At RG, we know that individual giving is most effective if we can harness it to build towards collective power and transformation. Redistribution alone is not the answer.  

It doesn’t build power for RG members to donate their money quietly and discreetly; doing so  plays into destructive class patterns of individualism and shame around money. It doesn’t build power for RG to have a small membership base, representing a tiny fraction of all young people with wealth and class privilege. 

It DOES build power for RG to commit to moving $10 million per year to our national partners, $100 million to social justice movements each year, and $1 billion to social justice movements over the next decade. 

It DOES build power when RG can engage in effective campaigning with a solid understanding of how much wealth our base has, and what we’re planning to do with it. 

It DOES build power when we can influence philanthropy and policy based on what we know about our membership community. 

It DOES build power to be able to reliably and boldly mobilize resources - for our partners, both locally and nationally, and for RG membership dues each year.

How do we accomplish this? By filling out the 

By filling out the RP, we are tasked with getting serious about what we have, how much we can move in a set time frame, and where the funds are going. It creates a track record for us to hold ourselves accountable. It establishes a mechanism by which RG members can hold each other accountable. 

Questions of collective accountability and impact are directly tied to RG as a membership organization, too. This is notable from a financial perspective, as 95% of our organizational budget is membership contributions; if, how, and when members move dues directly impacts how resilient we are as an institution. RG members’ collective power and transformation is directly relevant to real, present-day movements led by working class and BIPOC communities working for the equitable distribution of land, wealth, and power. 

Using RP data, local chapters have a better understanding of how much they can potentially mobilize for local and national frontline movements, and are able to set better collective goals that are both ambitious and realistic. Information from the RP can provide direction on what programming to prioritize, what political education a chapter might be needing, and how to structure potential giving circles. 

Maybe you get to the Redistribution Pledge website and you can feel the panic rising. Take a breath! This isn’t easy. Sit with what you’re feeling. Notice class patterns of guilt, shame, overwhelm, and stagnation that may be arising for you. Reach out to your RG community and make a plan for how to stay accountable to your values of equity and redistribution. Here are some ideas:

• Coordinate with your local chapter to fill out the RP together. 
• Have important conversations you’ve been putting off with family members or financial advisors. 
• Maybe it’s finally time for you to get yourself a radical financial advisor! 

Get together with an “accountabili-buddy” to fill it out together. 

This year, I signed the Redistribution Pledge with a friend who is also a member of RG Maine. We met on FaceTime to catch up and to be accountabilibuddies together. We talked together about the questions we needed to answer before signing, and did some math together. While we had talked in depth about our politicization stories previously, we hadn’t personally shared numbers about our access to wealth before, and we were surprised to learn that we were facing similar questions! ….It feels really energizing and joyful to be able to commit an increasing amount to redistribute to movements each year.

Emily W, Maine

Wishing you energy and joy in this Spring Drive season,

Leah

Resource Mobilization Director

Resource Generation

We encourage you to consider joining RG as a dues paying member, and if you would like to get involved in your local chapter, please fill out this intake form!

Resource Generation
1216 Broadway
New York, NY 10001
United States

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