What Participatory Budgeting Project does

The Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP) is a Brooklyn, NY-based nonprofit founded in 2009 that supports the design, implementation, and scaling of participatory budgeting (PB) — a democratic process in which residents directly decide how to allocate portions of public budgets. PBP serves municipal governments, community organizations, and residents across 17+ partner cities in the United States and Canada, and reports facilitating $240 million in public budget decisions through PB and engaging 300,000+ participants.

Its programmatic structure is organized around three core offerings: (1) Campaigns & Advocacy, which builds movement support for PB as a public policy; (2) the Participation Lab, a research-and-design hub that studies equitable PB models and disseminates best practices; and (3) Technical Assistance, which provides hands-on implementation support to cities. Its flagship youth civic engagement initiative, PB Seeds, runs multi-cohort programs in states including New York and New Jersey and has recently expanded to California. The organization also produces educational toolkits and training materials and maintains coalition relationships such as Participatory Budgeting in the Streets.

PBP operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with a staff in the 11-50 range. Revenue mechanics are typical of U.S. civic-tech nonprofits: it is funded primarily through foundation grants (a publicly named supporter is the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation), government contracts from partner municipalities, and individual donations. It does not sell a product or license proprietary software; rather, it monetizes its expertise through grant-funded programmatic work and contracted technical assistance. Outreach and digital engagement rely on third-party platforms such as Google Forms and the Stanford Participatory Budgeting Platform, with no proprietary technology stack described in the available data.

Name

Participatory Budgeting Project

Legal name

The Participatory Budgeting Project

Website

https://participatorybudgeting.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Participatory Budgeting Project (PBP) is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit, founded in 2009, that supports 17+ U.S. and Canadian cities in implementing participatory budgeting, through technical assistance, advocacy, and training, engaging 300,000+ residents in $240 million of public budget decisions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civic Engagement & Participatory Democracy Services

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

akta.pro primary industry

Budgeting & Fiscal Planning (BPAIAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Community Foundations (BPAGAKAB), Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)

Keywords

• Participatory budgeting
• Civic engagement
• Democratic processes
• Community advocacy
• Technical assistance

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grants: Primary funding from foundations including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation supporting PB Seeds New Jersey program and other advocacy initiatives.
2. Government Contracts: Partnerships with local governments for technical assistance in implementing participatory budgeting processes in cities and school districts.
3. Donations: Individual and organizational donations supporting the nonprofit's mission to expand participatory democracy across North America.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Participatory Budgeting Project is a nonprofit organization that works with communities to enable them to decide together how to spend public money. It creates and supports participatory democratic processes, such as participatory budgeting, that deepen democracy, build stronger communities, and make public budgets more equitable and effective. Its three core program areas are Campaigns & Advocacy, the Participation Lab, and Technical Assistance.

Product overview

The Participatory Budgeting Project is a nonprofit organization that operates as a multi-program platform focused on enabling communities to decide how to spend public money through participatory democratic processes. The organization offers three core program areas: Campaigns & Advocacy (educational and advocacy programs promoting participatory democracy), the Participation Lab (innovative resources and tools for practitioners), and Technical Assistance (planning, training, coaching, and materials). Key programs include PB Seeds (state-based advocacy training), PB in Schools (youth civic education), PB for Orgs (for nonprofits), and PB² (their own internal PB process). The organization produces extensive toolkits and resources including the Scoping Toolkit, Outreach Toolkit, Municipal Evaluation Toolkit, PB in Schools guides, and the Change from Within series for organizations. Through partnerships with over 17 cities, they have engaged over 300,000 people in deciding how to spend $240 million.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Campaigns & Advocacy Educational and advocacy program that educates stakeholders and advocates for equitable, accessible, and significant participatory democracy practices across cities, towns, schools, organizations, and policy-making.
• Participation Lab Innovative resources and tools program that develops and pilots resources, including the North American PB Research Board, to support participatory democracy practices.
• Technical Assistance Project planning and management, individually tailored training, coaching, materials, and other support services for organizations and communities implementing participatory budgeting processes.
• PB Seeds State-based advocacy training program that connects and equips leaders with knowledge, tools, and connections to advocate for participatory budgeting in their communities through 5-month learning cohorts.
• PB Seeds New Jersey New Jersey-specific PB Seeds program in partnership with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that trains community leaders on participatory budgeting and advocacy over a 5-month cohort.
• PB in Schools Participatory budgeting program designed for K-12 schools, teaching students democratic decision-making by allowing them to decide how to spend portions of school budgets.
• PB for Orgs Participatory budgeting implementation support specifically designed for nonprofit organizations, enabling them to apply democratic processes to their internal budgeting.
• Democracy Beyond Elections Coalition Coalition program advocating for democratic innovations beyond traditional electoral processes, including participatory budgeting, citizen juries, and assemblies.
• PB Roadmap Workshop Series Technical assistance workshop series that helps communities plan and implement participatory budgeting processes, providing structured guidance on scoping, design, and execution.

Quantifiable outcome

• Participatory budgeting increases voter likelihood by 7%
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Democracy Beyond Elections CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPBP is a member of the Democracy Beyond Elections (DBE) Coalition, which promotes democratic innovations beyond traditional elections. PBP contributes to coalition learning sessions, case studies, and advocacy resources on participatory democracy and civic assemblies.
• Healthy DemocracycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPBP partnered with Healthy Democracy to host Bright Spots calls and learning sessions on participatory budgeting and civic assemblies, co-presenting on government by the people.
• Asian Pacific Environmental Network (APEN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPBP partnered with APEN in Oakland to engage diverse low-income communities in all phases of the PB process for the CDBG-funded participatory budgeting pilot.
• Movement for Black Lives (M4BL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPBP contributed to the Vision for Black Lives economic policy agenda series co-produced with M4BL, exploring participatory budgeting as a tool for economic and racial justice.
• Nonprofit QuarterlyminorGTM or Marketing PartnerMedia partner for the Vision for Black Lives article series, providing platform for PBP's perspective on participatory budgeting and racial equity.
• Iswe FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndependent innovation centre working with communities, movements, governments, and institutions to catalyze global shift towards participatory political systems.
• Abundant AmericaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNetwork of state and local elected leaders, candidates, business leaders, experts and donors working together to build abundance from the ground up.
• Democracy Without ElectionsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMember-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit promoting democratic lotteries to bring power back to the people.
• Brooklyn College (CUNY)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerFirst university in North America to implement PB, with PBP as lead partner. Students allocate at least $20,000 through participatory budgeting.
• City of Long BeachcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong Beach has implemented PB since 2014, now in its tenth year with citywide youth-run Youth Power PB Long Beach program.
• New Jersey Health Care Quality InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPBP co-hosted webinar with this institute on how PB can promote public health and transform community interaction with health structures.
• California State University, Long BeachcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSULB Professor Gary Hytrek brought PB to Long Beach in 2013 and serves on the North American PB Research Board.
• Jersey Left ProductionsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPhotography and production partner documenting the 'Our Time, Our Power' learning exchange event in Orange, New Jersey.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Others

• National Civic League: Long-standing nonprofit advancing civic engagement, healthy communities, and democratic governance across US cities. Comparable as a civic-engagement intermediary supporting municipal capacity-building, though broader in mission than PBP's PB focus.
• Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation: Georgetown-based center working on social-impact innovation including government service delivery and civic participation. Comparable as a civic-innovation intermediary engaging the same government and philanthropic stakeholders, though academically anchored.
• Democracy International: International advocacy organization promoting democratic participation including PB, citizens' assemblies, and referendums worldwide. Overlaps with PBP on PB advocacy, training resources, and coalition-building at the international level.
• New America: Public policy think tank with active programs on democracy, civic engagement, and participatory governance. Adjacent through overlapping policy research, government technical assistance, and foundation funding ecosystems.
• Code for America: Nonprofit civic-tech organization building digital services for government and supporting civic engagement. Comparable in serving US municipal government customers and building community-engagement infrastructure, though more tech-product oriented.
• Center for Civic Design: Civic design firm that helps governments design ballots, forms, and civic engagement materials. Adjacent in that both serve the same government customers designing public-facing participation processes, though focused on design vs. process facilitation.

Direct peers

• Healthy Democracy: Healthy Democracy runs civic engagement programs including PB and citizen juries, and is explicitly named as a PBP partner on Bright Spots learning calls and co-presentations on government-by-the-people. Operates in the same PB and democratic-innovation category with overlapping practitioner audiences.
• Democracy Without Elections: Member-run 501(c)(3) promoting democratic lotteries and citizen assemblies. PBP is a documented partner; both operate in the broader democratic-innovation space with overlapping advocacy constituencies and coalition-building approaches.
• MASS LBP: Montreal-based organization advancing PB and citizen-led governance across Canada. Closest international analog to PBP with overlapping methodology, city partnerships, and bilingual resources serving the same municipal and school audiences.
• ISWE Foundation: Independent innovation center working with communities, movements, and governments on participatory political systems. Documented PBP partner; directly comparable as a participatory-democracy advocacy and innovation intermediary.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/pbproject
• YouTubevimeo.com/pbproject
• Facebookfacebook.com/ParticipatoryBudgetingProject
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/participatory-budgeting-project

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Participatory Budgeting Project