Grantmaking

Groundswell Fund is Unique Philanthropy

Beyond general operating grants, Groundswell Fund (GF) also supports capacity building to help bolster the work of grassroots movements, develop their leaders, and scale their social and reproductive justice organizations and agendas. We do the same with funders, mobilizing their resources towards greatest impact.

GF grants are almost always long-term general operating support for maximum flexibility and responsiveness.
GF centers the leadership of women of color – particularly those who are Black, Indigenous, and Transgender in our grant-making.
GF supports organizations and leaders across local, state and regional municipality – and we prioritize the South, Midwest, and Southwest.

Groundswell's giving looks different

$100M In grants have been moved to the grassroots since our inception in 2003
90% of the money we move goes to women of color-led organizing
299 organizations across 49 states and territories received funding in 2021

Grantmaking focuses on bolstering and scaling organizations that are building a strong grassroots base to win policy and systems change, as well as organizations that are reducing poor birthing outcomes by expanding access to community-based midwifery and doula care.

We acknowledge that systems change takes time. Thus, the vast majority of our grants are for general support, and we commit to funding efficient and effective organizations over many years. We award grants through four funds and our capacity-building programs.

It’s hard not to meet people face to face, but because of virtual technologies, we’ve actually increased participation in places that are isolated and expensive to travel to. So many of our communities are not connected by roads, so we have to connect virtually, but they don’t have broadband and bandwidth, so are going back to the phone. And it’s working. Voter engagement [part of GF's capacity-building fund] is going great. Pam Miller
Alaska Community Action on Toxics Founder and Director
Alaska