Participatory grantmaking

Special collection

Participatory grantmaking encompasses a range of models, methods, challenges, and insights. At its core, this approach to funding cedes decision-making power about grants to the very communities impacted by funding decisions. This special collection gathers the experience and insights of funders who have shifted power and builds on the wisdom explored in the GrantCraft guide "Deciding Together: Shifting Power and Resources through Participatory Grantmaking".

Know of content that should be considered for this collection? Please suggest a report!
Read more +

Search this collection

Clear all

11 results found

reorder grid_view

Indigenous Women's Flow Fund: 2021 - 2022 Storytelling

July 7, 2022

The Indigenous Women's Flow Fund (IWFF) is an Indigenous-led grantmaking program that nourishes community-sourced initiatives and offers solutions and alternatives to systems in crisis. Grounded in trust-based philanthropic approaches, IWFF brings together five Indigenous women from across the United States, for a three-year period, to be decision-makers over grantmaking dollars and shape the program according to their vision.

INDIGENOUS WOMEN'S FLOW FUND: 2020 - 2021 Storytelling

May 1, 2021

The Indigenous Women's Flow Fund (IWFF) is an Indigenous-led grantmaking program that nourishes community-sourced initiatives and offers solutions and alternatives to systems in crisis. Grounded in trust-based philanthropic approaches, IWFF brings together five Indigenous women from across the United States, for a three-year period, to be decision-makers over grantmaking dollars and shape the program according to their vision.

YOUTH PARTICIPATORY GRANT-MAKING IN SIERRA LEONE: LESSONS FROM THE TAR KURA INITIATIVE

March 22, 2021

For nearly twenty years, the Fund for Global Human Rights has been a vocal champion of participatory philanthropy. We provide flexible general support that allows local groups to define and lead their own agendas. Fund grantees identify their priorities and approach and collaborate with program staff on defining measures of progress toward their intended outcomes.To us, participatory grant-making—which empowers affected communities to decide what and who to fund—is a further step in shifting power to grantees and movements.In 2019, the Fund partnered with Purposeful, a feminist movement-building hub for adolescent girls, to pilot a participatory grant-making initiative in Sierra Leone aimed at promoting youth leadership and amplifying the voices of young people.As our first foray into realizing the potential of participatory grant-making, this experience taught us many valuable lessons about how to foster genuine participation of children and young people.A targeted and intentional approach to reach a diverse group of children and youth is essential. This helps prevent a participatory process that only benefits young people in urban areas and those from higher socio-economic backgrounds.We also learned that true participation requires letting go of power while ensuring that young people have what they need to make meaningful and informed decisions. Support to child and youth-led groups should go beyond grant money to include a comprehensive package of grantee-led learning and accompaniment.The biggest lesson is about the need to be open and flexible throughout the process. Being willing to adapt as we went along allowed us to respond and make changes (almost) in real time. It also allowed us to learn from the young people about what it means to use your voice and make yourself heard in ways far beyond what we could have anticipated.

Girls, The Agents of Change

April 2, 2019

Funding for adolescent girls has been gaining traction in recent years. While feminist funders have traditionally focused on women and young people, there has been a drive to put more flexible funding in the hands of girl-led and girl-centered organisations. This evaluation reviews and assesses the With and For Girls Collective, the With and For Girls Award and the awards journey with a view to drawing out lessons from the Collective's experience to help encourage funders to increase flexible funding and other resources to girl-led and girl-centered organisations globally.

Money & Movements

October 29, 2018

Money & Movements brought together 100+ activists & funders to strategise about the future of resourcing feminist movements and social change globally. We came from around the world and across movements – women's rights, sex workers' rights, LBQTI rights, youth, indigenous rights, environmental and economic justice, disability rights, health, and more.Together, we asked:* What is the change we want to see... bold and fully-resourced?* What do our movements need to be resilient?* What would a transformative funding ecosystem look like?* What is the future of funding?Each of these graphics illustrates a key takeaway from Money & Movements. They are meant to inspire funders and movements seeking to build a more just world. Learn more and find versions of this tool in Spanish and French at: https://www.mamacash.org/en/money-and-movements

Girls to the Front: A Snapshot of Girl-led Organizing

October 11, 2018

The research used in-depth interviews and an online questionnaire, as well as an exhaustive desk review to collect data from girl-led groups and organisations, girl-centred organisations and the stakeholders that support them at different levels. This is an exciting opportunity to spotlight how girl-led organising takes place and how funders can provide flexible support that responds to the needs of girls and their organising. 

Shifting the Power: Opportunities for Innovative Partnerships with Women’s Movements

May 1, 2018

The launch of Canada's Feminist International Assistance Policy in June 2017 included an allocation of $150 million over five years to the Women's Voice and Leadership Program, signaling a commitment to work closely with local women's organizations to advance the Sustainable Development Goals. This presents an extraordinary opportunity for Canada to show global leadership. To explore practical and creative ways of delivering on this commitment, The MATCH International Women's Fund, the Nobel Women's Initiative, and Global Affairs Canada hosted a panel and workshop that tapped the experience and wisdom of international experts, human rights activists, government officials, and civil society partners. This report has been prepared by the Nobel Women's Initiative and The MATCH Fund as a summary of this two-day event.

Good practices and lessons learned from the diverse funding modalities in the field of women’s rights and gender equality: the Dutch example

April 17, 2018

Dutch development cooperation policy has a long history of providing support for women's rights and gender equality worldwide. It has used a range of instruments for this purpose over the past several decades, at both central government and through its embassies. While funding priorities have changed over the years, some themes have been policy constants and are still part of the current focus. These include empowering women and strengthening their leadership, promoting women's economic participation (access to work) and political participation, and combating violence against women. These policies aim to bring about tangible changes and to enhance the rights and opportunities of women and girls in the Global South. Another constant is the use of a mix of instruments and programmes, both targeting specific activities and mainstreaming gender in other activities. At the same time, there have been shifts in the forms of support for  strengthening women's organisations, movements and networks. This paper will briefly discuss the modalities and instruments that have been used, the choices that have been made, and the lessons that have been learned.

Letting the Movement Decide: FRIDA Grantmaking Report

November 19, 2015

FRIDA and TLP launched a Grantmaking Model Evaluation of FRIDA's work in February 2015. The aim of the evaluation is to assess, after three grant making cycles, FRIDA's impact and effectiveness in supporting young feminist groups. This resulting report serves to document FRIDA's practices, test FRIDA's assumptions on the model's impact, and offer recommendations for improvement. Many key learnings have already been used to adapt the model. This report utilizes existing materials on FRIDA's grantmaking model, including outreach and internal documentation, and a number of interviews with FRIDA staff, advisors, founders, grantees, and applicants.

Supporting Inclusive Movements: Funding the Rights of Women with Disabilities

November 1, 2015

Leading advocates and women's rights donors agree that much more can and needs to be done to include women with disabilities in women's rights activism, agenda setting, and funding. This brief explores funding at the intersection of women's rights and disability rights and offers steps donors can take to ensure that their grantmaking is more inclusive of women with disabilities and to support this emerging movement.

Funding for Inclusion: Women and Girls in the Equation

June 12, 2012

Foundations in Europe can play a much larger role in improving the position of women and girls. This guide reflects on how gender considerations are being addressed in European foundation programmes, processes, and procedures, and it provides a wealth of practical examples and recommendations to inspire other foundations to do so. HighlightsLearning from the experience of other foundations - in summaryUnderstanding the common questions and arguments around gender and inclusionPractical strategies for integrating a commitment to reaching and empowering women and girls into your foundationWhat's in the Guide?Linking gender and inclusion: With women and girls in the equationFunding for inclusion: How European foundations are supporting women and girlsBalancing the equation: Entry points and alliesBecoming a more inclusive foundationTaking a look at how you workFunding for inclusion: how do you monitor and evaluate?