The RRA Is Live!
Progress on creating the RRA and how to join the Founding Membership
We’ve been working hard these past few months establishing the back-end infrastructure required for the Roosevelt-Riis Association to carry out its mission of fostering active citizenship in support of growth, efficiency, and order in New York City. This has included setting up a fiscal sponsorship partnership with an existing 501(c)(3) nonprofit while we pursue our own nonprofit status, finalizing the rules for the RRA Prize Program, and creating a framework for you, our members and followers, to engage in the work of joyful and effective citizenship which the RRA exists to foster.
We are grateful to a group of volunteers who have been working alongside us in building out the RRA’s programming. We need all the help we can get, so if you’re interested in joining this working group, please let us know by messaging us here or at volunteer@rrny.org.
As we exit the “soft launch” phase of the organization, we wanted to share a few updates with you. What can you expect? How can you participate? What can we look forward to in 2026?
What comes next: membership and prizes!
We are tremendously grateful to all the people who have indicated their interest in joining the Founding Membership of the RRA. And we’re grateful for your patience as we’ve worked to enable you to deliver on those commitments.
We’re thrilled to say that you can now officially join the RRA! If you like what you see and want to join others of like mind and similar attitude, here’s what to do:
Click here to make a tax-deductible donation to support the RRA (all donations go to our fiscal sponsor, E2AC, in support of the RRA). Various membership levels are available for a minimum donation of $1,000.
After your donation has been received, you will receive a link to a short member onboarding survey. The survey will help us understand the interests and experience of our members. You should expect to receive the survey within 2-3 days following your donation.
For questions about joining the Founding Membership, you can reply to this post or email membership@rrny.org. Members who join in 2025 will be remembered for eternity as Founding Members. We are launching with two membership tiers, at $1,000 and $10,000 annually. We recognize that joining the founding membership represents a significant financial commitment. Those able to make that commitment are contributing directly to the creation of the RRA.
But joining the RRA as a Founding Member is not the only way to participate in the activities of the RRA. The duty of citizenship is one we all bear, happily! Access to the RRA will not be limited only to those who can contribute financially at this level. To receive updates on other ways to get involved, subscribe to this newsletter for updates, including updates on our 2026 events calendar.
One way to participate in the RRA is through the RRA Prize Program, which we’re excited to announce will be launching within the next week, with our initial slate of six contests. We hope you will share them widely with anyone you think might deliver a strong submission. And we want to know what kinds of prizes you think are important. For this reason, one prize is the “prize prize” — where we will award a prize to whoever suggests the best prize to add to our slate!
Upcoming Events & Where to Find RRA Members
We will have our first membership meeting in January 2026, and will be sending out invitations after we finalize details. New members, look out!
In the meantime, you can find us around the city (and very likely at Maximum New York events, especially Daniel). We’ll organize some office hours sessions in the coming weeks for folks who wish to learn more about the RRA. Feel free to reach out with any questions or ideas you have for the RRA.
Subscribe to the RRA calendar to stay up-to-date with events as we add them. And subscribe to this Substack for further updates as we continue our efforts to grow the RRA and strengthen the citizenry of our city.