1.5°Climate Strategies Group Projects - Member View

Additional 2024 Winning Elections for Climate Investments

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

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

| Down Ballot Races

Washington Conservation Action

$57,100 Raised

Washington Conservation Action works to protect Washington's air, water, land, and democracy. To defeat Initiative I-2117, they are focusing on increasing voter turnout among younger and Latino voters across the state, particularly in Washington’s 3rd Congressional District. This effort includes site-based and door-to-door engagement in key communities. Collaborating with community partners, they will conduct site-based persuasion and voter registration at community colleges, provide in-language outreach to Latino voters, and engage suburban neighborhoods through door-to-door contact. By utilizing a shared voter file with partners, Washington Conservation Action will ensure real-time data updates to maximize efficiency and impact.

Geography: Washington

Contact: Alyssa Macy, CEO

Presentation Date: 09/12/2024

Oregon League of Conservation Voters

$50,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

The Oregon League of Conservation Voters PAC (OLCV PAC) is the state’s leading environmental organization for electing pro-climate candidates. As an LCV affiliate, OLCV PAC's top priority for 2024 is electing new super majorities to the Oregon House and Senate. If successful, a number of climate and other progressive policies are expected to move through the State legislature as the Republican walk-out strategy that has blocked climate legislation in Oregon for years would be much less effective. Both chambers are just one seat shy of a super-majority, and there is a path to pick up those seats in 2024 while targeting state legislative races nested within the highly competitive OR-5 congressional race.

Geography: Oregon

Funding Type: c4c3

Contact: Lindsey Scholten, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 07/23/2024

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: c4c3

Contact: Grecia Lima, 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

| Down Ballot Races

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

Working Power

$100,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

WP is a project development and financing company collaborating with NGOs, small businesses, and labor unions to co-develop community solar projects for racial and economic justice while utilizing IRA resources. With a current pipeline of 50 projects involving 16 partners, totaling 50 MW of clean energy, these initiatives aim to reduce CO2 emissions by over 42 metric tons and generate $115M in community benefits. 1.5°CSG funds will help the Ecological Citizen’s Project (ECP)'s 1.1 MW solar installation on 10 city properties in Peekskill, NY which is within competitive Congressional District-17. The $2M in community economic benefits this project generates will provide free food through an innovative food sovereignty program.

Geography: New York

Funding Type: c3

Contact: Bracken Hendricks, Chair of the Climate Justice Investment Committee

Presentation Date: 11/28/2023

| Coordination, Collaboration, and Technical Assistance

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

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

Investing in Elections for Climate (2022/2023)

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