Post Growth Institute (PGI) is an environmentalist advocacy organization based in Ashland, Oregon. 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. ⁴

Initiatives

Post Growth Fellowship

Post Growth Institute 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. ^{5 6}

Free Money Day

Post Growth Institute 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. ⁷

Co-Lab

Post Growth Institute 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. ⁸

Non-Profit Assist

Post Growth Institute 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. ⁹

Offers and Needs Market (OANM)

Offers and Needs Market is a two-hour process provided by Post Growth Institute 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. ^{10 11 12}

Related Organizations

Post Growth Institute 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. ^{13 14}

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. ¹⁵

Funding

In 2021, Post Growth Institute 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”. ^{16 17 18 19}

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. ²⁰

Finances

Post Growth Institute reported  $15,550 in program service revenue from fees for consulting, OANM, and speaker workshops in 2022. ²¹ It reported receiving $328,584 in that year, and reported making $204,430 in expenditures. ²²

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