Community Organizing Grants Program (United States, Haiti and Mexico)

Deadline: 8-Jan-24

The Peace Development Fund (PDF) is pleased to announce the Community Organizing Grants Program.

The Community Organizing Grants Program is an umbrella for PDF’s annual grantmaking docket which consists of three grant programs: the Seeding the Movement Fund (formerly the “Board Docket”, Western Mass Transformation Fund (formerly the Pioneer Valley Community Advised Fund, and The Braiding New Worlds Fund.

The Peace Development Fund makes grants to community-based organizations working for social justice. They believe that the change in values needed to establish a more just and peaceful world can come about only if it is strongly rooted in local communities that value the importance of building movements to create systemic social change. These are communities that view everyone, especially young people, as a vital force in the transformation of society. They recognize young people’s ability to reshape their society, not only politically, but also spiritually and culturally.

The Peace Development Fund is committed to supporting organizations and projects that recognize that peace will never be sustained unless it is based on justice. They understand peace to be a consequence of equitable relationships—with their fellow human beings and with the natural environment of which they are a part and on which they depend.

Pillars of Grantmaking

• Organizing to Shift Power
  • Groups that are creating a power base that can hold leaders accountable to the people who are affected by their decisions.
  • Groups that let their membership or constituents take the lead in collective action-planning and decision-making.
  • Groups whose leadership comes directly from the people who are most affected by the issues you are organizing around.
• Working to Build a Movement
  • Groups that organize in the local community but make connections between local issues and a broader need for systemic change.
  • Groups that provide a space for members to develop their political analyses at the same time as taking action for change.
  • Groups that break down barriers within the progressive movement, by building strategic alliances between groups of different cultural or class backgrounds or different issue areas.
  • Groups that explore the root causes of injustice and have a long-term vision for the kind of social change they are working for.
• Dismantling Oppression
  • Groups and projects that are proactively engaged in a process of dismantling oppression, confronting privilege and challenging institutional structures that perpetuate oppression (both internal and external to the organization).
  • Groups that are proactively making connections between the different forms of oppression (racism, heterosexism, sexism, ageism, classism, ableism, etc.), and its connections with injustice.
• Creating New Structures
  • Groups that have alternative organizational structures, allowing power to flow “from the bottom up.”
  • Efforts to create new, community-based alternative systems and structures (economic, political, cultural, religious, etc.) that are liberating, democratic, and environmentally sustainable and which promote healthy, sustainable communities.

Grant Categories

• PDF over sees several grant programs that have specific purposes.
  • Seeding the Movement Fund: A highly competitive national grant opportunity for organizations that fulfill all the funding priorities.
    • Typical Grant Range: $2,500-$7,500
  • Braiding New Worlds Fund: A fund focused on supporting organizations engaged in youth-led organizing and that fulfill all the funding priorities. Grant allocation is recommended by a committee of youth organizers.
    • Typical Grant Range: $2,500-$5,000
  • Western Mass Transformation Fund: A fund open to organizations in Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin, and Berkshire Counties in Massachusetts, qualified under the funding priorities. Grant allocation is recommended by a committee of local community members.
    • Typical Grant Range: $500-$3,000

Eligibility Criteria

• PDF currently only funds organizations in the United States, Haiti and Mexico through the Community Organizing Grants docket.

Ineligible

• They do not fund programs with a primary geographic focus outside of the United States, U.S. Territories, Mexico and Haiti.
• Organizations with budgets larger than $250,000.
• Organizations not directly engaged in community organizing,
• Social services, educational programs, or research that are not linked to a clear organizing strategy.
• Individuals or organizations with strong leadership from only one individual.
• Conferences, trainings, and other one-time events.
• Academic institutions and scholarships.
• Other grantmaking organizations (unless they are your fiscal sponsor).
• Lobbying activities.

For more information, visit Peace Development Fund (PDF).