Who Is Faith in Minnesota?
ISAIAH is a coalition of Christian and Muslim faith communities “fighting for racial and economic justice in Minnesota.” ISIAIH includes whole congregations as well as individuals. ISIAIH is a 501(c)(3). Some of ISIAIH’s initiatives include (in their own words):
- “Kids Count on Us is a coalition of community-based childcare providers, teachers, and families from across the state of Minnesota. We believe that all children have the right to high-quality and culturally relevant early care and education. That’s why we do community and political organizing towards a fully funded childcare system that centers the voices of childcare providers and families. Full funding includes living wages for teachers, resources for centers, and access to care for all families- no matter where they live or what’s in their wallets.”
- “#ClaimingOurVoices is an initiative between ISAIAH and Faith in Minnesota where people of faith across the state are claiming their moral and faith voice in the political arena by building independent political power that is grounded in their prophetic values.”
- “Leading into the 2018 General Election, we launched Greater Than Fear, a campaign that puts people back at the center of politics and cuts through the noise and division of typical electoral messaging. Our research demonstrates how to energize and persuade a truly multi-racial cohort to vote for progressive candidates and policies. The key for cross-racial solidarity, voter engagement, and policy victories is mobilizing around the connections between racial divisions and economic hardship.”
- The Sanctuary Network: “Sanctuary and Supporting congregations not only provide refuge and a safe haven to families fighting deportation, they also fight for full immigrant justice. This includes fighting and advocating for policies and legislation that embraces a sanctuary state; drivers licenses for all Minnesotans, regardless of status; immigrant legal defense funds, know your rights and rapid response trainings; and getting federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) out of Minnesota.”
All of the items listed above are being carried out by ISIAIH, a 501(c)(3). As a is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, ISIAIH is supposedly limited in the amount of political advocacy work it can do to 10% of its resources by IRS rules, although often it seems it exceeds those boundaries in its advocacy work.
Faith in Minnesota was created in 2022 as the political advocacy arm of ISAIAH. It is a 501(c)(4) and can do unlimited of lobbying. As a 501(c)(4) it can also support candidates or campaigns. The two organizations are governed independently but share a common vision and individuals can work with both.
Much of Faith in Minnesota’s funding comes from one PAC, the Movement Voter PAC.
Who funds ISIAIH’s political arm, Faith in Minnesota? In 2024, Faith in Minnesota Action Committee reported raising $969,281.26. $430,000 or 44% of all the money raised by Faith in Minnesota Action Committee was from the Movement Voter Project PAC or “MVP PAC.”
In 2022, Faith in Minnesota Action Committee reported raising $430,422.40. Of that, $320,000, or 75% came from the MVP PAC.
In 2023, Faith in Minnesota Action Committee reported raising only $114,305.96. 10% or $15,000 came from the MVP PAC.
Who is the Movement Voter PAC?
According to Influence Watch, the Movement Voter Project (MVP) (FEC ID# C00728360) screens advocacy groups to find those promoting far-left ideology. It then organizes donors to contribute to its PAC and then gives that PAC money to organizations it wants to support. It is headquartered in Massachusetts. In 2024, its PAC, the MVP PAC, funded 334 different organizations across the country, including eight groups in Minnesota. Faith in Minnesota is one of those groups. From January 2023 to December 2024, it raised $52M. FEC 1.2% of its donors were from Minnesota.
Movement Voter’s goal is not just to elect candidates, but to create a national movement that can get multiple candidates in multiple races over multiple years elected. It does this by providing ongoing funding to “grassroots” organizations around the country. What kinds of groups? It’s vetting process emphasizes:
“year-round organizing, movement-building, and culture-shifting organizations — with an emphasis on working-class, youth, voters of color, immigrant voters, LGBTQ+ voters, and others who bear the brunt of injustice in the United States…The Movement Voter Project is a one-stop shop for investing in year-round organizing and movement building to shift culture, win elections, and transform policy.”
This PAC not only provides funding, but also capacity-building support in:
- “Data, Tech, and Systems: We offer free or discounted access to tech platforms for voter data, voter contact (text, phone, and door), voter registration, email marketing, relational organizing, analytics, and more.
- Leadership Development: Through an extensive network of professional providers, we offer coaching, trainings, and intensive cohorts in areas such as team leadership, organizational development, fundraising, and more.
- Communications and Narrative: We offer and connect our grantee partners to tailored coaching, training, and support around strategic communications, narrative and messaging development, and crisis communications.
- Safety and Security: In the face of growing threats to on-the-ground organizers’ safety and security, we offer both proactive planning and rapid response support around political violence, hacking, infiltration, and more.”
Can ISIAIH be considered a local grassroots organization if it receives so much money from one national PAC?
The Movement Voter PAC is a national funder of organizations, with a national agenda. It requires its grants recipients to follow its rules, attend its training, and support its issues. Given that so much of Faith in Minnesota’s funding comes from one national source, it is reasonable to question whether they actually are representing local interests and concerns. Voters need to know who is paying to sway their opinions. And for Faith in Minnesota and ISIAIH, it may be national interests, not local.
Related: Outside Money Buying Influence in Minneapolis
Related: Who Funds Minneapolis for The Many?
Related: Who is Funding “All of Minneapolis?”
Related: Is Faith in Minnesota A Grassroots or Astroturf Organization?
There is much misleading content in this article. As one example, take this sentence: “Can ISIAIH be considered a local grassroots organization if it receives so much money from one national PAC?”. After laying out the difference between ISAIAH as a 501c3 and it’s Faith in Minnesota 501c4 advocacy component, this sentence proceeds to conflate the two as one entity that functions as a 501c4. The preceding paragraphs and the law say otherwise. By conflating the two entities and “packaging” them both as political organizations-which they are not- you proceed to reveal your strong conservative bias against the mission of Isiah (ISAIAH is a multi-racial, state-wide, nonpartisan coalition of faith communities fighting for racial and economic justice in Minnesota). If this position about ISAIAH were true, it would apply to every religious organization that organizes toward their mission with 501c4 advocacy work. That would include every Jewish, Catholic, Evangelical, Protestant, Mormon and every other ecumenical or in any way religious organization that is a 501c3, with a 501c4, advocacy component, of which there are literally thousands in the US. The social justice networks of religious affiliated organizations like ISAIAH do work legally considered to be “social welfare” and for the “common good” according to the IRS. At a time when politics at all levels has become nationalized as are campaigns that voters respond and attend to, it makes strategic sense for advocates to expand their work in a likewise fashion. So this leaves us where we must see the author’s real purpose of the article: to attempt to smear a valuable community organization that reaches into communities to meet needs and beyond Minneapolis to find the resources and networks to perform it’s mission to the best of it’s ability. Truthfully, to me it comes off as neo liberal whining at loses they’ve been having at the hands of better organized and harder working progressives. The DFL is a big tent but it’s experiencing the same white fear of change locally as younger, more progressive voters rise to take them on. All power of privilege is transformed at some point; history says so. And generally, there is no such thing as an actual, non contrived status quo. Nothing ever stops changing or it corrupts and then dies.
I don’t think Isaiah does its research, so don’t support it. In the years leading up to the construction of the Southwest LRT, the Isaiah representative repeatedly called it “unconscionable” that people would question whether the decisions being made were good ones. Now in its 7th summer of construction with a nearly $3 billion price tag, Isaiah probably should have asked a few more questions.
They have been busy in Rochester. Under the guise of their “religious” connection, they are simply part of the organized POLITICAL apparatus for the DSA party/group/org, fueled and funded almost exclusively by OUT OF STATE money.
https://www.postbulletin.com/news/local/faith-in-minnesota-looks-to-wield-influence-in-city-election-some-question-whether-thats-a-good-thing?__vfz=medium%3Dsharebar
Excerpt…
“Kiscaden said her worry is that Rochester’s local races could follow the acrimonious path of those in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Hennepin and Ramsey counties, which are “very partisan.”
“When local races become partisan, you’re not seen as representing all of the residents anymore. You’re seen as representing a political philosophy, not the broad spectrum of the residents in your community,” she said.
Some see Faith in Minnesota as an out-of-town element seeking to influence Rochester’s elections. Should all endorsed candidates win their elections, they would be one vote shy of controlling the seven-member council.
“They have raised over a million dollars, the third largest fundraiser for the DFL,” Palmer said. “I’m not against the DFL. This isn’t really our DFL. These are the socialists from the Cities who have come down to Rochester to take over Rochester.”
I’ m a Faith in Minnesota and ISIAIH donor.
Franky I’m more concerned about the moderates who don’t support the basic issues of fairness and justice in the initiatives listed above.
Your comment is so funny. The article was loaded with facts and data and your comeback is pure ad hominem and conjecture. That cracks me up!
the group We Love Minneapolis supporting candidates for Minneapolis City Council and is funded by GOP donors and supports actual union busters on the council.
Sorry, but we don’t need GOP money in Minneapolis.
Slippery pivot from the moderates being the anti fairness/justice bugaboo to republicans. Everyone sees this rhetorical strategy and is not buying it.