Do Bold Work Safely.
Nonprofit organizations play a critical role mobilizing people to realign power in the fight for democracy. With rising authoritarianism and the weaponization of the administrative state accelerating risk to nonprofits, building operational capacity to strategically manage risk to do bold work safely has never been more important.
Today, the boldest organizations in the movement are multi-entity.
To adapt to today’s high-threat environment, leaders on the front lines of social justice are using a mix of legal structures — 501(c)(4)s and for-profit structures, in addition to traditional 501(c)(3)s — to build power and manage risk.
But multi-entity work is hard! Executing bold work safely requires organizations to build new strategic, operational, and adaptive capacities across their family of entities. The Election Readiness Course (ERC): Bold & Safe is designed to specifically support multi-entity organizations to build new finance, operations and compliance skills to build better teams, systems and practices required to meet the moment.
Join our 2025 ERC: Bold & Safe Course
Applications for the spring cohort are open until April 30, 2025.
Information Sessions
For those interested in applying for the course, we are hosting two live information sessions:
Info Session #1 April 22, 2025
(12:00 p.m. PT/2:00 p.m. CT/3:00 p.m. ET)
Info Session #2 April 29, 2025
(12:00 p.m. PT/2:00 p.m. CT/3:00 p.m. ET)
The following resources provide additional information about the program:
ERC: Bold & Safe Course Factsheet
ERC: Bold & Safe Curriculum and Training Overview - coming soon
Questions about the program may be submitted in advance to Dana Martinez-Ocker at [email protected]. Common questions will be curated and addressed during the information sessions as well.
About the Bold & Safe Course
As leading capacity-building providers in the growing field of multi-entity operations, The Capacity Shop (TCS) and New Left Accelerator (NLA) crafted the ERC: Bold & Safe course to support staff at multi-entity organizations with the critical ingredients needed to assess risk and implement new strategies and structures with legal compliance.
We are offering two cohorts in 2025 where participants will engage in an intensive 3-month online learning community program:
Spring/Summer Cohort:
May 12th - August 6th
(with a two-week break 6/30-7/11)
Fall Cohort:
September 4th - November 18th
Who this course is for
What this course includes
Key course features
Resource Hub & Website
Five Curricular Modules
26 Training Videos
12+ Live Community Sessions
Resources & Toolkits
Direct Access to Subject-Matter Leads
Bold & Safe Social Online Community
Organizational Self-Assessments
How To Apply
Applicants interested in applying to participate in the 2025 ERC: Bold & Safe Course must fit the criteria for application and readiness.
Application Process & Timeline
Open enrollment for the Spring 2025 cohort will begin April 9, 2025 and close on April 30, 2025. Applicants will complete an online questionnaire and may be asked to participate in a follow-up interview.
A limited number of organizations will be selected to participate in the spring/summer cohort, which will be announced by May 5, 2025. Those who meet the criteria for the program who were not admitted in the spring cohort may be invited in the fall cohort if the spring/summer cohort is full. Information regarding opening the application for the ERC 2025 Fall cohort will be released at a later date.
The Capacity Shop & New Left Accelerator
The Capacity Shop (TCS) – a 501(c)3 – and New Left Accelerator (NLA) – a 501(c)4 – are sister organizations that run capacity-building programs for progressive organizations using multiple legal entities to build power, increase impact, and win key battles. Programs are designed to ensure that multi-entity nonprofits are set up to operationalize bold power-building work safely.
- We research and document how multi-entity organizations build power
- We offer multi-entity focused learning communities, training, resources, and tools
- We advise organizations, intermediaries, consultants, and funders that support multi-entity power-building work
Disclaimers
The ERC program is designed for educational and informational purposes and does not provide legal advice. NLA and TCS both contribute to the ERC program.
This course is non-partisan public education. Each organization should engage its own legal counsel to advise on legal and compliance issues.
The information contained in this course and any attachments or materials is being provided for education and informational purposes only and not as part of an attorney-client relationship. The information is not a substitute for expert legal, tax, or other professional advice tailored to your specific circumstances, and may not be relied upon for the purposes of avoiding any penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code or state law.