Our Grantees
The Importance of State Infrastructure:
By funding organizations on the ground that truly represent their communities, SIF shows that its strategy is designed to support and build lasting organizational capacity within organizations as well as strong coordinated networks of civic engagement and voting rights groups so that they can run effective programs and respond to changing circumstances at the state level, year in and year out.
At the core of SIF’s strategy is supporting state-based/focused organizations and networks. SIF also provides support to national and regional organizations focused in states that help groups on the ground by providing additional resources, expertise, information and coordination to state groups. This includes voting rights litigation by national civil rights litigation groups and Election Protection coordination and hotlines.
SIF defines state infrastructure as the network of well-resourced organizations with strong leaders who collaborate in planning and carrying out right-sized civic engagement, voting, and voting rights efforts in communities across a state.
SIF develops tailored strategies for support that reflect each state’s unique capacities, challenges, and opportunities. Key indicators of a strong infrastructure are: multiple organizations working in marginalized communities; capacity to plan, develop, and execute complex and consistent programs; the ability to use data to show positive results; and the ability to pivot quickly responding to timely issues.
State Focused Funding
Since its inception in 2010, SIF has raised over ~$180 million raised to support 140+ state-based and national nonpartisan groups.
Additionally, it has distributed it to state-based and national organizations that implement an integrated civic engagement and voting rights strategy in the states in BIPOC and underrepresented communities. The graph below provides a breakdown of SIF funding from 2010 -2021.
Constituencies Served
As part of its strategy, SIF intentionally invests primarily in smaller Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC)-led organizations in its Priority States.
Historically many of these organizations have been unable to access large national funding sources, which deeply hindered their ability to build capacity, grow their programs, or be considered valuable within the context of the state landscape. Currently, 87% of SIF’s 140 grantees are BIPOC-led. This focus has allowed many organizations to grow their programs and capacity and become leaders within the state’s civic engagement and voting rights infrastructure.
A recent survey of SIF grantees asking them to identify their primary constituencies found that nearly all worked in multiple communities.
Increasing civic engagement isn’t just an ‘election-year thing‘ with SIF. They understand that this requires funding and other resources for organizing and infrastructure over a consistent periods of time and targeted to key states and communities that otherwise wouldn‘t have them. By looking systematically and strategically and seeing where funders can have most impact over time, SIF is getting the kind of outcomes we all like to see.
— Hildy Simmons, Philanthropic/Donor
Advised Fund Consultant
For more information about the State Infrastructure Fund, please visit our contact page.