Join SJF for a virtual presentation on our transformed approach to development strategy and donor organizing, the theories behind it, lessons we’ve learned, and our recommendations for how you can begin moving toward new strategies with similar principles in mind.

What is the difference between mainstream fundraising and grassroots fundraising strategies?

How do we understand white supremacist vs decolonized methods of resourcing?

How did we grow a donor base aligned with our social justice principles?

Social Justice Fund NW is a community-based foundation with a 40+ year history. When we first launched in 1978, our grantmaking approach stood out from others in our field, prioritizing frontline, grassroots activism for social change. But that ethos wasn’t explicitly reflected in our development strategy, which still relied on courting wealthy, typically white top donors before all others. These donors were and still are deeply valued parts of our SJF community: we know everyone can share a vision for liberation and everyone has a home in its movements. However, we needed to change to get closer to achieving our mission.

From 1997-2003, SJF made big strides to democratize and ground our work in community by making membership more accessible to donors from a wider array of class backgrounds, including small donors and donors who were Black, Indigenous, and people of color. We launched our first Giving Project in 2010; by 2011, it became our sole model for grantmaking. To this day, some of the biggest lessons we learn around fundraising originate within Giving Projects. With leadership from former SJF staffer mano (Emanuel da Silva), over the last 3 years, we’ve applied these lessons and others from community to our overall development approach, arriving at a strategy we call Resource Fund Organizing.

We are committed to making our online event spaces accessible. Please let us know how we can support your access needs, including the use of captioning, ASL interpretation, non-English interpretation, and more, in the RSVP form. Advance notice (1 week+) is appreciated so we can secure the best resources for our space.