Some weeks ago, Libertarian Party of California secretary and Sacramento county LP chair Janine Kloss told me that there might be some significant money coming down the pike from a donor (or as it was later clarified, a group of donors) to fund grassroots Libertarian activism in California. (The figure $250,000 was mentioned, but I don't think this is a hard number; what ends up being spent may depend upon what funding requests emerge.) Subsequently, John Guido of the Monterey County LP sent a letter to LPSF chair Aubrey Freedman soliciting requests for funds, and on Aug. 9 Janine forwarded me a second letter from him about the program with more details on what they'd like to see in requests for funding (see attached documents).
As Aubrey wrote in his response to John's initial letter, we don't really have any pressing local financial needs for the LPSF. However I did brainstorm a bit about what we or other local groups might potentially do if we had more funds, and came up with a couple ideas. Since they are seeking responses from county LP chapters, I'd like to send these in as the LPSF's response to the offer. (Janine would like to get any requests to her by Monday, hence the time frame noted in the subject line.)
Neither idea is endemic to the LPSF nor an immediate request for funding -- these are simply ideas that can be further explored if the donors (and in the case of the second one, a local LP chapter with a big enough activist base to make such a project viable) are interested.
The first idea below is for a program that would establish a kind of petty cash fund for activism, so that disbursements could be made on an ongoing basis in accordance with an established formula designed to ensure a consistent and transparent approach to funding low-level projects. This could be a state-level program, or even beyond.
The second idea below is about obtaining a large movie house or warehouse type space in which video screenings and other events could be hosted. I believe that such spaces could be highly beneficial to local groups with significant numbers of activists -- in California, counties like San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Santa Clara might have sufficient critical mass to make the idea worth exploring.
LP_County_Grant_Letter (letter # 1).docx (15.3 KB)
LP County Grant Program Criteria (letter # 2).docx (92.3 KB)