For R24: An Exploration of YDSA Budget Autonomy

This article argues for the passage of Resolution 24, “Budget Autonomy for YDSA.”

For much of their term, the National Political Committee of DSA has focused on balancing DSA’s budget. A decline in DSA’s membership threatened the long-term financial health of DSA as dues payments were no longer able to keep up with the organization’s spending. While balancing the budget, many parts of the organization faced budget cuts, including YDSA. Stipends for national committee chairs were cut, the YDSA Convention was moved online, hiring of YDSA interns was frozen, YDSA lost its second staffer, and stipends for NCC members were nearly cut. YDSA members won many of these budget lines at the 2023 DSA Convention after years of organizing and a series of YDSA Convention resolutions calling for increased funding. 

DSA’s budget cuts are felt across the organization but are particularly harmful to YDSA. In the wake of the most significant upsurge in student organizing our country has seen in decades, the leaders of YDSA cannot gather in person to discuss the best path forward for the student socialist movement. The online convention will inevitably limit the ability of organizers to build relationships, debate efficiently, and synthesize their experiences in the encampment moment. Moreover, with fewer resources to support organizing, YDSA’s capacity to help young people, politicized by the genocide in Palestine and rise of the far-right, will also be limited.

We can’t always predict when moments of mass action against the ruling class will occur. Similarly, we can’t always predict funding gaps that follow the ebb and flow of political organizing as people drift in and out of organizations. That’s why we are proud to sponsor Resolution 24: “Budget Autonomy for YDSA,” which explores new ways for YDSA to be flexible with its funding and budget.

Budget Autonomy for YDSA

Currently, the NPC sets YDSA’s annual budget. While YDSA and DSA Conventions can pass resolutions relating to the budget, the NPC ultimately decides how to allocate DSA’s resources if they cannot meet convention mandates. For several years, YDSA Conventions have passed resolutions calling for increased YDSA autonomy and funding (R18 – 2023, R13 and R17 – 2022, R14 – 2021). While these efforts have helped win an expanded budget for YDSA, the NCC is limited in reallocating funds from one line item in the budget to another. Outside of scholarship funds for national events, it is also limited in its fundraising abilities. 

Resolution 24 addresses these problems by exploring the possibility of separate incorporation for YDSA. Separate incorporation would allow YDSA to create its own bank account and the NCC to raise and allocate funds as they see fit. This resolution is purely exploratory, as this would significantly shift YDSA’s existing fiscal practices. It commits the NCC to investigate the possibility of separate incorporation and presenting its findings to the 2025 YDSA Convention.  The NCC can examine many models of separate incorporation, including those used by many DSA chapters that are separately incorporated and continue to receive dues share from National DSA, as well as national youth wings like the Young Democrats and Young Communist League. 

More immediately, the resolution also calls on the NCC and NPC to explore optional dues for YDSA and other forms of earmarked fundraising. These dues would not replace dues to national DSA. They would instead function similarly to local dues that many DSA chapters have, which raise additional funds for DSA chapters. YDSA has yet to experiment with earmarked fundraising beyond raising funds for travel scholarships for in-person national events. Many current and former YDSA members would likely donate additional money to the organization if they knew their donations specifically funded YDSA organizing. Over the past year, YDSA members have participated in fundraising efforts. Still, the funds raised by these YDSA members were directed to the DSA budget. This earmarked fundraising would give the NCC a larger pool of resources to support local organizing, provide stipends to reduce the burden of political leadership and use for in-person gatherings and staffing costs if sufficient funds are raised.

While this resolution is exploratory, these changes aim to give the NCC more control over YDSA’s budget. Without waiting for the NPC’s approval, the NCC could reallocate funds and dynamically fundraise during moments of heightened activity and political consciousness. For example, the NCC could raise funds to support YDSA organizing during the Gaza Solidarity Encampment or send national leaders to meet with new chapters and organizing committees. Allocating resources is a political decision based on what we feel to be most strategic. Having control over the budget would allow the NCC to decide where YDSA’s resources should go as political conditions and organizing work shifts throughout their term. 

YDSA Autonomy is not YDSA Separatism

Some quickly counter the argument for YDSA autonomy by saying it will lead to YDSA separating from DSA. Decoupling YDSA from its parent organization would undoubtedly be a disaster for the socialist movement in the United States, as organizers and cadres who hone their skills in YDSA would not be funneled into an organization once they graduate. However, giving YDSA more control over its budget and organizing work, does not mean separating it from DSA. Instead, YDSA autonomy makes YDSA an even better tool for developing young organizers by putting them in control of their organization and giving them room to experiment and make meaningful decisions about their organizing work. It makes YDSA more dynamic and responsive to shifting conditions, better captures energy and enthusiasm for socialism, and is better able to develop new organizers in moments of heightened activity rapidly. 

Others say that exploring separate incorporation and fundraising for YDSA would be too costly and unable to raise enough funds to matter. That’s why this resolution must be exploratory. Perhaps those statements are true, but we should encourage experimentation to develop new tactics and structures to meet the moment. For example, the NCC could circulate a survey of current and former YDSA members to determine how much money earmarked fundraising could raise for YDSA. It also means that when we decide if separate incorporation is right for us, we will make an informed decision based on the findings of the NCC instead of letting pessimism get the better of us.

Vote for YDSA Autonomy! Vote for Resolution 24!

If the past few months have shown us anything, it is that political conditions can shift rapidly, and we need to be prepared to rise to the occasion and meet the moment. The time to be bold is now, which means we should embrace experimentation to explore new tactics and approaches to our organizing. If we want to empower our national leaders to be truly adaptable to the moment, we must explore new ways of allocating and raising funds for YDSA. By exploring separate incorporation and earmarked fundraising, we can begin building a well-resourced YDSA that makes its own decisions about its budget in times of fiscal crisis and abundance.