Public Interest Projects

Public Interest Projects (PIP) was formed in 1984 as a 501 (c)(3) public charity with the broad and flexible mission of advocating for issues of timely interest to consumers and the general public. Currently, PIP operates grantmaking, technical assistance and strategic planning programs for institutional and individual donors interested in social justice and human rights issues. For the past three years, PIP has administered a $1 million grants program for the Ford Foundation that provides grants to immigration coalitions and statewide and niche law and advocacy programs across the country. PIP also manages two funder collaboratives: The Funders' Collaborative for Racial Justice Innovation and the Four Freedoms Fund. Both collaboratives are multi-year national grantmaking initiatives that engage private, corporate, family and individual funders.

Historically, PIP has been a leader in incubating efforts that have resulted in the development of new social perspectives. Professionals for Environmental and Ethical Responsibility (PEER) got its start at a conference that was organized by PIP. Taxpayers for Common Sense, a group that monitors federal spending, was a project of PIP for its first two years after receiving start-up funding from the Educational Foundation of America.