1.5°Climate Strategies Group Projects - Member View

Additional 2024 Winning Elections for Climate Investments

Empower Project

$685,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

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

Texas Grassroots Powerbuilding - Part 2

$634,360 Raised

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, Texas Future Project, One for Democracy, and Movement Voter Project, is excited to announce our second $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.

Rise AAPI uses direct mail, phonebanking, ethnic media, and digital campaigns – including in-language content – to engage AAPI Texan voters to boost progressive turnout among the AAPI community. Contact: Nabila Mansoor
Planned Parenthood Texas Votes Victory Fund targets low-propensity voters through field outreach, phone banks, digital efforts, and social pressure mail, leveraging data to maximize voter activation. Contact: Drucilla Tigner
Common Defense mobilizes veterans using veteran-to-veteran outreach through relational organizing, direct mail, texting, digital ads, TV, and earned media. Their messaging is tailored to resonate with the military community and boost support for Colin Allred. Contact: Alex McCoy

Geography: Texas

Funding Type: c4c3

Presentation Date: 10/08/2024

Working America

$2,225,862 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

Working America brings together over 5 million people without union representation to fight for fair jobs, a just economy, and a democracy that works for all. Their voter contact programs are rigorously tested using randomized control trials, ensuring they deliver Net Democratic Votes at highly cost-effective rates. Through these efforts, Working America has been instrumental in electing fair-minded leaders, defeating anti-worker legislation, and building grassroots power for working people across the country. 1.5°CSG played a leading role in fundraising for Working America's programs in Ohio, Montana, and Nebraska, while also helping to close critical gaps in Presidential battleground States prioritized by Focus For Democracy.

Geography: Montana, Ohio, Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada

Funding Type: c5

Contact: Matt Morrison, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 09/24/2024

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: c4c3

Presentation Date: 09/17/2024

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: c4c3

Contact: Kristee Watson, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 07/23/2024

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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: c4c3

Contact: Grecia Lima, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 07/09/2024

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: c4c3

Contact: Molly Shack, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 07/09/2024

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.

Contact: Jane Fonda, Principal

Presentation Date: 05/28/2024

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Celebrity Presentation

Meeting Notes

Sister District Project

$31,500 Raised

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: c4c3

Contact: Lala Wu, Co-Founder & Executive Director

Presentation Date: 05/14/2024

Red Wine and Blue

$32,000 Raised

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: c4c3

Contact: Katie Paris, Founder & CEO

Presentation Date: 05/14/2024

Save our Schools

$100,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

Save our Schools is organizing around protecting public school funding, an issue that has allowed them to recruit and maintain 16,000 volunteers statewide. They are currently raising funds to expand their volunteer coordination staff from 8 to 16 expanding the reach of their already cost effective volunteer powered voter registration program. Save our Schools has been uniquely successful at reaching, registering, and turning out voters in non-urban parts of Arizona with a special focus on competitive state legislative races, many of which are nested within the States’ competitive congressional districts.

Geography: Arizona

Funding Type: c4c3

Contact: Beth Lewis, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 04/30/2024

One Fair Wage

$200,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

One Fair Wage Action is mobilizing hundreds of thousands of new and unlikely voters, especially youth and people of color, in MI, OH and AZ using a peer-to-peer voter engagement model focused on the priority issue for those voters this election cycle: the cost of living. They are registering tens of thousands of new voters more cheaply and effectively as part of signature gathering for minimum wage ballot measures that will raise wages for 3.5 million workers and mobilize a minimum of 350,000 new, unlikely voters, with significant impact on Presidential and Senate races this fall.

Geography: Arizona

Funding Type: c4c3

Contact: Saru Jayaraman, President

Presentation Date: 04/30/2024

Student PIRGs

$154,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

The Student PIRGs are a national network of student-run non-profits that have recruited, trained, and mobilized college and university students to win on public interest issues since 1971. The organization helped pass the first GHG reduction bills in the 2000s, won commitments for 100% renewable energy at the campus, city, and state level accomplished with a Boards of Directors made up entirely of current college students. This spring, the Student PIRGs aim to leverage their year-round infrastructure on campuses in Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia to educate young people about how their network and families can save money and save the environment through new programs and tax incentives created by the Inflation Reduction Act. StudentPIRGs IRA education program triages interested parties to WorkMoney's resource center to streamline each individuals enrollment process.

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

Funding Type: c4c3

Contact: Dan Xie, Political Director

Presentation Date: 02/20/2024

Nevada Clean Energy Fund

$32,000 Raised

The Nevada Clean Energy Fund (NCEF) is dedicated to fostering a thriving, affordable, and accessible clean energy economy in Nevada, with a primary emphasis on supporting frontline and underserved communities. With roughly $350 million in pending federal grant applications and the anticipated arrival of federal grants in July 2024, NCEF recognizes the pressing need to bolster its capacity. Presently staffed with four essential operations employees, the addition of one program staff offers the potential to double the project pipeline's readiness to deploy resources following the receipt of federal funds from the EPA. This additional staff member would enable us to have a more rapid and significant impact towards advancing clean energy initiatives in Nevada during the 2024 calendar year.

Geography: Nevada

Funding Type: c3

Contact: Kirsten Stasio, CEO

Presentation Date: 11/07/2023

| Climate Finance

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: c4c3

Contact: Melissa Morales, Founder & President

Presentation Date: 11/07/2023

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

Louisiana Electoral Collective

$136,700 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

Louisiana stands at the precipice of a constitutional crisis, raising grave concerns for climate, justice, and democracy. With the upcoming November election likely returning the Governor's office to the Republicans and them potentially maintaining their supermajorities in both chambers, Republicans could unilaterally convene a constitutional convention, threatening to overhaul the State constitution. Alarming proposals by Republicans include stripping local regulatory and taxing authority over the State's extensive fossil fuel and petrochemical industries. Hear from two organizations that are being coordinated by the Electoral Collective in Louisiana: Greater Now Orleans Housing Alliance, and Power Coalition for Equity & Justice

Geography: Louisiana

Funding Type: c4c3

Contact: Ashley Shelton & Andreanecia Morris, President

Presentation Date: 02/10/2023

POWER Coalition for Equity & Justice

$168,700 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

An experienced organization focused on expanding the electorate by reaching disenfranchised communities which runs direct programmatic activities and also sub-grants to a large number of other aligned grassroots organizations.

Geography: Louisiana

Funding Type: c4c3

Contact: Morgan Shannon, Deputy Director

Presentation Date: 11/15/2022

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Together Louisiana

$45,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

A faith focused organization that is deploying both c3 and c4 resources to aid with Davante Lewis receiving endorsements from other candidates that did not advance past the primary and to turn-out voters in regions that did not trend towards the fossil fuel friendly incumbent.

Geography: Louisiana

Funding Type: c4c3

Contact: Broderick Bagert, Organizer

Presentation Date: 11/15/2022

American Independent

$205,755 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

A newspaper with crossword puzzles and broad stories distributed to free to swing voters in non-urban areas of Ohio and other battleground states with pro-Democratic newsworthy stories.

Geography: Ohio

Funding Type: c3

Contact: Danny Kazin, Senior Advisor

Presentation Date: 10/04/2022