Giving Projects
Who is the 2020-21 Black Led Organizing Giving Project cohort?
We are a Black Led Organizing group based in the PNW. Our cohort is committed to decolonizing how we view philanthropy. We are applying grassroots fundraising principles to raise money and give grants to local black centric organizations as a means of providing mutual aid, and promoting empowerment and equity within community organizations who are on the front lines of social change
What is the 2020-21 Black Led Organizing Giving Project?
The 2020-21 Black Led Organizing Giving Project will support community organizing led by and for Black communities and communities of African descent who are working to end anti-Black racism and discrimination, support and invest in Black leadership, and sustain movements for Black liberation to achieve a world where Black communities are protected, honored, and thriving. Participants of this giving project will therefore fund and help sustain the momentum of groups who are organizing to build power for Black communities and improve the quality of Black life in the Northwest.
Participants in this project will engage in shared political education, skill building for grassroots fundraising, and a democratic grantmaking process to support Black-led organizations working for Black Liberation in the Pacific Northwest.
Why Black Led Organizing?
SJF launched the first Black Led Organizing Giving Project in 2018 to raise funds explicitly for Black-led organizations with programming focused on building power and creating systemic change for Black communities in the Pacific Northwest.
The project turned out to be so much more than that.
The BLOGP is a space for Black folks to come together as their full selves, to learn collectively and gather resources for their own liberation. It is radical, transformative fundraising for Black communities, by Black community.
This project will support community organizing led by and for Black communities and communities of African descent who are working to end anti-Black racism and discrimination, support and invest in Black leadership, and sustain movements for Black liberation to achieve a world where Black communities are protected, honored, and thriving.
Examples of this include organizing that centers Black Liberation and addresses…
- The housing crisis, houselessness, and housing instability
- Inequitable access to culturally relevant health, mental health, and wellness programming
- Restorative justice alternatives to incarceration
- Abolition of the carceral state and criminal punishment system
- Immigrant and refugee crises
How can I support the 2020 Black Led Organizing Giving Project?
- Donate to our Giving Project!
- If you were asked by a Giving Project member, make sure you include their name in the comments field as well
- Share our work. Ask others to donate to our Giving Project!
- Learn more about this and other Giving Projects by talking with Giving Project participants and SJF staff. Click here to learn more about SJF’s Giving Project model. Consider signing up for one of our 2021 Giving Projects when announced.
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The application for the 2020 Black Led Organizing grant is now closed. Click here to see SJF’s current grant opportunities.
Black Led Organizing Schedule
10/24/2020
11/7/2020
11/21/2020
12/5/2020
1/9/2021
1/23/2021
2/6/2021
2/17/2021
2/21 - 3/28/2021 (subject to change)
4/17/2020
5/1/2021
Giving project structure
- All Giving Projects have the same basic structure:
- A cross-class, multiracial group of 15-25 volunteers commits to the entire process.
- Each person makes a meaningful gift — whatever that means for you.
- Through workshops and trainings we develop a shared analysis of race, class, and the issue focus of this Giving Project.
- We train you in grassroots fundraising and provide lots of hands-on support as you raise money from your friends and family.
- We train you in our grantmaking process and support you as you read and score proposals, participate in site visits, make collective deicisions, and move money to some of the most inspiring, effective social change work in the region.
“One thing that sticks with me is how much I enjoy and get energy from these issues. I came in tired, and now feel energized.”