Resources Archives - Neighborhood Funders Group

Journey Toward Intersectional Grantmaking

We at Funders for a New Economy (FJE) and the Neighborhood Funders Group (NFG) believe we have a critical mass of people of color and white allies within philanthropy who are interested in a new path— who are ready to talk about race, who are ready to acknowledge that this country’s economic policies were not…

IRSG Rural Organizing Dialogue Series

Over the course of the summer, IRSG held a Rural Organizing Dialogue Series. This series was educational and genuine! It was a space for funders in IRSG’s network to get to know this work and the rural leaders that are holding and leading it. The dialogue featured many of IRSG’s Movement Advisors and created opportunity to…

Event Recap: 9/15 Indiana Co-Governance Funder Briefing

In Indianapolis, gun violence is down 20% so far this year for the first time in a decade; a new crisis response system supports people in crisis to get the care they deserve rather than ending up behind bars; and the nation’s strongest civilian oversight body over law enforcement, created just nine month ago, has…

Midwest Summer 2022 Newsletter: Collective Courage ✨

With all we are holding, I hope you are also finding sweetness in this final stretch of our Midwest summer. Each day, I have the honor of working with movement workers and funders who teach me what it means to be courageous enough to build the world we want. Individual brave acts are powerful. So…

Actualizing our values: A gathering in rural Oregon grounds IRSG’s work in community and place

by Lindsay Ryder, Director, Integrated Rural Strategies Group The week before last was a gift. The Integrated Rural Strategies Group (IRSG) gathered its Rural Movement Advisors in Woodburn, Oregon* for a week of rest, reflection, joy, tequio, and breaking bread together. The impetus for this gathering was to renew our partnership with this group of…

The Future of Amplify

In 2021 Amplify staff and Steering Committee got clear the Fund would extend beyond it’s original 4-year planned lifespan; in 2022 we are designing the “Future of Amplify,” guided by a sharpened set of values*. While the first version of our theory of change, created by our early funders and staff, served us well, so…

Midwest Spring 2022 Newsletter: Seeding Change 🌱

I am so honored to say hello to you as the Program Manager of the Midwest Organizing Infrastructure Funders (Midwest Program) at Neighborhood Funders Group. I shifted into this role from Sr. Program Coordinator last month, a transition that has paralleled the Midwest’s journey into spring. In recent years, I have begun gardening vegetables, which has been…

Amplify Members as Funder Organizers

Unlike many other pooled funds, the Amplify Fund Steering Committee is committed to doing the work of funder organizing. Now representing twenty one funder members, the Steering Committee re-asserted their central role as funder organizers in 2021, but this responsibility is at the roots of the fund. In 2017, a rare opportunity to influence significant…

DDP February 2022 Newsletter

Hello friend, Wishing you all a safe and healthful 2022. We hope you had a restorative holiday break and that you are easing into work feeling hopeful. Thank you to all who joined us for The Why and How of Ceding Power to Community Organizations to Achieve Systems Change, our webinar last week with Fund for…

Indigenous-led Funding Opportunities

Philanthropy needs to move more resources and power to Indigenous-led groups. In honor of Native American Heritage Month in November, here is a list of Indigenous-led organizations you can fund today and every day. This list was compiled by NFG teammate Stephan Cheney, who is Lakota of the Kul Wicasa Oyate located in Lower Brule,…

Amplify Fund Collaboration Grants

Aligned with our initial theory of change that stated a commitment to “fund an ecosystem of groups and prioritize deep collaboration,” in 2021 we introduced collaboration grants. These grants support work that Amplify grantees are taking on with other trusted allies. In 2021, Amplify granted $634,000 to 16 collaborations. in two rounds of funding. In…

How Philanthropy Can Move from Crisis to Transformation

Dimple Abichandani, Executive Director of the General Service Foundation, urges grantmakers and the philanthropic sector to take concrete actions to defend democracy and speak out against racist attacks on people of color. This post was originally published here by the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project. Dimple was part of the first Philanthropy Forward: Leadership for Change Fellowship cohort, a joint initiative of…

Philanthropy Moving Forward a Bolder Approach to America’s Housing Crisis

This blog was written by Nile Malloy, Director of NFG’s Democratizing Development Program to urge philanthropy to propel a bold approach to the housing crisis. Housing advocates and grassroots groups from across the country continue to organize elected officials at the local, state, and federal level for another eviction moratorium, rental assistance, and foreclosure delay relief…

Strike Watch 2020 Review: Defund the Police to Build Worker Power

By Manisha Vaze, Director, NFG Funders for a Just Economy As we close this year, it’s probably safe to assume that you, like me, are emotionally and physically exhausted. The never-ending tragedy of this year’s global pandemic, the job loss, the deep inequality of the economic and health systems, and the new exposure for many…

Strike Watch – Election 2020: Workers Redefine the Map, as Corporate Tech Pours Millions to Undermine Rights

While the public eye (rightfully) centered on the US presidency this election, worker-led organizing made tremendous waves across the country in ballot initiative, issue-based wins and get out the vote mobilization, including in closely-watched swing states. Corporations and the ultra-wealthy also pushed their agendas of racialized and gendered inequality ahead, most notably California’s anti-labor rights…

Strike Watch: Solidago Foundation’s Rebecca Greenberg on Funding Democracy Defense from Georgia to Arizona

Strike Watch brings you original content from FJE on urgent economic justice issues and the latest developments in grassroots efforts to build worker power – and where funders can partner and are taking action. This week, we bring you an in-depth interview with Rebecca Greenberg of the Solidago Foundation, who shares how and why the…

Philanthropy Isn’t Doing Enough to Support Youth-Led Voter-Mobilization Efforts

Alejandra Ruiz, Executive Director of the Youth Engagement Fund, and Lori Bezahler, President of the Edward W. Hazen Foundation, write about youth of color civic engagement and voter mobilization work as a core opportunity for grantmaking on racial equity, leadership development, and building people centered long-term infrastructure that transforms our communities and democracy. This op-ed was originally published here…

Strike Watch, Labor Day: Vonda McDaniel on Workers Redefining “Nash-Vegas” and Taking on Power in Tennessee

Earlier this summer, we had the fortune to sit down with Central Labor Council (CLC) of Nashville & Middle Tennessee President Vonda McDaniel. McDaniel gave us key insights – shared in this Strike Watch interview – into the critical organizing led by food processing workers hard-hit in unsafe meatpacking plants in the region and throughout…

Strike Watch: San Francisco Foundation’s Jidan Terry-Koon on Finding our (Philanthropic) Front Lines

As part of our ongoing coverage and analysis of the many uprising for economic justice – from the Strikes for Black Lives to fights for basic protections in the age of COVID-19 – we wanted to get the perspectives from FJE members on how they are changing their practices to better support economic justice organizing…

The Fund for New Jersey Reaffirms Commitment to Racial Justice

In the wake of George Floyd’s death and the protests that followed, The Trustees of The Fund for New Jersey have issued a statement that reaffirms The Fund’s commitment to achieving racial justice in New Jersey through investment in policy reforms in housing, education, criminal justice, economic justice, and public health. The statement provides data and analysis on the…