PB for PBP: How would you spend $25,000 to make participatory democracy better?
Our 2023 PB² cycle is open! We are moving into the Proposal Development phase and seeking volunteer budget delegates. Read more about the opportunity below.
Each year, the Participatory Budgeting Project invites our partners, supporters, and donors to decide how a portion of donations are spent – it’s our own participatory budgeting process, called PB². It's your opportunity to do PB with us!
Through this process, we practice democracy and build greater shared decision-making power, accountability, and transparency into how our organization spends our funds.
The PB² process is guided by a Steering Committee made up of PBP staff members. Our supporters, donors, and community members participate by submitting ideas, volunteering as budgeting delegates to help develop proposals, and voting!
Once the voting tally is complete, we will announce the winners and make plans to implement through our organization. Your ideas become projects for our team to advance participatory democracy and build community power.
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
- Submit your idea!
That’s right -- anyone who is committed to advancing equitable participatory democracy can submit your ideas to help us make participatory budgeting and participatory democracy more equitable, accessible, and impactful.
- Join the budget delegate committee!
As a Budget Delegate, you will take promising ideas from our community members and turn them into exciting projects that our supporters can vote on this spring!
The Budget Delegate Committee will include Staff, Amplifiers, Partners, and members of our Boards. Becoming a Budget Delegate is a great way to get to know different members of the organization, build new skills, and gain hands-on experience in participatory budgeting.
And you don’t need to have prior experience or knowledge on participatory democracy to participate—our staff will provide expertise and be here to support you throughout the process.
The committee will meet biweekly or monthly during the proposal development phase. Volunteer to join us as a budget delegate.
- Vote on the winning proposals!
Once proposals are put onto a ballot, we’ll invite our community to vote on how to make participatory democracy more equitable, accessible, and significant! Voting will take place online and is open to anyone who is committed to advancing equitable participatory democracy. The PB² Steering Committee will share more information when the voting period begins.
FAQ
What kinds of projects are eligible?
To be eligible to move forward in the PB cycle, an idea should:
- Be specific, measurable, and require funds to be implemented.
- Be feasible for PBP to implement in 2024.
- Cost no more than $10,000.
- Resource opportunities that allow PBP to do work that expands participatory democracy that is equitable, accessible, and significant.
What happens if there’s a tie that exceeds our overall budget?
Our overall pot of funds is $25,000. If the winning projects exceed the available pot of funds, what will we do?
- PBP will fund the project with the next most votes that can be fully funded
*In the event that a winning project is not able to be funded, the idea will be considered for implementation if resources become available.
TIMELINE FOR THE 2023 PROCESS
Idea Collection Begins
Ideal Collection Closes
Develop Proposals
Voting Period
Announce Winning Projects
........
........
........
........
........
November 22, 2022
February 28, 2023
March - September 2023
late fall 2023
late fall 2023
NEED SUPPORT COMPLETING THE FORMS OR HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE PROCESS?
We strive to ensure all individuals can participate fully throughout the PB² process and will be happy to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities. If you need support participating during the process, including completing any of the above forms, please email Shari Davis at shari@participatorybudgeting.org.
Requests should be made at least seven days prior to the specific phase closing.
CHECK OUT PAST WINNING PROJECTS
Watch our PB in Schools video
A deep dive into the a real PB process in Phoenix, AZ, this video is an opportunity to hear directly from the students and the adults around them how and why PB is civics in action, and how PBP can help you bring PB to your school, district, or community!
Download the free “Guide to Participatory Budgeting in Schools”
A series of lesson plans for high schools, which can be modified for all age levels.
We developed an Outreach Toolkit to support PB practitioners in making their processes more equitable and reflective of the communities in which they’re working. While its target audience is those leading PB processes, we’re excited to share the toolkit with everyone out there doing the hard work of making our democracy more participatory.
