2023 FFF USA Donor Update - WHAT A YEAR
Published on December 27, 2023 by Mason Manley
WOW! 2023 has been a wild ride for the climate movement and your donations have made some amazingly powerful events possible. As a grassroots, youth-led group we rely heavily upon small donations from people just like you that enable our activists to engage in important climate justice work.
This update will touch on a few key events this year that your funding made possible, but know that the money you donate also powers equally important (but less flashy) core functions like our website and email system that turbo-charge the work of our volunteer activists to affect meaningful change across the USA (via our National Reimbursement Policy) and the world (via our International Mutual Aid Policy). Our work would not be possible without your support, so on behalf of Fridays for Future Local Groups across the world: thank you and we hope you will continue to fight with us!
2023 Funding Highlights
March 2023 - Students at the University of Richmond (within the FFF Richmond Local Group) launched a divestment campaign calling on their school to divest its $3.2Bn endowment from oil, coal, and fossil gas. As a fiscally conservative leaning campus, the school has not seen pressure like this before and momentum is building. Your funding provided vital sign making supplies and audio equipment.
September 2023 - 75,000 activists from up and down the east coast and across the US attended the monumental March to End Fossil Fuels in NYC, bottom-lined by FFF NYC! Your generous donations covered everything from stage rental to bus charters. The March garnered press coverage from around the world and socialized the End Fossil Fuels narrative in perfect timing for the annual climate negotiations a few months later.
November 2023 - Following the immensely successful March to End Fossil Fuels, youth climate and environmental justice leaders from across the country converged in Portland, OR for the first ever national Youth vs. Fossil Fuels Convergence - carried in large part by months of planning with, massive attendance by, and substantial financial support from FFFUSA. This game-changing gathering of brilliant leaders and activists honed skills and tactics, and laid the foundations for a shared strategic framework and national network of youth activists who are motivated to develop a long-term mobilization arc to step up the fight against fossil fuels.
December 2023 - Every year, all countries gather at a massive conference to negotiate on climate action - and each year they fail to address the root cause of the climate emergency and commit to binding climate action at the necessary scale. Youth have been at the forefront of the push for real climate action from countries. From the negotiating halls and the backroom conversations to the hallways of the convergence center and streets around the world, youth have made sure the call to #EndFossilFuels cannot be ignored. And this was the first year that fossil fuels were actually recognized in the final text! There’s still lots of work to do, but it’s a testament to the change we can create when we join forces and stay persistent.
Local Groups across the US take action throughout the year, much of which cannot be captured in photos and that lay the groundwork for highlights like the ones above. From the familiar strikes to engaging in City Councils and writing petitions, from holding presentations to skilling up activists and strategizing with the movement - this is what true people power looks like.
Climate justice means fighting alongside all of those suffering under the current fossil economy. So while the fights are not ours to feature here, FFFUSA is doing all we can to support our brothers and sisters from West Africa to Southern Levant, from Eastern Europe to the Amazon Basin.
2024 is already shaping up to be a powerful year, building on this year’s momentum to #EndFossilFuels - thanks to you. We hope you will continue to fight with us.
With deep gratitude and radical love,
Your Fridays for Future USA team