We believe that power in society comes from two sources; organized people and organized money. Sunrise, in addition to building the multi-racial, cross-class movement to win a Green New Deal, must organize money to fund and sustain the movement building work, for the long-term. Shifting to a dues based movement forces us to embody this orientation and get serious about organizing money as a means of building power.

A dues structure also allows us to make an explicit shift from relying solely on donations from foundations (though dues will definitely be a small % of Sunrise’s budget, especially in the beginning few years) and the owning class towards more grassroots funding. This allows us to remain accountable to our movement, not philanthropy and the donor class. 

We also believe dues will support us to build across class by requiring members and leaders engage in explicit, and ongoing conversations about money and class. This belief was supported in the content testing process, where we saw working class people consistently more likely to support dues.

Finally, dues have a long history in social movements across race and class! Consistent funding and commitment from dues paying members over several decades have helped unions in building long term power for the labor movement.

Yes, all current and new members of Sunrise must become dues-paying members of Sunrise by filling out this form. If you cannot afford to start paying dues but still want to organize with Sunrise, you can apply for a dues waiver.

Filling out the form allows us to have a stronger record of your membership and provide you with the resources you’ll need to organize your community for a Green New Deal.