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The robust strategies that are needed to build a democracy and economy that work for us all are more expansive than a single tax status. Operating multiple entities allows us to give flexible funding in response to the current needs of our movement. Many of the organizations we support have similar structures.

Progress Alliance plays several roles in addition to grantmaking —

• Strategic Partnership and Coordination: Progress Alliance is highly collaborative and we aim to be a resource and strategy partner with our grantee network and larger political community. That means providing capacity building resources, facilitating connections between organizations, funders, and other stakeholders in our networks, and plugging in as a strategic thought partner. In the past this work has included:

  • PA staff serving on issue or strategy-based coalitions and steering committees for ballot initiative campaigns

  • Raising millions of dollars in aligned funding to directly support collaborative projects, campaigns, or coalitions

  • Providing fiscal sponsorship to incubate new projects and organizations

  • Convening our grantee network with mainstream political partners

  • Conducting landscape assessments to identify gaps in the progressive movement’s infrastructure and working with partners to fill those gaps through the launch of new capacities

• Donor Organizing: Our model is based on organizing donors to align with and support the progressive political movement, with BIPOC movement leaders at the forefront of developing strategy. We believe that we cannot make adequate social change by following the models that have failed communities of color for hundreds of years, in which systems and institutions — including both philanthropy and traditional political systems — have intentionally excluded and harmed these communities. We support donors in committing their resources while ceding, sharing, and leveraging their power in support of the movement. We are building a learning community where donors learn from our partners and from each other. In practice, this looks like providing educational and engagement opportunities through events, trainings, communications, donor advising, and intentional relationship-building.

• First Mile: We coordinate the First Mile Circle — a donor circle that supports progressive candidates of color in down ballot races across Washington state who are bold, transformational, and accountable to the communities they represent. Donations are given directly from donors to candidate campaigns, with First Mile’s community partner recommendations serving as a BIPOC-led, community-informed process for determining which candidates to support, which reinforces the ties between candidates and their communities. PA is the founding and host organization for First Mile, meaning it is our staff who are convening our community partners, fundraising to bring in donor’s pledges, hosting events to hear from candidates, communicating with members, and so much more.

Progress Alliance is the only organization in Washington focused on the health of the state's progressive movement across all issue areas and over time. Our unique goal is to build a healthy ecosystem in which social change organizations — those working for a healthy democracy and racial, gender, economic, and environmental justice — have all the tools they need to thrive. We assess how organizations are working together, identify gaps in our movement's infrastructure and work to fill them, and identify the opportunities and threats that stand in our way of success. Progress Alliance is built to be nimble and respond to shifts in the landscape, and our ability to aggregate individual donations allows us to address urgent needs that aren’t in the mission of any of our grantee organizations. At times we have helped launched new capacities, funded research or tools that all our grantees have benefitted from, and more. It is no one else’s job to tend to this underlying foundation.

Donors come to Progress Alliance to pool their funds around a shared strategy of building a strong progressive movement that lasts beyond a single election cycle, winning lasting systemic political change, and developing an engaged and effective member learning community.

See the question above to learn more about the work staff leads in addition to grantmaking.

There is no minimum donation requirement to be a PA member. We welcome all those who believe in our vision to join at a level that is personally significant for them, and ask that members put Progress Alliance among their top annual charitable and political contributions. Member families give anywhere between $100 to $100,000 annually, with most members giving in the $1,000-$10,000 range.

We ask our new members to test drive the organization for one year and then consider making a multi-year commitment as the infrastructure we have created together is intended to be permanent — our movement relies on us giving consistently towards the future we envision 10 and 20 years down the road. Most members decide to stay with PA for the long-term, and this approach is what in turn allows us to make multi-year funding commitments to our grantees and provide stability to our movement’s ecosystem.

For members who want to deepen their engagement, Progress Alliance offers briefings on emergent political issues and campaigns, workshops to deepen political analysis and put values into action, opportunities to meet social change leaders, and invitations to participate in strategic discussions. We have supported our members to host events, recruit new members to join our community, write letters to the editor on key policy issues, testify in Olympia, go door-to-door to talk with voters in important elections, and raise money for critical issues and campaigns. We can help you find the best way to use your talent, skills, and energy to make Washington state healthier and more just for all our communities.

Yes! Most of our members are busy and passionate people who balance competing priorities. For some, writing their Progress Alliance check is their primary political action each year, and they look to the staff and board of directors to do the organization’s work. Our members are some of our best creative thinkers, but there is no expectation to give time unless you want to.

To learn more about membership, please email us at info@washingtonprogress.org.

If you are ready to join, you can make a donation using the links above! We engage with each of our members directly, so will reach out to learn more about everyone who gives to us — how you came to Progress Alliance, your desired engagement, and the issues you care most about.