Deadline: 30-Jun-20
The Needmor Fund is seeking applications for its Core Grants Program to provide general operating support to groups engaged in the work of community organizing.
The Fund’s Core Grants Program will focus on supporting community organizing in the Midwest – specifically an eight state region that includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
Grantees funded through this program are eligible to receive funding for up to three years, after which an organization may not apply for at least two years.
The Needmor Fund seeks to
- Remove systemic barriers to the practice of democracy by encouraging the efforts of people who are working together for justice and the common good;
- Encourage involvement in community affairs by people whose participation has been systematically denied; and
- Foster the active participation of all citizens in crafting a vision, values and policies that are more equitable, to guide the operation of country.
The Needmor Fund has identified community organizing as the most effective means for achieving these goals. Community organizing is “a process through which historically disenfranchised people can build power, can address the systemic barriers to the practice of democracy, can hold public and corporate officials accountable for their actions, and can begin to participate in shaping public policy.”
The Needmor Fund does not fund
- Community development corporations
- Scholarships/fellowships
- Private businesses
- Training programs or direct services (e.g., counseling programs, medical services, etc.)
- Cultural enrichment programs
- Films, TV or radio productions.
- Books, publications or research
- Conferences
- Capital improvements
- Litigation
- Projects outside the United States
- Government sponsored or controlled projects
- National organizations
Criteria
The Needmor Fund seeks to support community organizing groups with the following characteristics:
- organizes low and moderate-income people: recruits and engages members from historically disenfranchised communities.
- membership-based and democratically run: dues paying members determine the agenda of the organization.
- leadership development: develops and trains a cadre of strong grassroots leaders.
- multi-issue: addresses issues of race, immigration, poverty, economic justice, and low-wage work.
- engages in direct action: has a power analysis and clear plan for winning concrete victories that alter the relations of power in its community.
- balances issue work with base building: effectively links issues to building organization and power.
- builds power: has a larger vision to aggregate power, taking on bigger policy issues and expanding its base of allies to increase its impact over time.
- well managed: has a financial and fundraising plan, engages in strategic planning, and has strong leadership and lively governance.
In addition to meeting the above basic criteria, Needmor is interested in funding groups that:
- Organize across lines of race, class, and gender; and, promote the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
- Are linked to and leverage the power of faith, labor, and community into powerful organizations.
- Demonstrate a willingness to work collaboratively for the purpose of building collective power to achieve systematic change at the regional, state, and national level.
- Are connected to larger organizing networks that are working to implement new, broad, and creative public policies that address systemic issues facing low- and moderate-income communities.
- Integrate voter engagement strategies and the expansion of democracy into the building of powerful community organizations.
- Demonstrate the ability to develop an agenda that frames issues of relevance to both urban and rural constituencies.
- Recognize and address the impact of global corporatization as it relates to issues of economic and environmental justice.
- Have potential for attracting the interest and support of other funders.
For more information, visit http://www.needmorfund.org/forms/needmor-application/
