Third Wave Fund’s SWGC will support a range of types of groups and projects as well as programmatic strategies and capacity-building efforts such as training, coaching, or other professional development.
Donor Name: Third Wave Fund
State: All States
County: All Counties
Territory: Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 05/18/2022
Size of the Grant: $25,000
Details:
The SWGC is a national, cross-class, multiracial, multilingual, intergenerational giving circle made up of a group of Fellows who are women, queer, and trans folks with current or past experience in the sex trade. Fellows come from all walks of life, and the priorities of the SWGC in resourcing people most impacted by systems of oppression are reflected in the identities and lived realities of the Fellows. The Fellows make all high-level funding decisions and funding recommendations.
The Sex Worker Giving Circle (SWGC) launched in the spring of 2018. The SWGC was created because sex workers are best positioned to confront and transform the oppressive conditions of their own lives. However, movements led by sex workers and people with experience in the sex trade are critically under-resourced despite increasing political attacks.
While they are open to funding additional strategies, the SWGC is excited to fund community-led efforts around:
- Harm reduction and safety planning for any forms of harm that sex workers navigate while working
- Healing justice, and trauma-informed approaches to building community
- Organizing and grassroots advocacy, including labor organizing which addresses oppressive labor practices within the sex trade
- Organizational capacity building, including efforts to develop skills and infrastructure within your group
- Political education, cultural work, and anti-stigma work
- Legal education and outreach, including work to address the impacts of the criminal legal system and coordinating ‘Know Your Rights’ campaigns for undocumented and non-English speaking sex workers
- Mutual aid and other programs that support self-determination such as transitional employment, end-of-life planning, etc.
- Coalition building and strengthening sex worker movement connections
- Racial justice work with a stated and intentional commitment to dismantling racism, white supremacy, and anti-Blackness
Funding Information
Grants are available at two different levels: $15,000 and $25,000.
Eligibility Criteria
All applicants must meet the following criteria to be eligible for funding:
- Location: Applicants must be based in the United States and/or US territories, including American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
- Infrastructure:
- Applicants must be a 501(c)(3) organization, a fiscally sponsored project, or be willing to become fiscally sponsored before receiving this grant. Fiscal sponsorship is a legal arrangement where an organization that does have a non-profit 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status (the “fiscal sponsor”) sponsors a project that does not (the “fiscally sponsored project”). This arrangement allows your group or project to seek grants and tax-deductible donations using your fiscal sponsor’s exempt status.
- Third Wave Fund will work to support groups we recommend for funding to become fiscally sponsored as a condition of grant eligibility.
- For more information on fiscal sponsorship, see this article from Non-Profit Quarterly. This process takes at least 2-3 months to complete, so please be prepared to put some time and energy into finding a fiscal sponsor that is the right fit for your group.
- Projects that are entirely dedicated to political lobbying must be designated as a 501(c)(4).
- Budget Size:
- Grantee applicants must have a budget of less than $400,000, or if applying as a program within a larger, non-sex-worker specific organization, the program budget must be under $400,000.
- For $25,000 grants, the grant cannot be more than half of your annual budget (your budget must be $50,ooo, or greater).
- Any group may apply for a $15,000 grant.
- Leadership: Your work must be led by the communities you work with; only work led by and for people with current or previous sex work or sex trade experience is eligible for funding.
For more information, visit Third Wave Fund.
