1.5°Climate Strategies Group Projects - Member View

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

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

| Messaging & Paid Media

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

| Down Ballot Races

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

| Down Ballot Races

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

| Messaging & Paid Media

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)

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

| Messaging & Paid Media

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

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

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

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: PACc4c3

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

| Investing in Elections for Climate (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)

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

| Investing in Elections for Climate (2024)

Resiliency Law Center

$160,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

The Resiliency Law Center champions a fair balance between local communities and corporate interests in Puerto Rico's redevelopment. They prevent harmful projects and misuse of federal resources, initially as a project of the University of Puerto Rico's law department and now as an independent organization. With dedicated teams of lawyers, they tackle significant cases impacting Puerto Ricans. Alongside legal action, they engage in grassroots advocacy campaigns opposing detrimental projects and supporting positive initiatives.

Geography: Puerto Rico

Funding Type: c3

Contact: Adi Marinez, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 06/13/2023

| Coordination, Collaboration, and Technical Assistance

Sembrando Sentido

$170,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

Sembrando Sentido is addressing corruption and misallocation of federal resources through a big data approach to enhance transparency. They have partnered with the U.S. Census Bureau to develop a tool that captures funding data in a uniform format and tracks resource movement in Puerto Rico. Algorithms identify red flags for potential corruption and slow-moving funds, while green flags indicate positive outcomes. They use this tool to create digestible resources for community advocacy. Through these efforts, they are empowering communities, holding government agencies accountable, and promoting efficient resource allocation in Puerto Rico.

Geography: Puerto Rico

Funding Type: c3

Contact: Issell Masses, Founder & Executive Director

Presentation Date: 06/13/2023

Harambee House

$155,500 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

Harambee house is organizing the Southeast Environmental Justice Summit on June 7-11th in Atlanta, Georgia. This summit will bring together front-line community organizers with utilities, businesses, energy service companies, and federal agency representatives to prepare them to apply for new federal funding opportunities under IRA and other federal programs. An output of this summit will be a draft 10 year environmental justice plan for the 8 states in EPA Region 4 including: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Geography: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee

Funding Type: c3

Contact: Dr. Mildred McCain, Founder

Presentation Date: 05/02/2023

| Coordination, Collaboration, and Technical Assistance