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The MGGG Redistricting Lab will use donations to support its multidisciplinary projects on the mathematics and data science of redistricting, voting rights, and census geography.
We would be honored if individuals choose to support the Lab with donations. Please contact us at [email protected] to inquire about how to direct funds our way through the University.
Funding will be used for ongoing activities of MGGG, which may include the following.
- Research: Design and study of mathematical methodologies for the study of census, elections, and redistricting; statistical evaluation of models used for these applications; design of algorithms and software to visualize and quantify demographic and electoral data; supplies and equipment for the above.
- Outreach: Travel associated with speaking engagements on MGGG research projects and apportionment/redistricting more generally; generation and dissemination of K-12 and undergraduate educational materials related to the mathematical, political, and social implications of our research.
- Events: Conferences and gatherings to promote research and public awareness of election science, including informational materials for attendees, honoraria for speakers, and expenses of invited participants.
The MGGG Redistricting Lab is a non-partisan research group. We are dedicated to promoting fair electoral practices. Our research should not be understood as aligning with a particular political party, cause, or organization.
Beyond individual donations, the Lab raises money for staff salaries and for our outreach and training programs. We proactively choose to be transparent about our principles for funding.
We only seek or accept funding from organizations or individuals whose public positions (to the best of our knowledge) are consistent with our Lab’s mission and programmatic priorities, which are rooted in scientific inquiry and the steadfast pursuit of civil rights in the broadest sense. Our agreements are always based on rigorous data-driven inquiry and maximum transparency. We have settled on a policy against accepting funding from explicitly partisan organizations. Individuals in the Lab may engage in consulting projects (subject to Tufts conflict of interest policies), but the Lab itself is oriented to open-ended research.
Our commitments: Any funded work prepared by the Lab will be made publicly available. We use public tools, code, and data whenever possible, and we disclose the sources of data when it has been prepared by a third party. We strive to use our expertise to represent data clearly, providing appropriate context and sources of error. We do not use data practices that we believe to be misleading, even if they are common practice among election data practitioners.
Our biggest single funding source to date has been the National Science Foundation. Below is a list of foundations or organizations that have been sponsors of grants or contracts since the Lab was founded at Tisch College in 2018, current through July 1, 2022.
Funders include Arnold Ventures; FairVote; Google Summer of Code; Ground Control Partners; More Equitable Democracy; National Congress of American Indians; the National Science Foundation; New America; and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.
Offices that have contracted with us for mapping and redistricting support for localities around the country have included Contra Costa County, California; Grand County, Utah; Massachusetts (Massachusetts General Court); Michigan Department of State; Community Foundation of the Ozarks (Missouri Fair Maps Coalition); Ohio Organizing Collaborative; New Mexico (Thornburg Foundation); Texas Civil Rights Project (Oficina Legal del Pueblo Unido, Inc.); and the Wisconsin Department of Administration. Consultants that contracted with us to offer mapping support for numerous localities include National Demographics Corporation and Redistricting Partners.
The MGGG Redistricting Lab has been part of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life since 2018. Tisch provides an institutional home for the lab, including salary support, student research placements, and office space in Barnum Hall at Tufts University. Tufts is unique in having a civic research hub as a major division of the university, and we are proud to be one of three major labs—together with IDHE and CIRCLE—that anchor that research effort.
