The People’s Alliance Fund is a nonprofit organization that supports progressive educational, research, and service activities conducted by organizations in Durham and other North Carolina communities, principally other communities in the Greater Triangle area. The Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, making contributions to it tax-deductible.
The Fund sponsors the Durham Living Wage Project, a successful volunteer-run campaign launched in March 2015 that to date has certified over 160 private sector, public sector, and nonprofit employers committed to paying their approximately 6,000 workers a living wage. The project plans to resume adding employers later in 2021 but has paused for now because of the financial difficulties many employers are facing as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly most small businesses. Visit the DLWP website to learn which currently certified employers deserve your support and to donate to the project.
The Fund has provided numerous small, quickly-decided Micro-grants to volunteer-led progressive efforts by nonprofit organizations in Durham and the greater Triangle area. When a nonprofit organization saw the need for an educational forum or an organizing activity on an issue that its staff and volunteers were willing to devote hours of time to, the Fund helped cover the cost of materials, room rental, and other basic expenses so the group could focus on substance. In early 2023, the Board of Directors decided to pause the micro-grant program while it conducts a strategic review of its operations.
The People's Alliance Fund sponsored the voter education and registration project You Can Vote for over five years and then encouraged and supported its transition to become an independent nonprofit in 2019. During You Can Vote's time as a PA Fund project, from its first full year of 2014 through July, 2019, it grew from a part-time staff of one in Durham to a large fulltime staff working to register and turn out voters across most of North Carolina. You Can Vote registered over 30,000 voters during its time under the Fund's wing, thanks largely to its success in attracting and training some 2,500 volunteers and finding high-traffic venues for them to engage under-registered populations. A large part of the Fund's support was provided by longtime Fund treasurer Jennifer McGovern, who guided the management of You Can Vote's finances on a volunteer basis as its budget grew from less than $20,000 to over $500,000.
In addition to individual donations, The People’s Alliance Fund receives and administers grants from foundations and other nonprofits for projects in Durham and across the state.
To learn about our sister organization, People’s Alliance, go to durhampa.org