Groundswell’s Rapid Response Fund

Deadline: 15-Jun-21

Applications are now open for the Groundswell’s Rapid Response Fund to provide 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.

A multi-issue fund, their Rapid Response Fund supports organizations on the front-lines, defending the most vulnerable communities with timely, flexible grants with an emphasis on funding in states and communities where women of color, transgender people of color, and low-income women and trans people-led organizing is under-resourced.

What might the Rapid Response grants support?

A strategic organizing response to a public attack or a community crisis.
A strategic organizing response to advance solidarity and coordination of organizations working across issues to defend the most vulnerable communities.
A strategic organizing response to an unforeseen legislative or policy development.
A strategic organizing response to a new opportunity that is immediate, has a specific time frame, and is aligned with Groundswell Fund’s approach and priorities.
A short-term project or action that creates opportunities to organize and build coalitions and/or educate public officials or the general public.

Funding Information

Rapid Response Fund grant requests for 2021 may range from $5,000 to $20,000.
On rare occasions, Groundswell may consider requests of up to $25,000, yet the average grant size is $8,000.

Criteria

Groundswell’s Rapid Response Fund (RRF) will continue to center its criteria around:
- 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.
- Leadership
  - Must be majority women of color and/or transgender, gender non-conforming (TGNC) people of color-led organization.
  - Groundswell Fund defines majority leadership that is more than 50% in decision making.
- Definition of Women of Color and/or Transgender/GNC (TGNC) Led:
  - organizations with a majority WOC/TGNC board, staff, and volunteers in leadership positions;
  - a WOC/TGNC-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/TGNC in decision-making positions at the staff and board level;
  - a WOC/TGNC-led coalition; or
- 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.