The Boston Women’s Fund (BWF) is now accepting nominations for Movement Building Grant designed for grassroots organizations led by women+ and girls+ that shift towards community-driven solutions that promote systemic change. BWF is committed to investing in leaders, infrastructure, capacity building, and leadership development.
Donor Name: Boston Women’s Fund (BWF)
State: Massachusetts
Region: Greater Boston Area
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 12/15/2021
Size of the Grant: $25,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
BWF grants amplify the voices of women+ and girls+ who work tirelessly for political, racial, social, economic, and gender justice. Change begins in the community, frequently led by efforts of inspirational women+, girls+, and women-identified individuals who know the solutions to their problems yet lack the resources to solve them.
BWF supports community-led grassroots movements that build collective power to promote systemic change and advance racial, economic, and gender justice. Movement Building grants provide general operating support to grassroots organizations focused on leadership development, infrastructure, and capacity building.
With the leadership of the Allocation Committee, The Boston Women’s Fund will provide Movement Building grants to grassroots organizations led by women+, girls+, and other marginalized genders that integrate one or more of the following: community organizing, leadership development, and/or a clear vision toward stronger, more resilient, and transformative communities.
BWF continues to work with the following constituents: elder women+, girls+, immigrant and refugee women+, the LBTQIA+ community, low-income women+, women+ of color, and women+ with disabilities working in their communities in the Greater Boston Area and beyond to bring about racial, economic, social, and gender justice.
Additional Funding Priorities
Priority will be given to organizations with a specific focus on gender and racial justice and at least one of the following:
- Youth-led movements
- Disability and/or Elderly rights movements
- Reproductive health movements
Total Budget
$75,000. The distribution is $25,000 to three organizations.
Eligibility Criteria
Eligibility for the 1-year:
- Organizations or projects directed and run by and for women+, girls+ and/or non-binary, gender-nonconforming, trans, or queer communities.
- Or, is a mixed-gender organization with projects directed and run by women+, girls+, and other marginalized genders.
- Organizations must be located in and serve the Greater Boston Area.
- The board of the organization is at least 60% women+.
- The organization’s leadership (board and staff) and decision-makers of the organization or project are reflective of the (race, age, class, and sexual orientation) groups most affected by the proposed project.
- The organization’s budget is equal to or less than $500,000, or the program or project budget is equal to or less than $250,000.
- Organizations must have a 501(c)(3), federal tax-exempt status or a fiscal agent with that status.
Through the past experience in funding grantees and supporting movement building, BWF believes that the following are essential to movement building:
- Base Building: Movements engage individuals and communities most affected by the issue/s the movement seeks to change. Movements must then build power in those communities.
- Alliances/Partnerships: Movements depend on relationships, collaborations, and networks that share a collective vision and commitment.
- “Leaderful” Leadership: The focus is not on an individual leader, rather on developing horizontal leadership, particularly of women+, girls+, and other marginalized genders from the community/constituency most affected.
- Systems Change: Movement building creates positive changes in policy/ies or conditions, for women+, girls+, and other marginalized genders and their communities.
- Issue-specific and/or Intersectional: Movement building acknowledges the multiple interacting systems of oppression and can support the intersectionality among issues, constituencies, and political power.
BWF does not fund one-time events, such as research, conferences, films, or fine arts, that are not in some way connected to an ongoing organizing effort, nor do they fund capital campaigns.
For more information, visit Movement Building Grant.
