The fourth Advocacy in Action session will highlight how philanthropy can strengthen democracy by sharing bright spots and lessons learned.
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The fourth Advocacy in Action session will highlight how philanthropy can strengthen democracy by sharing bright spots and lessons learned.
Join the Funders' Committee for Civic Participation and co-sponsors, including Philanthropy Northwest, for a webinar covering the local and state budget crisis.
In the third session of Advocacy in Action, we will look at how funders can scale their impact by working together. We will use the 2020 Census and other civic engagement efforts across philanthropy to advance public policy strategies and impact in communities.
Oregon was underprepared to ensure a complete count in the 2020 Census. An undercount could reduce funding and representation for hard-to-count populations like rural communities and people of color, as well as put a projected additional congressional seat in jeopardy. The United Way of the Columbia-Willamette and the Northwest Health Foundation, along with 15 other funders, created the Census Equity Funders Committee of Oregon (CEFCO) in 2018. They pitched in funding for census work and convinced the State of Oregon and City of Portland to pool resources into their single campaign, which totaled nearly $10 million. This Oregon Bright Spot details the story of this partnership that, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, led to achieving a self-response participation rate in the 2020 Census that approximately matched the previous census.
To prevent a 2020 Census undercount in Boise, funders worked with each other and the city government to build awareness and encourage people to take the census. This Idaho Bright Spot details the story of the local partners' efforts that led to Boise achieving a 2020 Census self-response rate higher than both the national average and its own 2010 rate.
Humanities Montana, a grantmaker that also conducts programs to support civil society, noticed a growing lack of positive discourse around policy issues. Society can achieve greater progress on policy solutions if people developed greater skills in collaborating to addressing public problems. With funding from The Charles Engelhard Foundation in New York, Humanities Montana prepared for the launch of their new Democracy Project in 2020. The initiative groups interested students with a community organizer and their local library. Read the full story of this Montana Bright Spot.
In mid-2020, the Wyoming State Legislature held a special session to decide how to spend COVID-19 pandemic relief funding from the federal CARES Act. They settled on $325 million for business grants, but as the proposal made its way through the legislative process, the proposed language did not specify if nonprofits qualified. The Wyoming Nonprofit Network led an advocacy effort to convince state representatives to include nonprofits in the funding, to help ensure stability in the charitable sector during the pandemic. Learn the outcomes and future impacts of this Bright Spot story.