Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation

The Funders' Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP) links together grantmakers committed to enhancing democratic involvement in all dimensions of civic life, including elections, governance, media and civil society. The FCCP focuses on breaking down barriers to democratic involvement by disenfranchised and underrepresented communities.

The FCCP, established in 1983, advanced effective voter-registration philanthropy in the 1980s, supported campaign-finance reform in the 1990s and explored new voting technologies and effective voter engagement strategies in the aftermath of the 2000 and 2004 elections. Initially conceived as the Funders' Committee on Voter Registration and Education, the affinity group redirected its course in 1992 to emphasize engaged citizenship, adopting a "year-round" (rather than election-cycle) approach to maintaining and increasing civic participation.

The FCCP now:

  • Monitors trends in civic engagement
  • Expands support for civic engagement work by collaborating with issue-based and constituency-based funders and affinity groups
  • Informs and improves the practice of civic engagement funding by providing new tools and information to members
  • Facilitates peer learning through research and publishing, such as the Voter Engagement Evaluation Project (VEEP) Report, which evaluates the effectiveness of the 501(c)(3) voter-engagement activity that FCCP funders supported during the 2004 election
  • Convenes donor strategy sessions, post-election debriefs, site visits, monthly conference calls and annual retreats to share new knowledge, identify common interests and chart new directions

The FCCP's interests are dynamic, reflecting the areas of critical interest to members at any given time. The FCCP currently works in the areas of integrated voter engagement, voter protection, building change in the states, ballot initiatives and election reform.

For more information about the group and its work, including full membership guidelines, visit the FCCP website.