Post Growth Institute (PGI) is an environmentalist advocacy organization that trains, consults, and advocates for what it describes as a sustainable, local, non-hierarchical, nonprofit economy that limits growth to the ability of the world to absorb the waste produced. It advocates for a no-growth and de-growth economy that distributes existing wealth based on what people can contribute. ^{1 2 3}

Individuals and organizations located or operating in 19 countries worldwide constitute PGI, and the group conducts research, publishes articles, and makes presentations designed to promote community-based nonprofit enterprises. ¹

Initiatives

Post Growth Fellowship

Post Growth Institute (PGI) conducts a nine-month fellowship program that seeks content collaboration with thought leaders and activists based on the themes of post-capitalism and providing alternatives to economic growth with ideas from the Global South and marginalized communities. The organization spent $36,000 on 24 participants associated with the program in 2021. ^{4 5}

Free Money Day

Post Growth Institute (PGI) designated September 15 as Free Money Day, a time for strangers to be given money or food and asked to pass half on to someone else. ⁶

Co-Lab

Post Growth Institute (PGI) spent $10,000 in 2021 on Co-Lab, an online meeting space for participants to share and collaborate on ideas to promote post-growth concepts. ⁷

Non-Profit Assist

Post Growth Institute (PGI) offers consultancy services through Non-Profit Assist to aid groups in the formation and growth of nonprofit entities. Non-Profit Assist charges a fee of $150 per hour. ⁸

Offers and Needs Market (OANM)

Offers and Needs Market is a two-hour process provided by Post Growth Institute (PGI) to facilitate the exchange of recipes, services, housing and more as a means of localizing the economy. PGI reported 1,500 participants at a cost of $60,000 in 2021. ^{9 10 11}

Related Organizations

Post Growth Institute (PGI) is a member of the socialist Progressive International, an organization formed by the European radical-left political group Democracy in Europe Movement (DiEM25) and the American left-wing think tank Sanders Institute that supports the end of capitalism and connects activists to advance this end. ^{10 12}

PGI formed a partnership with the Nano Foundation, a fee-free digital currency platform, and launched a WeNano app to map locations where people are donating and sharing money. ¹³

Funding

In 2021, Post Growth Institute (PGI) received a $150,000 grant from NoVo Foundation, a private foundation controlled by Peter Buffett, son of Warren Buffett, and his wife that supports left-of-center groups advocating for abortion access, LGBT issues, and left-wing economics. In 2019, PGI received  a $6,871 grant from RSF Social Finance Inc., a left-of center organization. In 2023, PGI received a $200,000 grant from One Project, an organization that promotes a collective economy over capitalism through what it calls a “Democratic Economy”. ^{14 15 16 17}

People

Donnie Maclurcan is Post Growth Institute’s Argentina-based executive director. He is credited with the development of Offers and Needs Market, Free Money Day, the Post Growth Alliance, the (EN)Rich List, and the Not-for-Profit Way. He is an affiliate professor of economics at Southern Oregon University. ¹

Finances

Post Growth Institute (PGI) reported $15,550 in program service revenue from fees for consulting, OANM, and speaker workshops in 2022. ¹⁸ It reported receiving $328,584 in that year, and reported making $204,430 in expenditures. ¹⁹

1. “Who We Are.” Post Growth Institute, December 11, 2023. https://postgrowth.org/who-we-are/.
2. “Our Charter.” Post Growth Institute, November 17, 2023. https://postgrowth.org/our-charter/.
3. “Post Growth Economics.” Post Growth Institute, April 20, 2023. https://postgrowth.org/post-growth-economics/.
4. “Post Growth Fellowship.” Post Growth Institute, November 29, 2023. https://postgrowth.org/post-growth-fellowship/.
5. “Post Growth Institute” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990), 2021, Part III, Line 4b
6. Institute, Post Growth. “Post Growth Ripples: September 2023.” Medium, September 18, 2023. https://medium.com/postgrowth/post-growth-ripples-september-2023-4fde5f11aff5.
7. “Post Growth Institute” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990), 2021, Part III, Line 4c.
8. “Nonprofit Assist.” Post Growth Institute, November 17, 2023. https://postgrowth.org/nonprofit-assist/.
9. Strode, Mike, Ebony Gustave, and Renata Ballesteros López. “The Offers and Needs Market.” The Offers and Needs Market, January 25, 2024. https://offersandneeds.com/.
10. “Monthly Offers and Needs Market – 1st Session.” The Offers and Needs Market, January 17, 2023. https://offersandneeds.com/product/monthly-offers-and-needs-market-1st-session/.
11. “Post Growth Institute” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax. (Form 990) 2021. Part III, Line 4a.
12. Institute, Post Growth. “Post Growth Ripples: January 2021.” Medium, February 11, 2021. https://medium.com/postgrowth/postgrowth-ripples-january-2021-2a07797aad95.
13. “Nano Foundation: Goals, Alliances, Team and Advisors.” Nano.org. Accessed February 6, 2024. https://nano.org/en/nano-foundation
14. “What We Do.” One Project, July 21, 2023. https://oneproject.org/what-we-do/.
15. Institute, Post Growth. “Post Growth Ripples: December 2021.” Medium, December 22, 2021. https://medium.com/postgrowth/post-growth-ripples-december-2021-38f3c28db882.
16. Institute, Post Growth. “Post Growth Ripples: January 2023.” Medium, January 25, 2023. https://medium.com/postgrowth/post-growth-ripples-january-2023-31f2c64da200.
17. “Rudolf Steiner Foundation Inc.” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990), 2018, Schedule I, Part II.
18. Post Growth Institute, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2022, Part I Line 9 https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/462878678/202313199349322816/full
19. Post Growth Institute, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2022, Part I https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/462878678/202313199349322816/full