Participatory Budgeting Project

Civic and Social OrganizationsUnited States11-50 Employees

The Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP) is a nonprofit organization that empowers people to decide together how to spend public money, primarily in the US and Canada.

We create and support participatory budgeting processes that deepen democracy, build stronger communities, and make public budgets more equitable and effective.

Building on decades of experience around the world, we understand participatory budgeting (PB) as a democratic process in which local people directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. We approach our work in three main ways:

WE BUILD REAL POWER OVER REAL MONEY
We develop processes that let people make real decisions, moving beyond consultation. We facilitate grassroots democratic decision-making over:
- The design of the budgeting process
- What proposals go on the ballot
- What gets funded

WE TRANSFORM DEMOCRACY
We work to rebuild the relationship between government and the people. We change how government works and how people can engage in democracy, by crafting processes that:
- Build individuals’ skills and knowledge, to develop new community leaders
- Bring neighbors together across divides, to build stronger communities
- Connect residents, experts, and officials, to make better decisions together

WE ADDRESS INEQUALITY
We recognize that many people face obstacles to participating in government, and we work to ensure that everyone has an equal voice, regardless of age, race, financial resources, or other issues. To level the playing field of participation and make public budgets work for everyone, we:
- Prioritize engaging underrepresented groups, such as youth, people of color, and low-income people
- Partner with local organizations that are already engaging marginalized communities
- Provide people with the tools to make fair and equitable spending decisions

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