1.5°Climate Strategies Group Projects - Member View

Contribution Info

Project Narrative

Empower Project

$585,000 Raised | $973,043 Left to Raise

Empower has introduced an innovative digital promotion and micro-payment scheme that significantly enhances relational organizing—the gold standard in text communications. This approach enables Empower to achieve remarkable scalability that dramatically surpasses previous organizing efforts in this space. For every $100,000 invested, Empower generates on average 50,000 additional relational conversations in Presidential battlegrounds. This pay for action program recruits individuals to message their friends, family, and colleagues about the importance of voting in this election cycle. With the inundation of TV ads, mailers, texts, digital ads, and more in battleground states ($15B total spend estimated for the 2024 election), this is a tactic that can break through the noise and create a real impact in the presidential race.

Geography: Pennsylvania, Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin

Funding Type: c4c3

Contact: Mike Pfohl, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 10/13/2024

Contribution Info

Project Narrative

Retire Career Politicians

$2,045,000 Raised

Following Deb Fischer’s 2021 promise to retire after two terms, her decision to pursue a fourth term has prompted Retire Career Politicians to launch a PAC in support of her opponent, Dan Osborn, the Independent Senate candidate for Nebraska. Contributions to this PAC will fund pro-Osborn TV ads to boost his name recognition, as well as anti-Fischer ads. A successful $1 million pilot program demonstrated that significant impact is achievable in this low-cost media market, and we are committed to expanding this initiative. In 2024, broadening the Senate battleground map is essential, and Nebraska stands out as a very promising dark-horse race that could shift Senate control away from Republicans while establishing a climate action trifecta at our nation’s capital.

Geography: Nebraska

Funding Type: PAC

Presentation Date: 09/16/2024

| Red States Investments

Rural Youth Voter Fund

$1,171,600 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

The Rural Youth Voter Fund (RYVF) supports and expands civic engagement and power-building efforts that nurture the extraordinary promise of young rural voters to protect and strengthen democracy. Launched in 2023 by the Rural Democracy Initiative (RDI), Movement Voter Project, and Clean and Prosperous America, RYVF is building a network of grassroots organizations working to mobilize the 30 million ambivalent young voters living in rural areas and small cities in key battleground states. RYVF aims to deploy at least $10 million to effective efforts focused on voter participation, leadership development, persuasive communications, and rural issues affecting young people. Camille Thompson with Collective Renaissance Georgia, a recipient of RYVF support, spoke on the call as a representative of the types of orgs supported by the RYVF.

Geography: National

Funding Type: c4c3

Contact: Sarah Jaynes, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 08/06/2024

| Racial Equity Investments

Nevada Conservation League

$20,000 Raised

Nevada Conservation League (NCL) proposes an investment to support known climate champion, Shannon Bilbray-Axelrod, in what is sure to be a tight-race against extreme election-denier, April Becker, for a seat on Nevada’s powerful Clark County Commission. The commission is arguably the most powerful governing body in Nevada; tasked with regulating the most populated county in Nevada, overseeing their number one economic driver, The Strip, and most importantly for the nation, certifying elections. As the political voice of Nevada’s conservation community and an affiliate of LCV, NCL works to protect their climate, air, water, land, and health by translating conservation values into political and policy priorities.

Geography: Nevada

Funding Type: PACc4c3

Contact: Kristee Watson, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 07/23/2024

| Down Ballot Races

Ohio Organizing Collaborative

$130,000 Raised

Ohio Organizing Collaborative (OOC) is the state's largest community organizing group and independent voter engagement program centering people of color, women, and young people. OOC membership includes students, people of faith, felony impacted people, public school parents, care economy workers and more. Through this program, OOC will apply their deep experience running field programs to a new partnership with WorkMoney to educate Ohioans about opportunities to receive financial benefits generated by the Inflation Reduction Act.

Geography: Ohio

Funding Type: PACc4c3

Contact: Molly Shack, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 07/09/2024

| Powering Up the Deployment Decade (2023/2024)

Community Change Voters

$114,000 Raised

All data points show that hard-to-find & reach Black, Latino, Native, AAPI, women, and young voters will need additional engagement to turn out for values-aligned candidates. One way to motivate turnout is through layered canvas mail: a personalized mail touch will increase voter turnout, influence voter behavior, and decrease canvas decay. Through a partnership with WorkMoney we will be adding QR codes and pathways to connect voters to government resources that put money directly in their pockets. We know these voters feel economic anxiety and believe no one cares about their pain. The care and IRA benefits framework is an antidote to apathy so that voters can make a direct connection between their power at the voting booth and governing process. This is our opportunity to shift the political calculus -- and ensure voters aren’t isolated from the safety net.

Geography: Nevada, Arizona, Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, Wisconsin

Funding Type: PACc4c3

Contact: Grecia Lima, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 07/09/2024

| Powering Up the Deployment Decade (2023/2024)

| Racial Equity Investments

Dan Osborn for Nebraska Senate

$240,844 Raised

Dan Osborn is an independent candidate for Nebraska’s Federal Senate seat that is polling well against a MAGA incumbent. A recent labor leader, and steamfitter, Dan’s home-grown values and background have been found to resonate strongly with Nebraskans once they learn about him and his campaign. 1.5°CSG has been watching this race for a while and now spurred by continued strong performance in polling, the need for back-up victories in a difficult Senate landscape, and other funders starting to move support to the Osborn campaign, 1.5°CSG has decided to leap into this little-known competitive Senate race. Contributions to Dan Osborn’s campaign will unlock up to $150k in matching funds for the Nebraska Railroaders for Public Safety I.E. campaign in support of Dan Osborn.

Geography: Nebraska

Funding Type: PAC

Contact: Dan Osborn, Independent candidate for Nebraska’s US Senate Seat

Presentation Date: 06/25/2024

| Red States Investments

Contribution Info

Project Narrative

Meeting Notes

Nebraska Railroaders for Public Safety

$2,209,771 Raised

Spurred by the Republican incumbent's terrible record of endangering Nebraskans for the benefit of corporate rail tycoons, NR4PS has launched an I.E. campaign in support of Dan Osborn. This unique campaign will run a field canvass that is coordinated with the candidate campaign. This coordination, allowed under a 2024 FEC rule change, will absolutely boost the overall economic efficiency of the canvass. If the NR4PS campaign can quickly raise enough resources, it will also benefit from hiring experienced canvassers, droves of which will lose their paid canvassing jobs on July 5th when multiple initiatives turn in their final signatures. I.E. Matching funds can be unlocked by contributions to the Dan Osborn Campaign.

Geography: Nebraska

Funding Type: PAC

Contact: John-Henry Hekendorn, Consultant

Presentation Date: 06/25/2024

| Red States Investments

Jane Fonda Climate PAC

$63,300 Raised

Jane Fonda Climate PAC is on a mission to reshape the political landscape, ensuring that leaders are not only aware of the urgent climate crisis but are also committed to taking decisive action. Through strategic campaigns, direct candidate support, and relentless grassroots organizing, Jane Fonda Climate PAC is holding the fossil fuel industry accountable and pushing for a sustainable future. And now, in 2024, they’re taking their efforts to the next level with the launch of a groundbreaking relational field organizing program. This initiative aims to empower communities and amplify their voices in electing climate champions to state legislative seats. These are the individuals who will shape policy, drive innovation, and lead us toward a cleaner, greener tomorrow. Join to learn more about the critical climate fights at the down ballot level and how JanePAC is building a bench of climate champions to lead us to a clean energy future.

Geography: National, California, Arizona, Michigan, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Texas, Wisconsin, New Mexico, Oregon, Colorado, Nevada.

Funding Type: PAC

Contact: Jane Fonda, Principal

Presentation Date: 05/28/2024

| Down Ballot Races

Celebrity Presentation

Meeting Notes

Red Wine and Blue

$32,000 Raised | $18,000 Left to Raise

Red Wine & Blue is a grassroots community of over half a million diverse suburban women working together to defeat extremism, one friend at a time. They provide a welcoming pathway to political engagement for women, including many who have never been political before, to organize in their communities. To complement their full-time teams in MI, NC, PA, and OH,they are raising funds to hire additional GOTV organizers focused on converting their members into relational volunteers who mobilize their friends, family, and neighbors to vote in critical federal battleground areas. This is a rare relational field program targeting what has consistently proven to be one of the most important and moveable groups of voters - suburban women.

Geography: Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, North Carolina

Funding Type: PACc4c3

Contact: Katie Paris, Founder & CEO

Presentation Date: 05/14/2024

Sister District Project

$31,500 Raised | $18,500 Left to Raise

Sister District mobilizes their national network of grassroots volunteers around the most strategic opportunities to win elections and build power in state legislatures. In 2024, they are driving make-or-break field and fundraising capacity to state legislative races in battlegrounds ― AZ, GA, MI, NC, NV, PA, WI. Sister District is closing narrow vote margins, helping Democrats win key seats, shifting the balance of power in entire chambers, and advancing policies on climate change, democracy, and more. Funding will allow Sister District to implement their proven volunteer-powered field strategies and tactics in these seven target states, and expand their work into MN and NH.

Geography: Arizona, Pennsylvania, Nevada, Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Georgia

Funding Type: PACc4c3

Contact: Lala Wu, Co-Founder & Executive Director

Presentation Date: 05/14/2024

Powering Up the Deployment Decade (2023/2024)

Citizens' Climate Education

$50,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

Citizens’ Climate Lobby's c3 affiliate Citizens’ Climate Education (“CCE”) is a nonpartisan grassroots network with 220,000+ supporters and 380 active chapters across the United States. For this project, CCE is partnering with WorkMoney to raise awareness about their resource center which helps consumers capture electrification and weatherization credits. CCE volunteers will deploy educational resources nationally, including in every key battleground state and district generating an economically efficient cost-per-acquisition. In these battleground areas alone, the expected impact of this $50k project is direct exposure to 57,000 supporters and the promotion of educational materials via 1,250+ tabling events and volunteer-organized presentations.

Geography: National

Funding Type: c3

Contact: Topher Anderson, Acting Director of Development

Presentation Date: 04/16/2024

| Investing in Elections for Climate (2024)

Evergreen Action

$100,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

Evergreen Action was founded in 2020 with the goal of advancing bold - and actionable - policies to defeat the climate crisis and create millions of jobs in a just, thriving, and inclusive clean energy economy. The foundational Evergreen Action Plan was formed out of Washington Governor Jay Inslee’s 2020 presidential bid and his gold standard climate platform. In three years, Evergreen has made a demonstrative impact, shaping Biden’s first term agenda by helping pass, defend, and implement the Inflation Reduction Act. Join the presentation for a briefing on the Evergreen 2025 Action Plan which articulates what winning climate policy should be for Biden and other candidates. Also learn how Evergreen plans to align and inspire elected officials and advocates to take ownership of a progressive path forward that maximize the likelihood of success for the climate cause come November and beyond.

Geography: National

Funding Type: c4c3

Contact: Craig Segall, Vice President Evergreen Action

Presentation Date: 02/06/2024

Powering Up the Deployment Decade (2023/2024)

Somos Votantes

$206,500 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

Somos Votantes has initiated a field program with seven canvassers dedicated to Nevada and another seven in Arizona, with a focus on educating Latino communities about the opportunities provided by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Through a comprehensive approach involving canvassing, community events, mail programs, digital advertising, and local radio, Somos Votantes casts a wide net to inform Latinos about the economic opportunities brought to them by the Biden administration's IRA. Those who they encourage to access these financial benefits are seamlessly connected with WorkMoney, which takes the lead in facilitating their enrollment in IRA programs.

Geography: Arizona, Nevada

Funding Type: PACc4c3

Contact: Melissa Morales, Founder & President

Presentation Date: 11/07/2023

| Investing in Elections for Climate (2024)

Powering Up the Deployment Decade (2023/2024)

| Racial Equity Investments

Greenlight America

$100,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

Greenlight America is focused on leveraging local grassroots support with the goal of winning local clean energy siting and permitting fights. The U.S. needs to build 6,000 clean energy facilities over the next decade, almost 2 per day, as well as more than 10,000 miles of transmission lines to hit emission reduction goals. Local opposition is the biggest obstacle to these projects, and there are few coordinated efforts to engage supporters as advocates for these projects. Greenlight is building a scalable, nationwide clean energy campaign hub to work with partner organizations, engage and mobilize local residents, and win project approvals.

Geography: National

Funding Type: c3

Contact: Matt Traldi, Founder and CEO

Presentation Date: 10/10/2023

| Investing in Elections for Climate (2024)

| Down Ballot Races