have in place, including your consultants, and your vendors. If your proposal does not identify the staff person who will run this program who has a proven track record of success, we are unlikely to fund your project.
Yes. About two thirds of all Test and Innovation grants are used to test techniques that have worked for other organizations but haven’t been tried yet by the applying organization. One third of our Test and Innovation grants are used to fund wild new ideas that haven’t been tested yet.
No. If your organization has a proven track record of running a revenue generation program that generates a 2:1 return, you can apply for a recoverable grant to expand that project. But, if you apply for a test grant, and it works, we would welcome an application for a Recoverable Grant to expand the project.
Yes, but the total budget requested for the different tests should not exceed the maximum grant amount (i.e. $25,000). We will also consider subsequent grant applications to test new ideas.
Yes, with some caveats.
Future Applications – Once your organization has access to the CoE, you can apply for future grants by logging in to the CoE here.
For Test and Innovation Grants, we will ask you to create a separate budget in your financial software and to track your expenses and income. For Scale Recoverable Grants, we may ask you to open a separate bank account in addition to creating a separate budget and tracking your expenses and income, and have all funds from the project flow into that account