We premiered this video at SJF’s 2020 week of celebration to mark the public launch of the final phase of Fund 4 the Frontlines. Giant thanks to everyone involved — our amazing Fund 4 the Frontlines committee members, staff, and SJF’s beautiful community for helping us celebrate the campaign.

Featured:

Allister Byrd

Carolanne Sanders

Margo Huang

Ubax Gardheere

JeeYoung Dobbs

Palmira Figueroa

Music: It Just Makes Me Happy by DJ Quads

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Fund 4 the Frontlines is a one-of-a-kind campaign with a singular focus: to level-up our region’s grassroots organizing by resourcing powerful, long term base-building for communities at the frontlines of struggle. Resources from Fund 4 the Frontlines (F4tF) are devoted to two things: deep investments in base-building for grassroots organizations in our region, and growing the staff capacity of Social Justice Fund NW so we can continue to show up powerfully for the communities we serve.

When we launched F4tF in 2018, our goal was to raise $4 million; initial funding came from a small group of wealthy long-time donors. As the events of the past two years unfolded, we more plainly understood the impact F4tF could have on grassroots organizing, both as a resource and as an opportunity to engage people newer to the movement.

We decided to raise our goal to $4.5 million, increase the number of small gifts, and deepen accountability by recruiting an all-BIPOC leadership committee of community members. Here’s how it all breaks down:

• $2.5 million for ten, five-year, $250,000 total grants for grassroots basebuilding; six of these grants have already been made
• $2 million to expand SJF staff capacity
• An all Black, Indigenous, and people of color steering committee

Now, F4tF stands out as the only campaign of its kind in our region. In a field where power belongs to white, wealthy donors with virtually no accountability to Black, Indigenous, and people of color and other communities most impacted by systemic oppression, F4tF is rooted in community and committed to undoing white supremacy in philanthropy.