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

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: PACc4c3

Presentation Date: 10/08/2024

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

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

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

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

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: PACc4c3

Contact: Lindsey Scholten, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 07/23/2024

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.

Funding Type: PAC

Contact: Jane Fonda, Principal

Presentation Date: 05/28/2024

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Celebrity Presentation

Meeting Notes

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

AZ Corporation Commissioner Candidates

$15,300 Raised

After our trip to Arizona we are jazzed up about the Arizona Corporation Commission races. We hope you will join us in supporting all three candidates. Candidates Ylenia Aguilar and Jonathan Hill are limited in their total fundraising as they are accessing a state pool of funds for their campaign. They need $210 contributions from seed donors like you to access those state funds. Joshua Polacheck’s campaign has no limits and is the main vehicle for hard-side investments focused on flipping the Arizona Corporation Commission which regulates Arizona’s utilities. We urge you to send $210 to each of these candidates now.

Geography: Arizona

Funding Type: PAC

Presentation Date: 05/06/2024

| Down Ballot Races

AZ Corporation Commissioner Candidates

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

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

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)

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)

Conservation Voters for Idaho

$120,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

Conservation Voters for Idaho (CVI) is an LCV affiliate leading an initiative aimed at garnering conservative support in Idaho for the federal funding, job creation, and economic development opportunities presented by the IRA. Through activities ranging from lobbying state legislators to orchestrating advocacy campaigns and facilitating group grant proposals for federal funds, CVI is engaging in an extensive NGO-led state coordination, collaboration, and technical assistance endeavor.

Geography: Idaho

Funding Type: c4c3

Contact: Rialin Flores, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 08/22/2023

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

Texas Climate Jobs Project

$250,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

TCJP is developing and expanding NGO-led state coordinating tables focused on expanding the partnership between labor and environmental organizations to access IRA funding for climate and economic development efforts in the fossil fuel heavy State of Texas.

Geography: Texas

Funding Type: c3

Contact: Bo Delp, Executive Director

Presentation Date: 04/04/2023

| Coordination, Collaboration, and Technical Assistance

United Today Stronger Tomorrow

$300,000 Raised | Fundraising Goal Achieved!

UTST is developing and expanding NGO-led state coordinating tables focused on procuring federal funding in UT, MT, and IA. This work is critically important for making IRA a climate success in these states and will have additional political significance in Montana because of its competitive U.S. Senate race in 2024.

Geography: Utah, Montana, Ohio

Funding Type: c4c3

Contact: Paul Gestos, Special Project Director

Presentation Date: 03/07/2023

| Coordination, Collaboration, and Technical Assistance