When and how did MVP begin?

Billy Wimsatt and a community of organizers and donors founded MVP in 2015 because most political giving went to candidates’ TV ads and consultants, while the community groups that actually win elections and build power were underfunded. They started by helping donors fund several hundred local organizing groups in key states, and took the name Movement Voter Project in 2018.

They envisioned a new organization that worked at the intersection of donor advising, political organizing, and movement innovation.

In early 2016, MVP (then known as Movement 2016) consulted with 50 movement leaders and experts in state organizing ecosystems to develop a list of several hundred local movement groups in key states and helped donors across the country support their organizing efforts. In advance of the 2018 midterms, Movement Voter Project grew its staff and reach, adopted its current name, and moved millions more to support local organizing.

Learn more about what MVP has accomplished over the years on our About page.