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Activist Collaboration & Care Fund Request for Proposals – Summer 2023

The mission of the Ms. Foundation for Women is to build women’s collective power in the U.S. to advance equity and justice for all. We achieve our mission by investing in, and strengthening, the capacity of women-led movements to advance meaningful social, cultural and economic change in the lives of women. Ms. has six grantmaking initiatives, one of which is the Activist Collaboration & Care Fund. Launched in 2020, the Activist Collaboration & Care Fund (ACF) seeks to deepen collaboration within and across movement building organizations, affirm organizations’ need for healing and rest, and catalyze increased investment in social justice movements across the country.

ACF seeks to correct the often difficult experiences of women and nonbinary people of color-led organizations in accessing philanthropic funds that more mainstream, well-resourced, and white-led organizations often obtain.

This summer, ACF will invest approximately $1,000,000 in organizations and networks of, by, and for trans and cis women and girls of color and nonbinary people of color. Grants will range from $15,000 to $25,000. This funding opportunity comes in direct response to what we continue to hear from movement leaders: greater resources are needed for fostering collaboration, responding to alarming and/or unexpected shifts in the environment, and healing. Areas of funding we will consider for this round of ACF funding include:

  • Collaboration: Efforts to deepen relationships, build trust, or strategize across organizations; including activities focused on building shared understanding, repairing relationships, working through challenges that stall collaboration, and developing plans for acting collectively. Of note, if applying for a collaboration effort, only one organization needs to apply on behalf of a group of organizations. 
  • Healing, rest, and restoration: Efforts to heal from intergenerational trauma and/or violence (as well as from movement- and organizing-related trauma and violence) or invest in the restoration and rest of staff. This might include (but is not limited to) investments in training, convenings, or spaces that enable individuals or organizations to heal, rest, and restore; as well as investments in meditation, mindfulness, somatic practices, conflict resolution support, and/or child and elder care. 
  • Rapid response: Efforts to respond to immediate threats, such as an unexpected/evolving policy change that place community members in harm’s way, or responding to unanticipated opportunities that emerge to set new legal or policy precedents.
  • Digital infrastructure and digital safety: Efforts to improve an organization’s digital infrastructure and/or increase digital or physical safety. 

To be considered for funding, applicants must meet all of the following eligibility criteria:

  • At least 50% of your organization’s leadership must include trans women, cis women, and non-binary people who identify as Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). An organization’s leadership includes people with significant influence or decision-making power (i.e. the executive director, management staff, and advisory committee members or governing boards). 
  • A majority of the organization’s work should focus on issues impacting trans women, cis women, and non-binary people, with a strong emphasis on those who identify as Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). 
  • Organizations must have 501(c)(3) status or be a project of a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor. Ms. Foundation cannot fund 501(c)(4) organizations through this fund. 
  • Organizations that have an annual budget of $2M or less.
  • Organizations that are operating in the U.S. or U.S. territories, with a particular emphasis on state and local movements and campaigns.

Organizations who have received funding from the Ms. Foundation are eligible to apply for funding, though organizations who have never received funding from the foundation will be prioritized.

Timeline:

RFP ReleasedJuly 17, 2023
Proposal DueAugust 25, by 8:59pm PT or 11:59pm ET
Invitations to InterviewSent by October 4, 2023
Interview Period                October 9 – 27, 2023
Award Notification            By October 27, 2023
Funding Distribution          2-4 weeks after award notification