The Borgen Project

Clint Borgen is the Founder and President of The Borgen Project. In 1999, while working as a young volunteer in refugee camps during the Kosovo War and genocide, Borgen recognized the need for an organization that could bring U.S. political attention to issues of severe poverty. 

In 2003, after graduating from Washington State University and interning at the United Nations, Borgen began developing his project. In need of startup funding, Borgen took a job living on a fishing vessel docked in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. From humble beginnings in one of Earth’s most remote locations, The Borgen Project was born.

Now headquartered in Seattle, The Borgen Project has become an influential platform aimed at reducing global poverty through public mobilization and advocacy, and serves as a testament that one man and a laptop can change the world.

The Borgen Project believes that the U.S. should be doing more to address global poverty and international development. The non-profit addresses this mission by meeting with U.S. representatives to build support for life-saving legislation and effective poverty-reduction programs, teaching basic advocacy skills that allow citizens to communicate with their government and building awareness of global issues and innovations in poverty-reduction through our online and community presence. 

The Borgen Project has helped pass legislation that covers the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. For instance, the READ Act has improved the lives of 63 million school-aged individuals by teaching them to read, write and count as well as pursue higher education. As of 2019, the Electrify Africa Act allowed 58.5 million people in Africa to gain access to electricity for the first time ever. 

The more people who are involved in the cause, the more we're able to help those in need.

According to the World Bank, extreme poverty is defined as living on less than $1.90 per day. 736 million people live in extreme poverty and just 368 million of those people live in five countries. These countries are Nigeria, Ethiopia, Bangladesh, India and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Globally, over 2 billion people lack regular access to nutritious, sufficient and safe food. In 2015, 264 million children were not enrolled in school, where Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest out-of-school rates. These are some of the areas of focus for The Borgen Project. Other issues of focus are health, gender equality, sustainable communities and economic growth.

While these problems are immense, the solutions are easy, affordable and proven to work. For example, in 2015, the UN sought to cut global hunger in half. This goal was achieved early, and the UN now targets zero hunger by 2030. The UN estimates that this lofty goal can be achieved with an additional $264 billion spent globally per year. This is less than the U.S. currently spends on interest payments on the national debt of $283 billion and less than half of the U.S. defense budget $612 billion.

The Borgen Project’s purpose is to eliminate global poverty and strengthen international development. This is done by educating and mobilizing volunteers, communicating with U.S. legislators and maintaining a research-based magazine and blog. Borgen Project volunteers are taught advocacy skills such as clarity of purpose, negotiating agreements, resolving disputes effectively and communicating efficiently. Volunteers then meet with U.S. leaders to advocate for life-saving legislation and programs, such as the Global Health Innovation Act and Women’s Entrepreneurship & Economic Empowerment Act. 

Borgen Magazine and The Borgen Project Blog provide stories about global poverty’s impact and innovations in businesses, new markets, politics and technology. In 2019, The Borgen Project’s website had more than 6.9 million visitors. Volunteers also have the option to become writers, journalists or editors for the blog and magazine. Here, writers learn to critically analyze information sources, build a questioning mindset, simplify complex ideas and  stay informed about intentional and global issues.  

In addition, volunteers receive networking and fundraising training. The Borgen Project understands the importance of developing these skills in order to best make an impact towards the cause. Networking and fundraising allows volunteers to build social awareness skills, interpersonal abilities, experimental-learning, time management, organization, problem-solving and presentation skills.

The Borgen Project fights for the underdogs of the world. We stand for the 736 million people living every day in extreme poverty and the 822 million people who struggle with hunger. This group includes the millions of refugees currently fleeing various tragedies and atrocities. 

Global international development is the core of our mission. We support bills that fund direct interventional support for the most vulnerable groups in the world. By supporting bills that bolster economic growth, international security, food security, health and educational equality, The Borgen Project can focus our efforts on the most important metrics of development for those in need. 

There are many facets of global aid work. Most obviously, there are organizations that carry out aid programs on-the-ground. For example, building schools or teaching farmers the best agricultural practices to grow and sell produce to make a living. We deal with a less obvious sector of aid; funding. The thousands of aid organizations actualizing these programs are crucial but need the funding to do so.

The Borgen Project tackles all three dimensions. The organization has assisted in elevating the lives of 165,308,435 beneficiaries in extreme poverty, who are traditionally left behind. A recent study showcased 74% of Americans couldn’t name the three branches of Government. This lack of awareness is one reason why 69% of Americans don’t trust their Government. The Borgen Project strives to increase these numbers by educating citizens about the importance of contacting Congress and empowering them to call/email their representatives in support of various global poverty-reduction bills. In 2019, The Borgen Project had volunteers in 931 U.S. cities. 

Clint Borgen’s interest in global poverty began after watching documentaries about Ethiopia in secondary school. He was flabbergasted by the lifestyle differences between him and the fellow teenagers in Ethiopia. When Clint was in college a few years later, the Kosovo War began. He was horrified by what was shown on TV. Around 8% of the population was destroyed due to villages being burned, dead bodies being thrown into wells to contaminate the drinking water and refugees being herded like cattle. This marked a courageous turning point for Clint. He volunteered in refugee camps located at the border of Kosovo and Macedonia. He was mesmerized by how little it took to improve the conditions of the refugees in terms of water, food and shelter. 

After returning to the United States, life wasn’t the same for Clint. Images of the malnourished children and families were on his mind constantly. He knew that U.S. leaders had the power to add or subtract from foreign policy and the International Affairs Budget, and that this directly impacted the lives of millions of people globally. Clint’s mission was to have U.S. Congress contribute more to address global poverty. Thus, The Borgen Project was born.

After Clint received his undergraduate degree, he spent weeks researching how to set-up a non-profit. Meanwhile, he received an opportunity to maintain a fishing boat in Dutch Harbor Alaska. This job was avoided and dreaded state-wise; however, this was Clint’s only opportunity to begin The Borgen Project. He accepted the position because living in isolation gave him extra time to work and the salary would fund the organization. 

Upon completion of the job, Clint moved to Seattle. He worked for another organization during the day and spent his evenings on The Borgen Project. For one and a half years, Clint worked on the non-profit by himself and built a website that educated people about global poverty issues and Congress. Eventually, a group of volunteers formed and more funding came. 

Even though progress was slow, Clint maintained his determination. He had great empathy for the Kosovo refugees and the people ridden in global poverty. He knew U.S. leaders had the power to transform lives. Since Clint saw how simple it was to bridge the gap between the problem and solution, his passion persevered.

The journey Clint undertook establishing The Borgen Project places him in a unique position. Two years after the non-profit was founded, Clint rented office space that became The Borgen Project headquarters. However, he moved in with his brother to save on costs. Eventually, he advertised for an organization to provide rent-free office space. This space was provided through two Navy veterans which allowed the organization to grow while maintaining extremely low overhead costs. Clint ran the non-profit without a salary so he continued his day job. However, the economic recession in 2008 caused him to lose this job. To prevent from ceasing operation, Clint worked evenings and weekends delivering room service and waiting tables at a hotel. Also, not a single staff member was paid until 2013. 

Clint’s authentic communication and interpersonal skills enabled him to reach great milestones. Despite financial challenges, The Borgen Project’s impact and access reached levels few organizations ever achieved. In 2019, the organization had 762 meetings with Congress and volunteers in 931 cities. This is an exciting time in history and our volunteers are passionate and looking to make a difference. The Borgen Project has an influential Board of Directors including Congressmen and impactful business individuals as well. 

Clint continuously inspires people surrounding him. For example, the fishing boat owners in Alaska donated to the organization for 10+ years. Based on his actions to sustain the organization, Clint has proven that he is the right person to lead and pursue The Borgen Project mission.

The Borgen Project seeks to change moments of adversity into moments of history. One such moment is exemplified by the Water for the World Act which took over five years to pass. The legislation was stonewalled in the House of Representatives, therefore, costing valuable time in the lives that this bill could improve. In 2014, through the hard work of volunteers who relentlessly lobbied with the stonewalling representative, the Water for the World Act passed with bi-partisan support. This piece of legislature would have, at the time, provided 100 million people with access to clean drinking water. Since it’s initial passing, the bill has quickly garnered attention and support from all walks of life. For example, after the bill passed in 2014, Matt Damon worked to raise awareness of the global water crisis and find solutions. This emphasizes the scale of the issue and the attention it garnered. Over the course of the five years it took to pass this bill, The Borgen Project took on many new projects but never abandoned this one. We are dedicated to fighting, no matter how long. 

In 2016, The Global Food Security Act passed to bolster U.S. investment in poverty reduction and international development by allocating 7 billion dollars to small scale agricultural projects and food security initiatives. Barack Obama called it, “one of the smartest investments we can make in our future, in our security.” However, this bill was trapped within the congressional bureaucracy for 11 years before it made it to the President’s desk for signature. Proposed in 2005, this law was hard-won. The Borgen Project supported the bill from its inception, bringing it to the attention of, at the time, Senator Obama. Lobbying efforts from The Borgen Project actively worked to educate congressmen and women around the country. 

After President Obama’s inauguration, The Borgen Project continued to make this bill one of our main objectives. We pushed hard on this bill, recognizing its importance in the greater world. It is through our grassroots leadership and volunteer efforts that this bill came onto the radar of enough congressional leaders to land it on the desk of President Obama, who was aware of The Borgen Project’s efforts for this bill so many years before.

Contrary to popular belief, the emergence of the term NGO is young despite the existence of voluntary organizations and unions throughout history. NGO was created after WW2 to differentiate between private organizations and intergovernmental agencies. After this, six NGO types became prevalent. 

There is a range of U.S. NGOs that empower their volunteers to advocate for global poverty. The Borgen Project brings differentiated value by focusing on the bigger spectrum that helps shape U.S. foreign policy. The legislation the organization advocates for focuses on international development and poverty reduction. We are in the beginning stages of writing legislation on these issues as well. We align with many of the UN Sustainability Goals, which is a feat that is hard to accomplish. Also, our strategic advocacy and public education increases our scale of impact. In 2019, The Borgen Project met with 97% of the Senate. 

By focusing on the bigger picture, The Borgen Project tremendously helps a wide range of NGOs from different sectors such as health, education, social justice, sanitation, equality and economic growth. Globally, numerous NGOs bring value to society through field work such as distributing water to the needy or supporting women in poor regions. These NGOs rely heavily on U.S. government-approved funding to operate. Also, many international governments and NGOs depend on this funding. When The Borgen Project meets with U.S. Congress to form support for life-saving legislation, we help bolster the amount of foreign aid funding passed by Congress for a wide range of sectors.

The Borgen Project’s long-term goal is to make poverty a focus of U.S. foreign policy and enhance the lives of billions in deprivation, ultimately ending global poverty. Contrary to popular belief, spending billions of dollars to help other countries is not aid, but an investment. When these countries receive funding, they begin importing U.S. products and services while also promising their support for the U.S., whenever in need. This strengthens the economic, international and security relations between the U.S. and these countries. During the Marshall Plan, the U.S. provided $12.7 billion to the EU and in 2018, the EU imported $318 billion worth of goods. From 1960-2005, the U.S. provided $1.7 billion of funds to Mexico and in 2018, Mexico imported $265 billion of U.S. products and services. This pattern can be observed with many other countries. 

The non-profit has structured our activities based on how Congress prioritizes legislation. Every month, senators and representatives tally how many calls and emails they received from constituents expressing their support. Legislation is prioritized by a leader based on the amount of emails and calls they receive. If an issue has a minimum of 7-10 emails and calls, it is considered important. 

The Borgen Project focuses on a plethora of international development and global poverty topics. This attracts volunteers from all walks of life because of The Borgen Project’s support for a diverse range of legislation. The Borgen Project’s advocacy training challenges volunteers to consider not only how to solve problems, but also trains them to ask which problems to solve and why, preparing them for positions of leadership and service. The volunteers’ commitment and dedication is one major pillar behind The Borgen Project. These characteristics are why Congress members praise the organizations’s volunteers yearly and to this day, the organization has helped over 165 million people in need globally.

The amount of beneficiaries who are meaningfully affected depend on how many bills are passed in Congress as well as the quantity of volunteers advocating for the cause. In 2015-16, three Borgen Project supported bills passed and became law, impacting more than 60 million beneficiaries. In 2017-18, nine bills passed Congress and are projected to improve more than 350 million peoples’ lives. Currently, The Borgen Project has served 165,308,435 beneficiaries and we are advocating for 11 poverty reduction-related bills. At the slightest, the non-profit strives to help pass 2-3 bills every year. 

In one year, The Borgen Project minimally strives to impact the lives of 5-10 million people. In five years, the non-profit projects to help 25-50 billion beneficiaries at the least.

The Borgen Project has five goals involving volunteer management, issuing its message and increasing involvement in the development community. From January to March 2020, The Borgen Project had 652 volunteers. By the end of 2020, the organization strives to have 1,980 volunteers, and 9,900 within five years. In 2019, the organization had 1,073,210 visitors to Borgen Magazine and this year’s goal is 1.4 million visitors. In five years, the Magazine is projected to gain 7 million viewers. In 2019, The Borgen Project had 6.9 million visitors to the website and the goal for 2020 is to obtain 7.5 million viewers. In five years, the non-profit is aiming for 37.5 million viewers.  

The fourth goal is to improve The Borgen Project’s technological system in terms of efficiency for volunteer coordination. We hope to upgrade from a Google Docs format to a systematic management tool/software to manage volunteers and interns. The Borgen Project also wishes to improve efficiency by creating a mapping system where volunteers can log successful locations and events for other members of the organization. The aim is to connect volunteers together and make the overall volunteer experience more effective. 

The Borgen Project’s final goal is to write legislation concerning global poverty and, more specifically, water sanitation. The world is going through devastating times due to COVID-19, which is why The Borgen Project believes that it is more important than ever to pull together as a global community.

The biggest barrier is ensuring that as an organization and national movement, we are able to amplify as many voices as possible and educate as many Congressional leaders as possible at this unique time in our nation's history. How do we ensure that emergency funding for the international response to COVID-19 is prioritized when domestic issues are pressing as well? Even though The Borgen Project has been expanding its reach year-after-year (and indeed, COVID-19 has likely resulted in a larger-than-ever volunteer base), there remains several key Congressional districts where we need to have a stronger presence and influence.

Thus, the largest grassroots volunteer base in the organization's history has highlighted a major barrier: systems and tools. The organization does not have enough resources to help coordinate our messaging and game plan in the most efficient way possible to unite and organize all of those pushing to make a difference. 

Many individuals in the most vulnerable places across the globe do not even have the ability to protest or speak up for themselves when they face human rights abuses. This is where The Borgen Project comes in: to give a voice to the voiceless. We must continue to spread awareness, especially as the aftershocks of COVID-19 are yet to be felt in countries that were already experiencing dire humanitarian need.

For designing technological solutions, The Borgen Project can explore various subscription-based software available online and join programming groups to network and connect with the right people. The marketing barrier can be resolved by hiring a SEO and social media expert.

In turn, The Elevate Prize program can help create a multiplier effect to scale the non-profit’s impact. This in return can save the lives of millions internationally. Due to COVID-19, there is a rise in global demand for field work and NGOs that provide healthcare and food distribution services. The Borgen Project helps build awareness and increase governmental funding for these programs. As more Borgen Project volunteers become involved, the more pressure is put on Congress to help fund international programs and NGOs.

The Borgen Project is currently in partnership with U.S. Global Leadership Coalition as well as a part of tuberculosis and global fragility coalitions with other leading groups in the global development community. We work together to build support for specific legislation and funding for the International Affairs Budget. We also work together and educate our volunteers on the issues such as organizing webinars with key experts guesting speaking about food security, tuberculosis, global health and advocacy. In addition, from 2015 to 2018, the organization partnered with Oxfam International to increase advocacy for the International Affairs Budget. 

The Borgen Project creates differentiated value in three ways. Numerous U.S. NGOs greatly depend on government-approved funding. Many NGOs complete field work, such as distributing medical supplies in Africa. The Borgen Project meets with Congress to establish support for poverty-reduction programs and life-saving legislation. This increases the amount of legislation and funding passed by Congress, ultimately benefiting NGOs in the development community.  

In addition, many U.S. citizens believe they don’t have the voice to make an impact and their advocacy wouldn’t result in meaningful change. The Borgen Project challenges these beliefs by training and empowering volunteers to advocate and meet with Congress directly. Lastly, countless people have limiting and negative viewpoints about global poverty. The Borgen Project transforms these viewpoints by building awareness about global issues and innovations through our research-based blog and magazine. 

The Borgen Project’s support activities are firm infrastructure, fundraising, human resource management, training programs, research and content development. These activities establish the cost structure of the organization. 

The Borgen Project’s sources of revenue are from donations provided by businesses, individuals and volunteers. This is possible through two aspects. First, the primary activities such as providing advocacy training to volunteers, maintaining research-based content, and promoting poverty-reduction bills. Second, the implementation of the go-to-market strategy through social media, one-mile campaigns, traditional media outlets and events.

The key driver of profitability is donations. Donors love The Borgen Project’s innovative approach towards humanitarian issues - issues that they resonate with. Overall, these events sustain the Virtuous Cycle.

The Borgen Project implements the Six Sigma Methodology to achieve our path to financial sustainability. Six Sigma simplifies the organization’s overall structure which is time and cost effective, using techniques in defining, analyzing, enhancing and controlling streamlines to enhance operations. These approaches allowed The Borgen Project to function without the president and staff receiving salary for the first 10 years of operation. The Borgen Project funds our work mainly through donations from individuals, companies and volunteers. This remains the case today. 

The Borgen Project maintains financial stability through strategies of grassroots fundraising. The organization raises funds by the fundraising campaigns conducted by volunteers, interns and regional directors. Furthermore, The Borgen Project solicits grants from institutions sympathetic to our priorities. A small portion of the revenues come from interest on investments. These methods allow The Borgen Project to function adequately and keep the focus on the issues most important to the non-profit: global poverty and international development.

In the past decade, the advancements in technology and social media have left an uproar of positive impact on The Borgen Project. The organization has reached our biggest milestones and maximized our impact in the last few years. Technology and social media allows the non-profit to quickly scale our presence and find people who deeply resonate with our mission. To keep a lean budget, The Borgen Project is a 67% remote telecommute organization and, in 2019, had volunteers in 931 cities. This is only possible through technology.

The Borgen Project's financial statements for 2019 are still being finalized; however, the financial information for 2018 is available. The sources of revenue are donations where $397,172 was from individuals and $1,829 was given by companies. Also, $4,466 was earned from interest from investments.

In 2020, The Borgen Project strives to earn a total of $500,000 in revenue through donations and interest. 

The Borgen Project expense expectations come from three primary sources. The first of these are general expenditures such as operating expenses ($261), accounting and payroll fees ($2,717.68), bank fees ($239.05), government license ($566.53), merchant processing fees ($12,962.55) and facilities and equipment ($15,985.59). From this, we expect to spend a total of $32,732.59. Our next point of expenditure is on personnel, which includes benefits paid to employees ($12,598.68), payroll tax ($11,802.56), payroll wages and salaries ($146,577.74) The total personnel expenses total a loss of $170,978.98. The last primary source of expenditure is for program expenses, which includes printing/mailing ($8759.48), communications and internet ($3543.17), contractor/freelance services ($179,641.36), recruitment ($44,417.38), supplies ($2,013.13), technology and web strategies ($9,536.63), travel ($3,424.23) and miscellaneous ($179.84). Our total program services expenses will be about $242,755, and the total projected expenditure will be about or more than $455,000 due to the fact these numbers are based on prior year expenses and the organization is ever growing.

The Borgen Project is applying for The Elevate Prize due to the devastating impacts the current pandemic has left on humanity. The United Nations states the economic recession can push an additional 500 million people into poverty and cause 265 million to go into starvation by the end of 2020. Since the health systems worldwide are overworked, developing countries are at risk of surges in disease such as tuberculosis, tetanus and diphtheria. COVID-19 has disrupted the ability of children to attend school and there are increases in fragility and violence. It is evident that development programs are urgently needed. Numerous NGOs depend on U.S. government funding, and The Borgen Project strives to enhance advocacy for life-saving programs and legislation. Also, the organization aims to write legislation in coordination to current international development setbacks such as water sanitation. The Borgen Project hopes to use The Elevate Prize’s funding and support to instantly combat these new challenges that require immediate attention and action.  

Additional funding will enable The Borgen Project to strengthen the organization's existing network and allow us to rapidly gain 10,000 active volunteers. More systems and tools will allow us to provide free advocacy training, a point system to encourage action and connect the organization’s supporters in the same state.

The Borgen Project does not not have any new potential partners at this time.