Letters of Interest

A full service market research company specializing in primary data collection and analyses, American LIVES (ALI) proposes to conduct a national research study to discover what messages and issues hold the most power and the greatest chance of unifying the progressive movement.  By defining through empirical research the core issues of the Progressive movement, determining the level of overlap among the issues, and charting the differing segments attracted in differing levels to the Progressive movement, American LIVES will be able to map the national appeal of specific policies, from levels of intense support to more fragmented support.  Through batteries of survey questions, ALI will create three separate measures:

The Commonweal Institute (CI) proposes to maximize the strategic gain of current market research efforts by serving as a bridging organization linking national marketing efforts to the thousands of grassroots organizations that do not currently see themselves as part of the greater progressive movement. The Progressive Resource Center – Commonweal PRC – will

1. map, aggregate, and archive existing and new market and polling research from a variety of sources to create an online clearinghouse;
2. offer marketing resources and toolkits on the PRC web site; 
3. build the capacity of independent voices – these nonprofit activists as well as bloggers and academics – to promote cross-cutting progressive values through spokesperson training; 
4. train strategists and communications professionals in the use of market research data in the PRC  database; and 
5. conduct original market research in areas where research is not being undertaken.

Contact:

Using its empirically-driven, cutting-edge values science, American Environics proposes to conduct annual social values surveys in 2006 and 2007, and to publish its Road Map for a Progressive Majority (currently these are produced every four years), in order to offer progressives an understanding of how values are changing year to year. In addition to producing the reports, American Environics proposes:

1. improving on the existing Environics social values study and field analysis by applying a new annual survey tailored for progressive social change;
2. creating and introducing three to five Strategic Initiatives into contested political space;
3. advising on the creation of one to three organizations or cultural products that have bridge values at their center; and
4. bringing together, in an annual meeting, the world’s leading values researchers to discuss new social change trends, the emergence of new values, and the withering away of old values.

Contact:

• Erin Malec, Strategist, American Environics
• 434-293-6361

Founded and operated by a former Reuters television producer and a team of seasoned reporters and editors, Public News Service (PNS) proposes building out its network of state-based progressive AP-style news services, which currently provide news used by mainstream, alternative, independent and ethnic outlets, both local and national in scope. Integrating progressive voices with new and existing technologies, PNS’s charge is to build editorial and infrastructure capacity to provide a vehicle to “mainline” progressive content as ubiquitously and quickly as possible. PNS’s expansion will:

1. add local progressive coverage for five additional key states (FL, PA, MI, VI and TN) to the current coverage in 15 states;
2. increase the number of nonprofits brought into the network of strategic communicators as well as the range of issues that PNS reports on, in particular by creating a new Congressional Progressive Caucus beat to localize and “translate” national stories; and
3. add new capabilities to its internet distribution, thus widening its audience.

Faith Voices for the Common Good proposes collaborating with The New Press to integrate traditional publishing with innovative online technologies; to expand the number and impact of progressive books; and to facilitate grassroots conversations of progressive ideas, both online nationally and offline in local communities. In partnership with The New Press, using its proprietary software, Synanim, Faith Voices will create an echo chamber effect around new progressive ideas by broadening and more deeply engaging progressive audiences and developing a line of books on progressive religion, as well as developing new forms and uses of social software technologies. Such an integration of traditional and innovative communications strategies will allow for widespread impact of progressive ideas and strategies, which can supplement or bypass traditional, mainstream, broadcast-media marketing approaches. This infrastructure component will influence the way progressive messaging, community building, and mobilization are done in the future, helping to bring about long-term social change.

Based on its contribution to progressives’ success in Colorado’s 2004 elections, ProgressNow will work with MoveOn and progressive organizers in individual states, to replicate its state-level model through the development of PCNIC (pronounced “picnic”) – the Progressive Communications Network Incubation Center – which will create, nurture and support independent state-level networks in every state in the nation. PCNIC will provide assistance to state-level progressive entrepreneurs by helping them get launched, get funded and become self-sustaining, and by providing services including communications platform, technical, financial and legal assistance. The PCNIC project can quickly be scaled up to build out the most successful elements of these state-level networks across the country. The resulting network of networks will provide a nimble, multi-level communications and advocacy network for the each state’s entire progressive movement. Ultimately this will allow all fifty states to experience the same success as Colorado in shifting from a top-down “one-to-many” approach to organizing voters and progressive communications to a bottom-up truly grassroots “many-to-many” approach.

Operating on the principle of “connectivity”, the Progressive Media Lab (PML) is a multidisciplinary effort to link organizations and experts in the development and delivery of innovative technologies for grassroots and net-roots organizing, communications development, blogosphere enhancement, and content creation. The PML will create a cross-cutting communications apparatus to address the need for integrated progressive communications strategies and implementations. New technologies and distribution strategies will be created and tested and integrated into the progressive movement through on-site training and an application service provider (ASP) approach. Utilizing virtual connectivity across organizations and a research center for the creation and distribution of innovative technologies and innovative uses of existing technology, PML will facilitate long-term and rapid response messaging; grassroots activation; a disciplined, integrated approach to linking digital strategy and data; and creative content innovation. This unique organization will bring together corporate and technology partners to enable more rapid commercialization of the innovations developed.