Welcome back!
500+ subscribers! We did it! We’re now at 530.
Are you a development professional in the democracy space? Want to hang out with other democracy fundraisers in an off-the-record setting?
If that sounds like you (or someone on your team), fill out this Google Form to sign up. We’re capping the group at 8 folks to start and will have a waitlist from there.
Separately, know an 18 to 30 year-old democracy star? Nominations for the 2024 Kofi Annan NextGen Democracy Prize close on 3/31! (Organizational nominations only.)
Democracy Notes 3/28
What’s happening in philanthropy:
($$$)
The Tepper Foundation (New Jersey-based) shared their 2023 annual report on LinkedIn here.
Democracy portfolio is mentioned on slides 4 and 7. Among others, they fund:
The Center for Tech and Civic Life (election administration)
WorkMoney (financial wellbeing/civic engagement)
Firing Line with Margaret Hoover (independent journalism)
Philadelphia-based local news and community organizations! New funding opportunity from the Every Voice, Every Vote coalition.
Funding for orgs interested in joining the coalition is for community-centered journalism or nonpartisan civic engagement projects to address the needs of underrepresented communities.
Funding will range from $10,000 to $150,000. Deadline is April 19. Virtual info sessions on 4/8 and 4/11.
The Daniel Sachs Foundation (Sweden-based) has a new website (announced here) with lots of details on their approach (they are a democracy-only funder!).
They seem to fund primarily in Europe.
What to read:
(The big news)
The Building Civic Bridges Act was recently re-introduced in Congress, with Rep. Kilmer making a big, pre-retirement push for its passage. (Great one-pager here.)
What would it do?
Establish an Office of Civic Bridgebuilding within AmeriCorps focused on building relationships across lines of difference,
Administer a grant program to support such initiatives,
Train AmeriCorps members in bridging skills, and
Support research on social cohesion.
Check out this collection of insightful endorsements from champions of the bill, including Gen. Michael Hayden.
This survey of 45,000 Democrats and Republicans found that the (vast) majority of Americans do not support anti-democratic behavior or partisan violence. However, their elected representatives do. In essence:
"The real gap in support for democracy is not between Democratic and Republican voters, but between Republican voters and Republican representatives," says lead author Derek Holliday, Polarization Research Lab Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University.
A Third Party Is the Coward’s Way Out, writes former Republican Mona Charen in the Bulwark. This is a 🔥 takedown of the No Labels hogwash.
What to watch/listen to/attend:
(Events, podcasts, and more)
Lion Publishers is accepting proposals for the 2024 Independent News Sustainability Summit.
Lots of options for what you can propose: a session, speaker, table topic, or affinity group.
Deadline is 11 p.m. PT on Friday!
Campaign Legal Center event on Dismantling Barriers to Youth Civic Engagement at 11:30am ET.
Where to work:
(Jobs, jobs, jobs!)
Work with the amazing Jenn Brandel! DemocracySOS Liaison and Digital Producer — full time, May-December, remote, $65/hr, 30-40hrs per week
Run for Something Executive Director — remote, $220K
Democracy Fund Associate Director, Special Projects, Elections & Voting — DC, $155K+
LION: Local Independent Online News Publishers Development Director — remote, $130K-$140K
Future Caucus (formerly Millennial Action Project) Comms Director — DC, $95K-$110K
Issue One Director of Major Gifts — DC, $90K-$110K
Fellow Chicagoans! CHANGE Illinois (electoral reform org) is hiring a Policy Director — remote-ish, $60K-$70K
Pivotal (Melinda French Gates’s org) Senior Director, Program Strategy — Seattle or DC, $287K-$300K
The National Endowment for Democracy Senior Manager, World Movement for Democracy — DC, $85K-$136K
Grad students! Foundation for Social Connection Social Connection Fellow – Research & Innovation — remote, no salary listed
Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership Executive Director — Massachusetts, no salary listed :(
The National Conference of State Legislatures Policy Analyst (entry level) — Denver, $50K
Thanks, as always, for your attention. If you found this valuable, please forward it to a democracy friend or colleague!
If so, let me know which ones! I might see you there. Reply to this email or email me at Gabe@democracy-notes.org.