Neighborhood Funders Group

NFG ORGANIZES PHILANTHROPY TO SUPPORT GRASSROOTS POWER BUILDING SO THAT COMMUNITIES OF COLOR AND LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

AMPLIFY FUND, A POOLED FUND HOUSED AT NFG, CONTINUED TO DEVELOP ITS FUNDER LEARNING COMMITTEE OF 20 PARTNERS. AMPLIFY'S GRANTEE PARTNERS ALSO HAD MANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONNECTION, INCLUDING PARTICIPATION IN REGULAR AMPLIFICATION CALLS. THESE CALLS ARE AN OPTIONAL, GRANTEE-ONLY SPACE TO CONNECT INFORMALLY AND SHARE LEARNINGS AND CHALLENGES. GRANTEES REGULARLY ATTEND THESE SESSIONS IN RELATIVELY LARGE NUMBERS AND HAVE DEVELOPED RELATIONSHIPS ACROSS THE FUND'S EIGHT PLACES (NORTH CAROLINA, MISSOURI, NEVADA, PENNSYLVANIA, PUERTO RICO, SOUTH CAROLINA,TENNESSEE, AND CALIFORNIA). IN 2022, AMPLIFY FUND REGRANTED APP. $3M TO GRASSROOTS RACIAL JUSTICE-FOCUSEDPOWER-BUILDING ORGANIZATIONS. AMPLIFY SUPPORTED 55 GRANTEES ACROSS OUR 8 SITES AND 90% OF THE FUNDED ORGANIZATIONS WERE BIPOC-LED. THE AMPLIFY FUND ENGAGED IN A PLANNING PROCESS TO SHAPE THE FUTURE PHASE OF AMPLIFY'S WORK BY BRINGING TOGETHER GRANTEES IN THE FUTURE OF AMPLIFY ORGANIZING COMMITTEE TO DEVELOP GUIDINGVALUES AFFIRMING AMPLIFY'S COMMITMENT TO RACIAL JUSTICE. IN APRIL 2022, THE BLUEPRINT WAS PRESENTED, INCLUDING A LONGER LIFESPAN FOR THE PROJECT - 10 YEARS FOR PHASE 2 - AND DEVELOPING A NEW GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE THAT INCLUDES GRANTEES ALONGSIDE FUNDERS AND INCORPORATING A LIBERATORY PHILANTHROPY LENS.

NFG'S PROGRAMS CONTINUED TO BE A WELCOMING PLACE FOR BIPOC AND OTHER JUSTICE-MINDED FUNDERS TO PRACTICE SHARED LEADERSHIP IN PHILANTHROPY WITH MOVEMENT LEADERS AND ORGANIZE THEIR PEERS TO SUPPORT BIPOC COMMUNITY POWER-BUILDING. NFG'S PROGRAMS ARE LED BY COMMITTEES, WITH A TOTAL OF 37 FUNDERS INVOLVED IN FUNDER MANAGING THROUGH THESE NETWORKS.OUR FUNDERS FOR A JUST ECONOMY (FJE) PROGRAM DEEPENED WORK ON POWER BUILDING AND ORGANIZING EFFORTS TOWARDS SYSTEMS CHANGE. IN 2022, OVER FJE ENGAGED OVER 250 FUNDERS, HOSTED OVER 10 VIRTUAL PROGRAMS AND EVENTS COVERING VARIOUS TOPICS RELATING TO BUILDING A JUST ECONOMY, AND CONTINUED TO BUILD A COMMUNITY OF FUNDERS, ALIGN GRANTMAKING STRATEGIES, AND WIDEN OUR AUDIENCE OF FUNDERS. IN SUPPORT OF THIS WORK, FJE ORGANIZED A SERIES OF BRIEFINGS AND STRATEGY MEETINGS, INCLUDING A BRIEFING TO SHARE UPCOMING FEDERAL GRANT OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMMUNITYGROUPS AND A NETWORK STRATEGY RETREAT FOR FUNDERS TO SHARE LEARNINGS AND DISCUSSED HOW TO EXPERIMENT WITH WAYS TO ORGANIZE FUNDERS, TO BECOME MORE ACCOUNTABLE TO MOVEMENT PARTNERS, AND TO MOVE MORE RESOURCES TO BUILD POWER.

OUR INTEGRATED RURAL STRATEGIES GROUP (IRSG) ADVANCED ITS WORK TO INCREASE INVESTMENT IN THE POWER-BUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE OF RURAL COMMUNITIES THAT ORGANIZE ON VARIOUS ISSUES THROUGH A COMMUNITY-CENTERED APPROACH. A SIGNIFICANT HIGHLIGHT FOR THE GROUP WAS ESTABLISHING THE CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT BIPOC FARMERS, A POOLED FUND TO HELP BLACK FARMERS IN ILLINOIS RECLAIM THEIR LAND. THIS CAMPAIGN WAS A JOINT PROJECT WITH NFG'S MIDWEST ORGANIZING INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDERS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH WIEBOLDT FOUNDATION. NFG'S INTEGRATED RURAL STRATEGIES GROUP AND MIDWEST ORGANIZING INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDERS GROUP COLLABORATED TO ESTABLISH THE CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT BLACK FARMERS, A POOLED FUND TO HELP BLACK FARMERS IN ILLINOIS RECLAIM THEIR LAND, IN AN EFFORT TO PRESERVE AND PROTECT THEIR LAND OWNERSHIP AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY THAT ARE THREATENED BY DECADES OF SYSTEMIC RACISM IN FOOD SYSTEMS, PUBLIC SYSTEMS, AND LAND OWNERSHIP LAWS. IRSG ALSO DEEPENED ITS COMMITMENT TO ENGAGE LOCAL ORGANIZERS IN ITS COMMITTEE OF MOVEMENT ADVISORS, A COHORT OF SEVEN RURAL LEADERS WHO HAVE HELPED TO DEEPEN IRSG'S WORK TO INCREASE PHILANTHROPY'S ACCOUNTABILITY TO RURAL BIPOC MOVEMENT LEADERS.

PHILANTHROPY FORWARD, WHICH COMPLETED A COHORT CYCLE IN 2022, CONTINUED TO INSPIRE CEOS TO FULLY DEPLOY THEIR POSITIONAL POWER MORE AND INCREASE FUNDING FOR BIPOC COMMUNITIES CONFRONTING THE ROOT CAUSES OF INJUSTICE.