Rapid Response & Innovation Fund

Rapid Response & Innovation Fund


For fifty years, VPIRG has been a bold leader in the fight to protect Vermont’s people, environment, and locally based economy. And while VPIRG has grown and matured a great deal since our scrappy beginnings nearly 50 years ago, we’re still fundamentally an issue-based organization that spends nearly all the money we raise each year on advancing our core programmatic work.

But sometimes new opportunities or urgent needs arise that we haven’t planned for. Currently, when immediate, unexpected action is needed, the only way we can prioritize that work is at the expense of our other established campaigns. We lack the financial resources that would make it possible for us to meet these unprecedented moments head on and innovate in bold and exciting ways on a regular basis.

VPIRG’s Rapid Response & Innovation Fund will enable our team to take on critical new public interest projects that extend beyond the scope of our core programmatic work – and we’re counting on investments from our most loyal supporters to make that happen.

Below you’ll see an example of how we were able to launch and run the innovate, timely “Vote Safe VT” campaign during the pandemic. We’re launching the Rapid Response & Innovation Fund to make sure we can respond just as quickly to the next opportunity or challenge, without having to shrink another campaign or scramble to quickly find a new funder.

Ready to make your gift to the Rapid Response & Innovation Fund?
Contact our Membership & Events Manager, Lis Harwood at mharwood@vpirg.org or at (802) 223-5221 x14

Innovation in Action

All Rapid Response & Innovation Fund investments will be directed to projects not planned for in our annual budget that a) move Vermont closer to the vision outlined in VPIRG’s strategic plan and b) would not succeed without a strategic and timely investment. Projects may combine both lobbying and non-lobbying initiatives.

The Rapid Response & Innovation Fund will allow us to maintain focus on key priorities while also giving us more flexibility and capacity to bring about change than we’ve ever had before. With your support — and while honoring the values and approach that have made our organization so successful for half a century — we’re excited to push the boundaries of what effective public interest organizing and advocacy can look like over next 50 years.

The Rapid Response & Innovation Fund is a joint initiative of Vermont Public Interest Research Group (VPIRG) and Vermont Public Interest Research & Education Fund (VPIREF). Tax-deductible gifts to the Fund may be made to VPIREF, VPIRG’s 501c(3) charitable education and outreach arm. Gifts made to the Fund through VPIRG – a registered 501c(4) organization – are not deductible for the purposes of federal estate tax, but help to fund our critical advocacy and lobbying activities.

In many cases there are tax benefits for certain ways of giving. If you are considering supporting the Fund with a planned gift or a gift of stock or retirement assets, please contact us to discuss your plans.

Please note: This information is not intended as tax or legal advice. We recommend that you consult with your legal and financial advisors to learn how a gift would work in your circumstances.

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