Funding Amount

$10,000 - $15,000

Deadline

Rolling / Open

Grant Type

foundation

Overview

Seeding Justice General Grantmaking Program

Overview: Seeding Justice's primary grantmaking program that uses participatory grantmaking (PGM) to support social change organizing. The organization has been funding social justice work since 1976 and operates with an activist-led grantmaking committee.

    Mission & Approach

  • Mission: Support those most impacted by injustice—those closest to the pain of oppression—as they are best equipped to come up with solutions
  • Model: Participatory Grantmaking (PGM) - decision-making power about funding is ceded to the very communities that funders aim to serve
  • Philosophy: Emphasizes trust, collaboration, democracy, and liberation over traditional philanthropic approaches

    Geographic Scope

  • Primary focus: Oregon
  • Funding organizations: Both within Portland Metro and outside (65% of organizations funded work outside Portland Metro area in recent cycles)

    Focus Areas

  • Social change organizing
  • Community organizing and civic engagement
  • Leadership development for BIPOC and marginalized communities
  • Criminal justice and abolition work
  • Economic justice and wealth-building
  • Indigenous sovereignty and cultural preservation
  • Youth organizing and empowerment
  • Immigration and migrant rights
  • LGBTQ+ rights and safety
  • Mental health support for organizers
  • Educational equity

    Eligibility

  • Grassroots and community-based organizations
  • BIPOC-led organizations prioritized (75% of organizations funded in Spring 2021 cycle were BIPOC-led)
  • LGBTQ-led organizations prioritized (55% of organizations funded in Spring 2021 cycle were LGBTQ-led)
  • New and established organizations welcome (45% of organizations in Spring 2021 cycle were receiving a grant from Seeding Justice for the first time)

    Grantmaking Committee

  • Activist-led, community-focused committee
  • Meets regularly to review applications and make funding decisions
  • Composed of community members and organizers

    What They Fund

  • Multi-strategy organizing campaigns
  • Leadership development programs
  • Community engagement and civic participation initiatives
  • Mutual aid and direct support to marginalized communities
  • Educational campaigns and resources
  • Cultural preservation and community building work
  • Youth mentoring and organizing

    Recent Grantee Examples (Spring 2021)

  • Organizations working on prison abolition and LGBTQ incarcerated people support
  • Black economic empowerment and wealth-building initiatives
  • Immigrant and Latinx community organizing
  • Houseless youth support and organizing
  • Sex worker organizing and labor rights
  • Civic engagement of Native Hawaiian, Micronesian, and Somali communities
  • Trans/gender diverse community support and education

    Contact Information

  • Address: Center for Social Justice, 510 SW 3rd Ave Suite 300, Portland, Oregon 97204
  • Phone: 503-289-1517
  • Email: info@seedingjustice.org
  • Website: seedingjustice.org

How to Apply

Application Process

Seeding Justice uses a participatory grantmaking approach that differs significantly from traditional grant applications:

#### General Approach

  • Relationship-based: Heavy emphasis on relationship building rather than burdensome applications

  • Community-centered: Direct engagement with applicant organizations and communities

  • Trust-focused: Organizations are trusted to know best how to use grants without excessive documentation requirements

  • Feedback-welcome: Organization actively seeks and acts on feedback to improve processes
  • #### Application Materials (Traditional)
    While specific application details are not fully provided in the website content, the organization indicates that they:

  • Minimize burdensome requirements: Avoid "opaque, burdensome, and data-heavy grant applications"

  • Meet directly with grantees: Rather than relying solely on written applications

  • Reduce documentation demands: Trust groups to use grants effectively without excessive reporting
  • #### Application Philosophy

  • Activist-led grantmaking committee reviews applications

  • Committee members have lived experience in social justice movements

  • Applications are evaluated by people closest to the communities being served

  • Process designed to be accessible to grassroots organizations with limited administrative capacity
  • Note: Specific application portal, deadline dates, and detailed narrative questions are not provided in the available website content. Contact the organization directly for current application instructions and deadlines.

    Focus Areas & Funding Uses

    Fields of Work

    social-justicegrassrootsbipoclgbtqyouth-leadershipcriminal-justiceimmigration

    Categories

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