Rural Progress, sometimes known as RuralOrganizing.org, is a left-of-center organization advocates for left-of-center policy aimed at rural communities. The group has a sister nonprofit called the RuralOrganizing.org Education Fund, which shares a similar mission. ^{1 2}

The organization is a member of Democracy Forward’s Democracy 2025 project, which is a coalition of over 500 groups that seeks to disrupt the policies of the Trump administration that it perceives as “anti-democratic.” ³

Background

Rural Progress researches and advocates left-of-center policies aimed at building rural communities. The firm advocates for the critical race theory-influenced concept of equity, stating its objective is to “create resilient, welcoming, and equitable communities.” ¹

The group has a related charitable and advocacy sister nonprofit, the RuralOrganizing.org Education Fund (rendered Ruralorganizing Dot Org Education Fund on public tax returns). In 2023, the group had $571,966 in revenues, $661,001 in expenses, and $128,129 in total assets. The fund shares a similar mission to Rural Progress; as of 2023, Matthew Hildreth was the executive director of the organization. ²

Rural Progress is a member of Democracy Forward’s Democracy 2025 project. The Democracy 2025 project is a coalition of over 500 groups that declares its goal is to disrupt the policies of the Trump administration perceived as being “anti-democratic” through legal action. The coalition claims to have over 1,600 lawyers, advocates, and policy experts working towards this cause. ³

Activities

Rural Progress operates a blog that covers policy developments affecting rural regions of America. ⁴

Rural Progress also provides access to online resources and toolkits from partner organizations. These resources include “Protecting Civic Space: a Primer” from the group Protect Democracy; the project is described as a resource for protection against “Project 2025 attack.” Other partner organizations featured include the Southern Economic Advancement Project (SEAP), the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, Radically Rural, and the Rural Urban Bridge Initiative. ⁵

Funding

In 2023, Rural Progress reported $243,351 in revenues, $357,492 in expenses, and $183,490 in total assets. Donations to the group are processed through Action Network. ^{6 7}

The Sixteen Thirty Fund, a nonprofit under the management of Arabella Advisors, gave $70,000 in 2019, $565,000 in 2020, $200,000 in 2021, $175,000 in 2022, and $50,000 in 2023 to Rural Progress. ⁸

In 2024, America Votes gave $160,000 to Rural Progress. ⁹

In 2023, the Ohio Progressive Collaborative Education Fund gave $20,000 to an entity designated as a 501(c)(3) listed under the name “RO Education Fund.” The grant was listed under the EIN for Rural Progress as opposed to the EIN for its sister-nonprofit that goes by the name RuralOrganizing.org Education Fund. ¹⁰

The Ohio Progressive Collaborative gave $60,000 in 2023, $165,000 in 2022, and $75,000 in 2021 to Rural Progress. ¹¹

In 2022, the Strategic Victory Fund gave $150,000 to Rural Progress. ¹²

In 2020, People’s Action gave $60,000 to Rural Progress. ¹³

In 2018, Civic Innovation Works gave $80,000 to Rural Progress. ¹⁴

In December 2025, Rural Progress was one of multiple organizations that received a grant from Yield Giving, the philanthropic initiative started by MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos. In 2025 alone, Scott, through Yield Giving, donated over $7.16 billion to philanthropies and other charity organizations around the world. ¹⁵

People

Matthew Hildreth is the founder and executive director of Rural Progress. Hildreth is also the founder of Haymaker Labs, LLC. In 2024, Hildreth worked on the Kamala Harris presidential campaign as the director of national rural outreach. Previously, Hildreth worked for America’s Voice from 2010 to 2019, including as the director of new initiatives. ¹⁶

Shawn Sebastian is the director of organizing for Rural Progress. Previously, Sebastian was a senior fellow of the Rural Initiative at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,  a strategist for rural policy and engagement at People’s Action, and an Iowa State organizing director at Working Families Party. He was formerly an anti-corruption fellow at the Open Society Foundations, an adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, a movement politics organizer for Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, and the “Fed Up’ campaign director at the Center for Popular Democracy.  ¹⁷

1. “About.” Rural Progress, February 27, 2025. https://ruralprogress.org/about/.
2. “RuralOrganizing.org Education Fund,” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) 2023. Page 1 Part 1 Lines 12, 18, and 20; Page 7 Part VII; Schedule R.
3. “This Is Democracy 2025: The United Legal Frontline in the Fight for Our Democracy.” This is Democracy 2025 | The united legal frontline in the fight for our democracy. Accessed July 6, 2025. https://www.democracy2025.org/about.
4. “Blog.” Rural Progress, April 17, 2025. https://ruralprogress.org/blog/.
5. “Resources.” Rural Progress. Accessed July 6, 2025. https://ruralprogress.org/resources/.
6. “RuralOrganizing.org,” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) 2023. Page 1 Part 1 Lines 12, 18, and 20.
7. “Support Progressive Organizing in Rural Communities.” Home – Action Network. Accessed July 6, 2025. https://actionnetwork.org/fundraising/we-are-boldly-progressive-and-proudly-rural.
8. “Sixteen Thirty Fund,” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023. Schedule I.
9. “America Votes,” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) 2024. Schedule I.
10. “Ohio Prgoressive Collaborative Education Fund,” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) 2023. Schedule I.
11. “Ohio Prgoressive Collaborative,” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) 2021, 2022, and 2023. Schedule I.
12.  “Strategic Victory Fund,” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) 2022. Schedule I.
13. People’s Action,” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) 2020. Schedule I.
14. “Civic Innovation Works,” Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990) 2018. Schedule I.
15. Scott, MacKenzie. “We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For.” Yield Giving, December 5, 2025. https://yieldgiving.com/essays/we-are-the-ones-we-ve-been-waiting-for
16. Matthew Hildreth – founder – Haymaker Labs, LLC | LinkedIn. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthildreth/.
17. Shawn Sebastian – director of organizing – ruralorganizing.org | linkedin. Accessed July 3, 2025. https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawnjosephsebastian/