Non-profit

Climate Fund (Democracy Alliance)

Type:

Environmentalist Funding Group

Project of:

New Venture Fund

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The Democracy Alliance Climate Fund, often called “the Climate Fund,” is a center-left environmentalist group that funds campaigns in states considered “critical” by the Democracy Alliance, a network of highly influential funders within the Democratic Party and the political Left. The Democracy Alliance itself generally coordinates funding strategies rather than engaging in grantmaking; consequently, the Climate Fund itself is a project of the New Venture Fund, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funding and fiscal sponsorship provider. 1

The Democracy Alliance Climate Action Fund is the 501(c)(4)-sponsored arm of the Climate Fund.

Political Activities

The joint mission of the Climate Action Fund and its sister group, the Climate Fund, is advancing climate change as a policy proposal in “critical states.” A key goal of the Climate Action Fund is “rais[ing] the visibility of climate as an election issue and driv[ing] a narrative around climate change and economic justice as a mandate for policy change.”

To this end, the Climate Action Fund targets what it calls “climate champions.”According to a 2016 Democracy Alliance report: 1

There is enormous support for climate action among Latinos. African Americans. Asian and Pacific Islanders, and Millennials. yet not enough resources go to policy advocacy and organizing efforts in these communities. The funds are playing an important role by filling this gap and catalyzing greater investment into these communities.

The funds noted their target states for the 2017-2020 elections were Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The report also noted that Democracy Alliance “partners” had made over $2 million available in outside support for these campaigns. State-level supporting groups for each target state consisted of the following:

Florida

  • New Florida Majority (NFM)
  • Florida Immigrant Coalition
  • Florida Institute for Reform and Empowerment
  • Organize Now

Virginia

  • Virginia Organizing
  • New Virginia Majority

Ohio

  • Ohio Organizing Collaborative
  • Ohio Organizing Committee
  • Stand Up for Ohio

Pennsylvania

  • One Pennsylvania

Leadership

The Climate Action Fund and the Climate Fund share an advisory board composed of six members: Guillermo Quinteros, program director for the Solidago FoundationSarah Christensen, program director for the Solidago Foundation; Josie Mooney, a political consultant for Democracy Partners; Lee Wasserman, director of the Rockefeller Family Fund; and Kathleen Welch, principal at the political consultancy Corridor Partners.

In addition, Roger Kim is listed as a contact for the Funds. Kim also works as senior strategy and planning officer to the Democracy Alliance in addition to his role as executive director of the Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund, a New Venture Fund project. 2

Funding

According to a 2016 Democracy Alliance report, the Climate Fund raised $740,000 and spent $550,000. The Climate Action Fund reportedly raised approximately $520,000 and spent $520,000.1

References

  1. “Democracy Alliance 2020 Investment Portfolio.” Democracy Alliance. Published Fall 2016. Accessed April 15, 2019. Available: https://www.influencewatch.org/app/uploads/2019/04/Democracy-Alliance-2020-Investment-Portfolio-Report.pdf
  2. “Roger Kim.” Democracy Alliance. Accessed April 8, 2019. https://democracyalliance.org/people/roger-kim/
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