Funding Opportunities

Grant Guidelines

GRANT GUIDELINES AND POLICIES

WCF's Priorities for its 35^th Funding Cycle are those priorities developed by the WCF founders in 1982. We choose these priorities as a confirmation of WCF's continued commitment to funding groups that are marginalized in this society yet speak the truth about the systemic changes needed for this society.

INTRODUCTION

Wisconsin Community Fund raises money and gives it away to progressive grassroots groups that are too new, too small, or too controversial for mainstream funders.  The Fund channels charitable contributions to grassroots organizations working for progressive social change in every part of the state. 

Wisconsin Community Fund’s mission and grant programs are consistent with the principles of our local leadership as well as those of our national membership organization, the Funding Exchange Network (FEX).  FEX's "Statement of Political Principles" includes the following and a detailed explanation is available upon request.   

• Change, not charity. ™
• Economic Justice
• Anti-Oppression and Racial Justice
• Grassroots Social Change
• Commitment to Growth and a Strong Network

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible for a grant, a recipient must demonstrate that it:

• is located in, works in, and/or benefits residents of Wisconsin;
• is not-for-profit and exempt from federal taxes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or utilizing a fiscal sponsor with an IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter;
• is working for fundamental social change and demonstrating practical alternatives to economic and social injustice; 
• has an annual budget under $400,000;

• plans to spend the grant on projects and/or general operating expenses.

 PRIORITIES

Preference in funding will be given to organizations or projects that rank highly according to scoring by the Fund’s Grant Making Committee.  Proposals for funding will be rated according to the above eligibility requirements, as well as the following priorities:

• Responds to current and emerging needs and issues, especially movement-building and issues of structural change.

• Includes coalition-building aspects, with groups from different issue areas working together toward a common goal.

• Works to protect and expand basic human rights and increase opportunities for the poor, the disenfranchised, and people of color.  This may include supporting other progressive groups and issues in the community while working on a single, seemingly different issue or set of issues. 

• Promotes and strengthens local community control and seeks more equitable distribution of wealth, power and other resources.  Elements of genuine grassroots or community leadership could include the make-up of the grant applicant’s board and staff or other formal power structures, as well as outreach to and involvement of an appropriate constituency. 

• Includes organizing against racism and other forms of oppression. Challenging racism (prejudice plus power) may involve having diverse boards, staff and volunteers as well as organizing against oppression.

• Uses a range of tools and strategies to work for a more democratic and equitable society. Tools may include community organizing, coalition-building, action-oriented research and advocacy.  Clear, well-defined effective strategies develop local leadership, empower people/constituents, and reflect awareness of broader social policy issues.

• Demonstrates limited or no access to other sources of funding.

• Has realistic goals for the time and resources allocated.

LIMITATIONS

Wisconsin Community Fund does not fund:

• Projects individual, national, academic, or religious in nature.
• Social or community service, legal fees, academic research, education or cultural projects, unless there is an organizing or direct action component.
• Endowments or capital campaigns.

OTHER GRANTEE REQUIREMENTS

We require grantees to:

• Submit a funding application according to the procedures and timelines of the Community Grant Making event, which is scheduled to conclude at 5:00 p.m. on Novermber 1, 2011 and is subject to change.
• Receive final approval by Wisconsin Community Fund Board of Directors, which is committed to honoring the decisions activist donors that comprise Grantmaking Committee, provided that the grants do not violate legal or other essential policies of the Fund.
• Provide Wisconsin Community Fund, when possible, with concrete, newsworthy ideas of the group’s work and results of the grant, to be used primarily for fundraising communications.  At minimum, a photo and paragraph about results, ideally tied to the WCF grant, are required and will be discussed with each grant recipient individually to ensure expectations are reasonable.
• Provide a final report, consisting of a one-page narrative accompanied by an itemization of expenses for which the grant paid, in order to show the grant was used in a manner consistent with the budget submitted with their application.
• Spend grant funds within one year.  Any changes must be approved in writing by the Wisconsin Community Fund. 

ANTI-RACIST ORGANIZING: WCF has committed itself to the defeat of racism in American society. The WCF Grants Allocation Committee is very interested in seeing that the groups we fund have boards, staff and volunteers that reflect their constituency. Challenging racism involves having diverse boards, staff and volunteers as well as organizing against oppression.

Organizations supported by WCF use a broad range of tools to work for a more democratic and equitable society. These tools include community organizing, coalition-building, action-oriented research and advocacy.  WCF seeks to support grassroots groups with a clear and well-defined strategy for developing local leadership and empowering their constituents, and which reflect awareness of broader social policy issues.

WHAT WE LOOK FOR

In reviewing funding requests, the Grantmaking Committee will ask questions like these about each proposal:

• Do the strategies employed or proposed by the organization or project work to empower people?
• Are the strategies likely to be effective?
• How well does the organization/project challenge the dominant institutions and attitudes of society?
• Are other sources of funding likely to be available for this organization or project?
• Does the organization or project include outreach to and involvement of an appropriate constituency?
• Are the project goals realistic for the time and resources allocated?

Operating Values

In late 2009 and early 2010, Wisconsin Community Fund held a series of stakeholder meetings to streamline and revitalize our activist-decided social change grant programs.  One result was the articulation of our Core Operating Values and Principles for Grant Making.  Our General Fund RFP and Community Grantmaking programs affirm our commitment to our core grant making values:

• Simplicity
• Relationships of Trust and Collaboration
• Awareness of Privilege and Power Issues
• Accountability to and Power Sharing with People from Impacted Communities
• Capacity Building 

Simplicity
In order to best serve those applying for grants as well as those operating the grants process we believe that it is important to keep the process simple with a minimum of paperwork. The process should be flexible, streamlined, and timely.

Relationships of Trust and Collaboration
Fostering the Funding Exchange idea of Change, not charity. ™, we believe that it is important to foster a transparent and trusting relationship between grantor and grantees. The grantees should be able to expect honest and clear communication and a predictable process. The grantor should hold grantees accountable by understanding the organization’s strategies and goals assisting the organization in remaining true to those goals and by being accessible. It is important that the grantor and grantee hold a shared vision and values.

Awareness of Privilege and Power Issues
It is important that we “walk our talk” by practicing democratic decision making at all levels of our work. This includes being aware of and addressing how external power structures are replicated within the Fund. It also includes working to assure that traditionally underrepresented groups not only hold a seat at the table, but are valued as key leaders within the decision making process. It is essential that we continue to develop a deep understanding of social justice work, the needs surrounding that work, and the radical approaches to social change.

Accountability to and Power Sharing with People from Impacted Communities
We understand that the people who are affected by an issue are best situated to make the decisions on how to address that issue. We are committed to supporting the democratic decision making processes of affected communities served by the Fund. We believe that one of the strengths of the Fund is its commitment to serving a broad array of communities both geographically throughout the state and demographically and following the leadership of those communities.

Capacity Building
At the core of Fund grant making is the idea of capacity building. Through it’s grant making and other programming the Fund should maintain a commitment to helping organizations grow, clarify, build capacity, and develop the ability to deepen their community impacts. This may include teaching grantees how to improve their grant applications for other funders, as well as asking questions that encourage organizational development, and supporting positive performance.

Funding Exchange Principles

As members of the Funding Exchange, Wisconsin Community Fund and sister Funds around the country are committed to a unifying "Statement of Political Principles" and work implement the principles in our missions, programs and operations.  In addition, as an independent Fund, we are not limited to these principles alone.

• "Change, not Charity"
• Economic Justice
• Anti-Oppression and Racial Justice
• Grassroots Social Change
• Commitment to Growth and a Strong Network

Change, not Charity™

We are committed to supporting movements that will bring about racial, economic, social, and political justice.  This work is characterized by its insistence on addressing the root causes of problems rather than alleviating the symptoms of those problems.  Because the goal is systemic change, conflict with those who hold power is often inevitable.  The power that social change organizations bring to the table is their ability to politicize, organize, educate, and mobilize.  We also understand that the FEX network has a role to play in advancing the system of philanthropy.  Given our political commitments and our understanding of charity, our work also includes educating mainstream philanthropic institutions to our work and the principles that guide this work. We believe that people of all classes have a role to play in social change.

Economic Justice

We believe that ultimately real systemic change cannot happen without a major redistribution of wealth, power, and resources.  As foundations, we work on these issues, both externally and internally.  Externally, our grantmaking supports movements that address the impact of globalization and economic colonialism both here and abroad.  Internally, we reallocate control of resources, governance, and decision-making.  We bring to our work recognition that the increasing consolidation of wealth in the hands of a few in the U.S. derives from and perpetuates injustice and inequity.

We strive for our funds to be supported financially by people of all economic backgrounds.  As many of our funds continue to be supported by people with inherited or earned wealth, we encourage them to organize with their peers to move more resources to social change organizing.

Anti‑Oppression and Racial Justice

Over the years, FEX has pushed itself to develop as expansive an understanding of oppression as possible, recognizing that institutional, economic, and cultural power has been consolidated by systems that benefit wealthy, white, heterosexual, able‑bodied males.  We have also worked from an analysis that all oppressions are inter‑related and cannot be structured into hierarchies of oppression and injustice.  We have a commitment to equity around race, gender, sexuality, class, age, and ability.  This commitment extends to our understanding of what constitutes community organizing, how we run our organizations, and who we fund.

We understand the particular ways that racism operates as a barrier to equity in the U.S.  In straddling the worlds of philanthropy and social-justice organizing, we bring an analysis that recognizes how racism has created wealth in the United States. We also understand the history of racism in relation to social-justice movements.  We direct resources to organizing in communities of color and support effective anti-racist organizing by white people.  We look at organizing around human rights, economic and social justice, militarism, and environmentalism through an anti-racist lens.

Therefore, we are committed to being anti‑racist organizations.  In order to realize our vision of a just, anti‑racist society, we recognize the need to change culture, structures, and systems of power within our organizations as well as at every level of our society.

Grassroots Social Change

We commit to funding grassroots social change organizations that have a critique and analysis of power grounded in social-justice values, and that claim this power for themselves and their constituencies.  Because we believe that change happens at the grassroots level, we engage in high-risk grantmaking, funding local organizing by constituent-led groups as well as research, policy development and media  but we do not limit ourselves to that.  We fund strategically in order to nurture broad‑based, social change movements, and we provide support to those movements in other ways.  Our challenge is to maintain accountability to broad‑based movements so that we are as effective as possible.

Member Fund Commitment to Growth and to a Strong Network

The Funding Exchange network is a structure to support our existence as social change organizations.  We are stronger in numbers, as we seek to support social change movements as effectively as possible and leverage power and resources within the institution of philanthropy.  In order to be effective, we commit individually to the continuing growth of our local foundations and as a network to supporting each other in that growth.  We learn from our regional differences and share strategies and analysis.  We commit to a process of political education, and mutual support and accountability with each other based on shared vision and commonality of purpose.  We commit to supporting and holding each other accountable as we struggle to put our principles into practice—an accountability based on adherence to a mutually agreed upon set of guiding principles.  We commit to work together nationally to define and build a network of anti-racist foundations that work for social justice.

Recent Grants

The following are examples of General Fund grants made since Summer 2009.  Information about these and other grants can be  found in our Annual Reports.

1st Community Grant Making

On April 10, 2010 Wisconsin Community Fund held the very first Community Grant Making meeting.  In one day, 24 people gathered and

• shared information, technical assistance, and resources;
• built relationships, allies, and coalitions;
• developed and submitted grant proposals;
• raised $3000 to add to the $7000 already available for grants;
• and, most importantly, negotiated grant allocation decisions as a group.

Participants were primarily grant-seekers, activists, donors, and Fund staff and Board Directors.   This meeting had a dual purpose.  One, provide grants and other resources to grassroots progressive social change groups.  Two, evaluate the grant program for future consideration.  Thus, in addition to board and staff, we invited groups that received a grant or site visit from Wisconsin Community Fund in the past two years and donor volunteers who showed interest. The majority of participants were social change activists, consistent with our commitment to activist-decided grants for Change, Not Charity™.

To learn more about Community Grantmaking in April 2010, download the spotlight article from "Snap Shots and Spotlights: 30 Years of Progressive Growth at the Funding Exchange," compiled and designed by FEX Intern Sarah Taveras.

Every group that requested a grant received one, seven groups in total, including a coalition formed during the meeting.  A total of $10,000 in grants was awarded to:

Grassroots Leadership College, Madison Area, $1500

Funding for this project will cover the costs of interpreting, childcare, and registration materials.

Group Description:Grassroots leadership college is a training program to help the Madison area residents improve the qauility of their neighborhodds and communities.  They support developing grassroots leaders by providing the opportunity to build skills and relationships in a supportive and challenging environment.

 Wise Women Gathering Place, Northeastern Wisconsin, especially Native American Communities, $1350

Funding for this project will cover participation costs to certify 10 trainees in ToP Facilitation. 

Group Description: Wise Women Gathering Place provides women and their families with information, advocacy, and referrals regarding health problems, treatment options, and the accompanying benefits and risk enabling them to make informed choices.

 Crawford Stewardship Project, Crawford County and Statewide, $1500

Funding for this project will cover the cost of a staff organizer position for Wisconsin Rural Sustainable Network, a statewide coalition of organizations that resist concentrated feeding operations (CAFOs).

Group Description:Crawford Stewardship Project works to protect the environment of Crawford County from threats such as those posed by CAFOs and to promote sustainable land use, local control of natural resources, and environmental justice.

Wisconsin Apprentice Organizers Project, Statewide, $480

Funding for this project will pay for the registration fees and mileage to send two Apprentice Organizer graduates to two of the Grassroots Leadership College's "Grassroot Forums" for continue community-building/professional development

Group Description: Wisconsin Apprentice Organizers Project works to increase the number, diversity, and skills of trained organizers working in the state for social, economic, racial, and environmental justice.  

 The People's Coalition for Liberation

Freedom, Inc, Dane County,  $1723

Funding for this project will be used for general programming expenses and campaign support.

Group Description:Freedom, Inc. challenges the root causes of violence, poverty, racism, and discrimination in low-income communities.  The people who are most affected by these issues must have voice, power, resources, and choice, in order for true social change to happen. 

Operation Welcome Home, Madison, $1723

Funding for this project will be used to support homeless families liberating vacant, foreclosed houses, low-income families being protected from eviction from public housing, and all those who engage in civil disobedience to demand housing as a human right as part of the national Take Back the Land movement.

Group Description: Operation Welcome Home organizes homeless people and educates the community to address root causes of homelessness and the criminalization of homelessness. 

Uhuru Family Initiative, Madison and Milwaukee, $1723   

Funding for this project will go towards the implementation of UFI's "Know Your Rights" program.

Group Description: The Uhuru Family Initiative's mission is to unite community members, activists, organizer, formerly incarcerated men and women, children, Africans (whom immigrated from continental Africa), and concerned citizens who strive to share their common truths while creating culturally transformational opportunities focused on creating leadership and organizational structure within the Black community. 

34^th General Fund Grantees

Crawford Stewardship Project - Gays Mills – Environment - $8,000

Funding for General Operating Expenses will be used to provide salary for a CSP part time staff position.

Group description:  The Crawford Stewardship Project protects the environment of Crawford County from threats such as those posed by Confined Animal Feeding Operations and promotes sustainable land use, local control of natural resources and environmental justice.

Equality Wisconsin Fund - Milwaukee - LGBT - $2,000

Funding for this Project supports an organizer to develop new gay and non-gay Latino leaders who take concrete action on LGBT issues.

Group description:  Equality Wisconsin Fund improves the quality of life of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in Wisconsin by improving public understanding and public policy through education, organizing, coalition-building, and other charitable activities.

Freedom, Inc – Madison – Immigrants - $7,000.

Funding for this Project will be used to hire a part-time coordinator for the project Southeast Asian Family Unity.

Group description:  Freedom, Inc. challenges the root causes of violence, poverty, racism, and discrimination in low-income communities. The people who are most affected by these issues must have voice, power, resources, and choice, in order for true social change to happen.

Good Jobs and Livable Neighborhoods – Milwaukee - Community Organizing - $7,000

Funding for General Operating Expenses supports staffing costs in engaging community education and organizing on the need to prioritize the creation of new job opportunities for disadvantaged and low-income populations in projects that will receive federal stimulus funding.

Group description:  Good Jobs and Livable Neighborhoods Coalition promotes responsible economic development policy and practice through civic participation and community organizing.  They envision equity in regional development and an economy that works for all.

Intercultural Leadership Initiative - Lac du Flambeau – Youth - $7,000

Funding for General Operating Expenses supports supplies, facility rental, food/beverages, service-learning activities, transitional program expenses, After School Leadership Program, and community meetings.

Group description:  Intercultural Leadership Initiative serves students in the Lakeland Union High School

District which is fed by four K-8 schools, one predominantly Native American while the other three are all non-native. ILI helps eradicate the racism inherent in this system.

Operation Welcome Home – Madison – Housing - $4,000

Funding for this Project supports theater and media projects to create organizing tools that address discrimination and prejudice around the issue of homelessness.

Group description:  Operation Welcome Home organizes homeless people and educates the community to address root causes of homelessness and the criminalization of homelessness.

WI ADAPT – Madison – Disabilities - $4,000

Funding for General Operating Expenses supports the office and staff and pays for member transportation and attendant care.

Group description:  WI ADAPT is a national network of disability activists that employ non-violent civil disobedience as part of a social change strategy.  They demand an end to exclusionary policies that deprive people with disabilities from meaningful inclusion in American Society.

WI Apprentice Organizers Project – Milwaukee - Community Organizing - $7,000

Funding for General Operating Expenses helps train a new grassroots community organizers by covering direct costs related to training and supporting the wages, taxes, and wellness stipend associated with developing a new organizer from a marginalized community.

Group description:  The Wisconsin Apprentice Organizers Project (AOP) builds a strong culture of grassroots community organizing for social, economic, racial and environmental justice in Wisconsin through a paid apprenticeship program.

Wise Women Gathering Place - Green Bay - Native American - $7,000

Funding for this Project advances coalition building around the "Peace, Respect and Belonging" movement in Oneida., specifically addressing prevention of domestic violence, sexual assault and adolescent pregnancy..

Group description:  Wise Women Gathering Place provides women and their families with information, advocacy and referrals regarding health problems, treatment options and the accompanying benefits and risks enabling them to make informed choices.

Worker’s Rights Center – Madison - Worker’s Rights - $7,000

Funding for this Project helps build a statewide coalition in support of comprehensive immigration reform fortified and expanded by educational and outreach efforts with greater media coverage outside of the major metro areas.

Group description:  The Worker’s Rights Center gives low-wage workers in South Central Wisconsin a greater voice in the workplace and the community.

2nd Community Grant Making

On February 26, 2011 Wisconsin Community Fund held its 2nd Community Grant Making in Milwaukee.  In one day, some 40 people gathered and 

• shared information, technical assistance, and resources;
•  built relationships, allies, and coalitions;
•  developed and submitted grant proposals;
•  raised $1,000 to add to the nearly $34,000 already available for grants;
•  and, most importantly, negotiated grant allocation decisions as a group.

Participants were primarily grant-seekers, activists, donors, and Fund staff and Board Directors.  As was the case with the initial Community Grantmaking event, the gathering served more than one purpose.  One, it provided grants and other resources to grassroots progressive social change groups.  It also served to forge linkages between activists and donors.  In total, 18 groups received grant funds ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars. It also helped to demystify the grantmaking process, especially for first-time grantseekers.  The majority of participants were social change activists, consistent with our commitment to activist-decided grants for Change, Not Charity™