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COVID SMS Program Incubation Grants

DALogoHighResolution

In partnership with the New American Majority Fund at the Democracy Alliance, Resistance Labs is supporting innovative SMS-based responses to our new context. Our goals are to mitigate the harm that this crisis will have on marginalized communities, help build progressive power over the long-term, and ensure the 2020 elections are representative. 

We Invite Organizations with Those Goals to Ask Themselves:

 

How Could Mass SMS Help Our Organization and Mission? 

Example projects might include expanding the outreach for a domestic abuse hotline, providing information about food pantry availability to low-income citizens, advocating for state vote by mail ballots to be mailed, or creating an anti-eviction SMS response.

Selected Organizations Will Receive

  • Consulting services to manage a campaign of up to three months in duration
  • Networking, partnership development support
  • Data provisioning to legally secure a list of relevant cell numbers
  • Texting conversations with up to 100,000 contacts
  • Management of dedicated volunteers to engage in conversations via text
  • Design and execution of experiments to rigorously assess impact and scale funding
  • Assistance creating short code opt-in, website language, or other relevant collateral

Project Criteria

Projects selected will meet one or more of the following:

  • Provide timely information about the virus to the public
  • Respond to COVID to provide public health, social services, or safety net information
  • Mobilize individuals to advocate for policy or governance action
  • Build long-term relationships of trust with rural, marginalized, or low-income individuals
  • Have an impact on the 2020 election

Organizational Criteria

Organizations selected will meet one or more of the following:

  • Have a racial, social, or economic justice lens and build power among marginalized or low-income groups
  • Have work that increases civic engagement and voter turnout
  • Have work that aims to protect or support high-risk or vulnerable populations

And Also All of the Below

  • Have not yet developed significant data and SMS capacity internally
  • Be able to quickly (2-3 days, not 2-3 weeks) make decisions and approve language and processes
  • Be functioning as a 501c3 or 501c4 non-profit

Applications Have Closed

Thank you! We received over 250 applications and working through them currently. If you would like to know if we re-open this grant program, you can contact Sarah. In the meantime, if you’d like support services please reach out to Alan to discuss how we can help.