Real Power. Stronger Communities. Better Decisions. These are the results of participatory budgeting. It’s why we at the Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP) do the work we do, and why I hope you will join us in two exciting opportunities over the coming weeks: to vote on how to spend PBP’s own budget through our PB² process, and to double the impact of your gift through matching funds on Giving Tuesday.  Donations over the past year enabled us to work with dozens of partners to engage 20,000 people in deciding how to spend $17 million on community improvements, nearly tripling the scale of PB in the US. Your support can take this movement to the next level. Help guide PB in 2014 – see all six PB² project proposals here.

Help us build community leaders like Jenny Aguiar, one of our youth participants this year in the citywide PB process in Vallejo, CA. This is what she writes about her experience:

“I came in for the free pizza … but I stayed because I saw an opportunity to make a change. Before this, I had little to no experience in working with my community, but I had always been interested….

There was a stronger sense of unity that has emerged from PB. Personally, it just opened my eyes to what it was like to actually do something that means something to people…I now know I have the ability to help not just this community, but many more.”

Transformative leadership experiences like Jenny’s are key to empowering communities to become better connected and more engaged in developing deeper democracy. You can read all of Jenny’s story, and the powerful stories of other PB participants, at our PB Stories page.

You can help us continue building the power of youth in Vallejo and elsewhere by supporting the Participatory Budgeting Project. As a small non-profit organization, we depend on the support of individuals like you to expand and deepen our work. We have had amazing successes in just two short years, developing and expanding PB in Vallejo, New York, and Chicago, and we’re now in talks with over 20 cities about launching new PB processes. Help us continue this transformative work by making a donation at whatever level you can afford – whether $20, $50, $100, or $500. Every amount helps!

We are the only organization in North America whose sole focus is to advance participatory budgeting. That’s a large task for a tiny group, so your support is critical.

You can amplify the impact of your donation by giving on Giving Tuesday, December 3rd. Giving Tuesday is an annual event to refocus the holiday season after Black Friday. It provides the chance to reconsider the meaning of giving while connecting us with others who are supporting good work. This Giving Tuesday, our Board and major donors have pledged to match all gifts up to $7,000, so your gifts that day will be doubled! Make your own pledge now to give on December 3rd.

And if you donate before the end of this year, you can also vote to decide how the donations are spent, through our PB² process: Do we design an organizing toolkit or translate our materials? Plan a speaking tour or a celebration marking the 25th anniversary of PB worldwide? Guide the movement for participatory budgeting with your donation and your vote! Vote for your favorite ideas and in January we’ll let you know the winners!

One of the funded projects from last year’s PB2 process is our new video, a great tool for introducing your friends to PB. Why not share it with your family over the Thanksgiving holiday, and ask them to join you in supporting this groundbreaking new movement for real democracy?

Thank you!

Josh Lerner

Executive Director, The Participatory Budgeting Project

P.S. Please make a Giving Tuesday donation now by sending us a check dated December 3rd, or pledging here to give on December 3rd. Once you donate, we’ll send you an email with instructions on how to vote in PB2.