The Portland Votes 2024 Grant Program has awarded $210,000 to 11 organizations to support voter education activities on Portland’s new election method, ranked-choice voting. The new election method was approved by voters in November 2022.
The grant program is managed by a partner collaboration led by Portland United for Change and administered by United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, the fiscal sponsor for the program. The awarded grants provide culturally responsive outreach and education to reach voters from priority populations, including from Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color and groups who have historically faced systemic barriers to voting and to engagement with their city government.
The grant portfolio has strong representation from culturally specific organizations and covers activities across all three of the program areas and funding levels: direct voter education (range: $30,000-$50,000), community education ($15,000), and communications (range: $4,000-$5,000). Read more about the grant types available and sample activities.
The list of grantees is below, alphabetized and organized by project type. Grants will begin this month with activities occurring over the next five months leading up to the election on November 5.
Direct Voter Education Grantees
Applicant Organization | Grant Amount |
APANO Provide culturally and language-specific educational events, canvassing, digital outreach, and more to reach AANHPI communities. | $40,000 |
Native American Youth and Family Center Provide mock RCV election sessions, ballot information, and education at cultural and community events to reach Native communities. | $40,000 |
Urban League of Portland Engage voters at community lunch and learns, youth events, social media, and more to reach African Americans and other communities. | $40,000 |
Community Education Grantees
Applicant Organization | Grant Amount |
East County Rising Community Projects/Ebony Collective CDC Provide train-the-trainers, door-to-door outreach, mock elections, and more to reach BIPOC and East County communities and residents. | $15,000 |
Future Prairie and the Pacific Northwest Museum of Queer Art Provide voter education through arts events, productions, networks, to reach queer artists in LGBTQIA+ and ALAANA communities. | $15,000 |
Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization Provide town halls, mock elections, member outreach, and more to reach refugee and immigrant communities across cultures and generations. | $15,000 |
Latino Network Engage voters through town halls, social media, training, phone canvassing, and more to reach Latino youth, families, and communities. | $15,000 |
Next Up Provide peer-to-peer outreach, canvassing, phone banking, and more to reach young people ages 13-35 from BIPOC and other communities. | $15,000 |
Communications Grantees
Applicant Organization | Grant Amount |
Cascade AIDS Project Provide information through existing networks, publications, and sites, to reach LGBTQ+ people and people affected by HIV. | $5,000 |
League of Women Voters of Portland Provide education through training workshops, materials, speaking engagements to serve all residents of the City and Multnomah County. | $5,000 |
YWCA of Greater Portland Provide outreach, education through digital communication, direct outreach, virtual events, to reach marginalized voters and communities. | $5,000 |
Applications submitted for this grant program
The program team was thrilled with the number of organizations interested in supporting voter education efforts. Nearly $1 million in requests were submitted, far exceeding the $210,000 available in the grant opportunity. The program hopes to build partnerships with all the applicant organizations to support voter education in the months ahead.
The program team extends its thanks to everyone who took the time to apply.
The organizations that applied are: 350PDX, African Refugee Immigrant Organization, Alberta Abbey, Allen Temple CME Church, APANO, Black Men in Training, Cascade AIDS Project, Dads Helping Dads, East County Rising, East County Rising Community Projects/Ebony Collective CDC, Future Prairie and the Pacific Northwest Museum of Queer Art, Hmong American Community of Oregon, Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization, KBOO Community Radio, Language Link LLC, Latino Network, League of Women Voters of Portland, LGBTQAI2S+ Community Center Fund (Q Center), Love is Stronger GV, Mental Health Association of Portland, Miracles Club, NAACP Portland Branch 1120, NAACP Portland Branch 1120-B, Native American Youth and Family Center, Next G, Inc, Next Up, Oregon Chinese Coalition, Our Just Future, Portland State University - Student Activities and Leadership Programs, SSSSSS, St. Johns Neighborhood Association, The BIPOC Rise Moor Healing Center, The Ebony Collective CDC, The Rosewood Initiative, Urban League of Portland, and the YWCA of Greater Portland.