Deadline: 15-Jun-22
The Groundswell Fund has launched the Rapid Response Fund that provides the philanthropic community with a vehicle for deploying resources quickly and strategically to Reproductive Justice and social justice organizations during unexpected and critical campaign fights and key opportunities.
Groundswell’s Rapid Response Fund (RRF) provides fast funding to grassroots organizations led by women of color, trans people of color, and low-income women and trans people in critical, but unexpected fights to protect and advance reproductive and social justice.
RRF is a multi-issue fund for the frontlines. Defending the most vulnerable communities with timely, flexible grants, RRF moves resources with an emphasis on funding in states and communities where women of color, transgender people of color, low-income women, and trans-people-led organizing is under-resourced.
Funding Information
- There is a range. Historically, the RRF has moved up to $250,000 to approximately 30 grantees per year. But in 2020, Groundswell’s Rapid Response Fund moved $1.1 million to 145 grantees. This marked a tremendous, unexpected increase that reflects their commitment to responding to the needs of the field during a year of multiple crises.
- The Rapid Response Fund also collaborated with the Black Trans Fund to grant $200,000 specifically to Black trans-led organizations. In addition to the $1.1 million, RRF moved $150,000 in one-time rapid response support grants to existing Birth Justice Fund grantees.
Ineligible Funding
The Rapid Response Fund does not fund:
- 501(c)4 organizations
- Funding for individuals, personal projects, or personal needs such as personal health, emergency relief, and assistance, medical bills, rent, providing food or basic essentials to individuals
- Direct service provision defined as meeting individuals’ basic immediate needs and other emotional and social supports
- Travel expenses and conference fees
- Academic scholarships, campus education, K-12 after school or youth education initiatives, school programs (public or private, K-12, university, or postsecondary)
- Capital campaigns
- Congregations/churches
- Community arts and theatre-based projects
- Publications, media events, or research unless it is tied to an organizing strategy
- Replacing revenue shortfalls or addressing cash flow challenges
- Organizational development or infrastructure building costs
- Leadership transitions
- Ballot initiatives
- General operating requests for ongoing work or existing programs that are not timely or urgent in response to sudden shifts in the political climate such as an unexpected threat or an unforeseen opportunity to build power
Criteria
Groundswell’s Rapid Response Fund will continue to center its criteria around:
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Urgency
- The request is responding to an unanticipated event, political moment, and/or requires urgent or timely action. It is a new/unexpected critical opportunity or threat.
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Leadership
- Must be majority women of color and/or transgender, gender expansive people of color-led organization.
- Groundswell Fund defines majority leadership that is more than 50% in decision making.
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Definition of Women of Color and/or Trans and Gender Expansive (TGE) Led:
- organizations with a majority WOC/TGE board, staff, and volunteers in leadership positions;
- a WOC/TGE-led effort that is a core strategic priority within a majority white/cisgender people of color/white trans-led organization. This organization must have WOC/TGE in decision-making positions at the staff and board level;
- a WOC/TGE-led coalition
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Organizing + Base-Building
- Groundswell Fund’s RRF aims to support organizations with a history of dismantling systems of oppression by way of organizing as a central strategy.
- Groundswell defines organizing as ongoing, systematic engagement and relationship building with an ever-expanding and increasingly committed number of constituents and leaders who act collectively to change the conditions harming the community due to systemic oppression and state-sanctioned violence.
- Specifically, this is achieved by building a base. Groundswell defines base building as using strategies to build the leadership of directly impacted communities to create solutions to the issues negatively impacting their lives, and gain skills, abilities, and collective power needed to transform and dismantle policies and systems that affect their lives.
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Building Systems of Community Care
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They are particularly interested in supporting the following issues in response to this political moment that meets other funding criteria and addresses the following community care needs:
- Community Care, mutual aid, and disaster resilience efforts in response to Hurricane Ida and other climate disasters led by directly impacted communities
- Local efforts to advance vaccine equity and health justice in places where Delta variant deaths and cases are on the rise rooted in issues organizing and base-building organizations
- Housing justice efforts in response to the eviction moratoriums being lifted
- Afghanistan solidarity and relocation support rooted in issue organizing and base-building organizations
- Community rooted and local birth justice efforts and organizing
- Healing justice connected to a specific campaign or issue organizing opportunity
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They are particularly interested in supporting the following issues in response to this political moment that meets other funding criteria and addresses the following community care needs:
For more information, visit Groundswell Fund.
For more information, visit https://groundswellfund.org/funds/rapid-response-fund/