Ballot Initiave Strategy Center Foundation

Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC) Foundation is the nerve center for progressive ballot initiative campaigns across the country. During elections nationwide, BISC adds strategic value to the progressive movement in four steps:

• Shaping the Issue Landscape: Before the election, BISC works with leading researchers to design polls and focus groups of targeted voters and then works with state and national partners to determine how best to talk to voters about issues of importance to them. After the election, BISC researches the ways that ballot initiatives have influenced other election priorities, including voter turnout, opinions of candidates, and the issue dialogue in the state.

• Pooling Research, Resources and Tactics: BISC actively engages in both proactive and defensive ballot initiative efforts. Since 1998, its efforts have been credited with helping progressives catch up to the right-wing's use of ballot initiatives as a political tool.

• Winning Campaigns: BISC provides individualized, strategic campaign advice and research on when, where, and how to use the initiative process to advance the progressive agenda.

• Building Progressive Infrastructure: BISC works with state advocates to capture the energy from ballot initiative campaigns and uses it to build infrastructure that can define progressive issues over the long term.