1.5°Climate Strategies Group Projects - Member View

Working America

$245,000 Raised

Working America unites over 5 million people without union representation to advocate for fair jobs, a just economy, and a democracy that works for everyone. Their voter contact programs are rigorously tested, using randomized control trials to deliver Net Democratic Votes at very cost-effective rates. Through their efforts, Working America has made significant strides in electing fair-minded leaders, defeating anti-worker laws, and building power for working people across the country. Their $510,000 Montana program currently faces a $275,000 c5 (similar to c4) gap.

Geography: Montana

Funding Type: c4

Contact: Matt Morrison, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 09/24/2024

Climate Emergency Advocates

$300,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

Climate Emergency Advocates (CEA) is launching a targeted, metric-driven door-to-door operation to re-elect Senator Jon Tester and boost voter turnout for PSC candidates Susan Bilo (District 2) and Lenny Williams (District 3). This youth focused program plans 55,000 door knocks, combined with mail, phone, and digital outreach to arguably the most important low-propensity cohort in the State. CEA has secured $150,000 in political funds for this Montana project, faces a $200,000 minimum viable launch budget, and has the capacity to expend $300,000 productively while local organization’s field capacities are mostly saturated.

Geography: Montana

Funding Type: c4

Contact: Shaun Kelleher, Head of Campaigns

Presentation Date: 09/24/2024

Jon Tester Victory Fund

$20,500 Raised

Senator Jon Tester, a third-generation Montana farmer, grandfather, and former school teacher, has served in the U.S. Senate since 2006. As Chairman of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense, he also sits on the Banking, Commerce, and Indian Affairs Committees. Tester and his wife Sharla continue to farm their family land near Big Sandy. A champion for climate change, conservation, and renewable energy, Jon has been a strong advocate for rural communities and public lands. He supported the Inflation Reduction Act, playing a key role in passing this transformational legislation.

Geography: Montana

Funding Type: PAC

Contact: Jon Testor, U.S Senator

Presentation Date: 09/24/2024

Presentation

Meeting Notes

Texas Grassroots Powerbuilding

$1,210,500 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

Texas’s rapidly changing demographics warrant significant long-term power-building investments, while the positive polling trends for 2024 indicate a promising path to a potential Allred victory in Texas that could deliver Senate and trifecta control. In response, 1.5°CSG, in collaboration with Way to Win, is excited to announce our largest-ever $500,000 matching funds challenge. Contributions to any of the three featured organizations will be matched dollar-for-dollar, doubling the impact of your support.

Communications Workers of America (CWA) which leads the “Fight for Democracy” program, focused on mobilizing Black and Latino voters in Texas' five largest counties through canvassing, calling, texting, and paid media. Contact: Derrick Osobase
Texas Organizing Project’s (TOP) voter contact program engages voters with canvassing, calls, texts, relational outreach, mail, and digital. They focus on empowering Black voters through organizing in key Texas counties. Contact: Brianna Brown
Texas Freedom Network (TFN) is a leading voter engagement model, targeting young Texans through comprehensive GOTV efforts including canvassing, digital ads, and campus outreach events across the state. Contact: Val Benavidez

Geography: Texas

Funding Type: PACc4c3

Presentation Date: 09/17/2024

Colin Allred Victory Fund

$6,650 Raised

Colin, a fourth-generation Texan from Dallas raised by a hardworking single mother, is a former NFL linebacker and a dedicated civil rights attorney who has fought for voting rights nationwide. After serving in the Obama Administration at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Colin made headlines in 2018 by defeating a 22-year Republican incumbent in Texas' 32nd District, winning re-election twice since. With a 97% lifetime score on the League of Conservation Voters’ National Environmental Scorecard, Colin champions both environmental and working-class issues. Colin has the ability to win tough elections cycle after cycle and knows that Texans are fed up with Ted Cruz and ready to move FORWARD. Let’s help him win in Texas this year!

Geography: Texas

Funding Type: PAC

Contact: Colin Allred, Texas Senator Candidate

Presentation Date: 09/17/2024

Presentation

Meeting Notes

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

NAYA Action Fund

$25,200 Raised

The NAYA Action Fund is raising funds to defeat Initiative 2117 in Washington State and protect the progress made under the Climate Commitment Act of 2021. They are mobilizing a paid field team for door-to-door canvassing and phone banking, while also launching a robust social media campaign and targeted mailers. Financial support will help inform voters, amplify their message, and ensure the community's voice is heard. Together, they aim to safeguard the environment and build a sustainable future for all.

Geography: Washington, Oregon

Funding Type: c4

Contact: William Miller, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 09/12/2024

Georgia Conservation Voters

$50,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

Georgia Conservation Voters (GCV) believes all Georgians have the right to breathe clean air, drink clean water, eat healthy foods, and live in a world free from environmental harm. As an LCV affiliate, GCV envisions a future where Georgia’s elected leaders are informed and empowered to take action to advance climate and environmental justice. Their vision for the 2024 transit referendums in Cobb and Gwinnett counties is to enhance mobility for all by providing the right services in the right places. By turning out voters to pass this referendum, they aim to create clean jobs, foster energy independence, grow Georgia’s economy, and address transportation equity.

Geography: Georgia

Funding Type: PACc4c3

Contact: Brionté McCorkle, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 08/27/2024

GALEO Impact Fund

$58,500 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

The GALEO Impact Fund was founded in 2019 to expand and influence Latino political power in Georgia and elect progressive policymakers who align with their community's values, and hold all officials with Latino constituencies accountable. Their sister organization GALEO was founded in 2003 to increase civic participation by educating and empowering the Latino community and developing Latino leaders through strategic leadership programs throughout Georgia. GALEO’s 2023 Puente Para La Gente Survey showed them that the cost of living, access to meaningful wages and jobs, and protecting the quality of the air and water are all top priorities for the community. GALEO Impact Fund's is working hard to achieve positive outcomes for the Gwinnett and Cobb transit referendums.

Geography: Georgia

Funding Type: PACc4c3

Contact: Kyle Gomez-Leineweber, Director of Public Policy and Advocacy

Presentation Date: 08/27/2024

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

Support Brave "Pass the Torch" Frontline Candidates

$48,485 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

Despite growing uncertainty about the presidential candidacy, 1.5°CSG remains dedicated to directing investments toward critical down-ballot races. Regardless of your stance on the presidential election, it's critical that we keep mobilizing resources for pivotal Senate and House races. Join us for exclusive insights from climate action advocates Congresswoman Hilary Scholten and Congressman Mike Levin. Both of these frontline incumbents are also vocal proponents urging Biden to “pass the torch”.

Geography: California, Michigan

Funding Type: PAC

Contact: Congresswoman Hilary Scholten - MI-3, Congressman Mike Levin - CA-49,

Presentation Date: 07/20/2024

Support Brave "Pass the Torch" Frontline Candidates

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)

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

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

Project Narrative

Meeting Notes

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

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

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

| Coordination, Collaboration, and Technical Assistance

Arizona Coalition for Change

$180,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

The Arizona Coalition for Change (C4C), a 501(c)3 Black-led community organization focuses on community empowerment and civic power-building including advocating for progressive policies like voter justice, economic and environmental justice, and youth justice in marginalized Arizona neighborhoods. Notably, they've launched the Clean Energy Clear Lungs (CECL) campaign, promoting clean energy and reducing air pollution in marginalized communities through education and resources while leveraging Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) benefits. This campaign also nurtures lifelong advocates for environmental justice at both state and federal levels. C4C's education program triages interested parties to WorkMoney's resource center to streamline each individuals enrollment process.

Geography: Arizona

Funding Type: c3

Contact: Reginald Bolding Sena Mohammed, Founder Executive Director

Presentation Date: 09/26/2023

Forward Together WI

$100,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

Forward Together Wisconsin (FTW) was founded to educate Wisconsinites about resources made available to them by the Biden-Harris Administration, to immediately connect community members to these resources, and to direct additional charitable dollars to aid in the implementation of these resources to make them as accessible as possible. Not only does FTW help tell the story of the positive impact progressive policy has on communities and community members, but we are a part of making this story a reality. We especially focus on engaging underserved groups, including communities of color, working class families, rural communities, and tribal communities. FTW's education program triages interested parties to WorkMoney's resource center to streamline each individuals enrollment process.

Geography: Wisconsin

Funding Type: c3

Contact: Peter Drummond, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 09/26/2023