FUNDING SOLIDARITY NEWS
SPECIAL FEATURE: A “United Offensive” Against Fascist Threats
In the wake of heightened legal repression against identity-based funds, the ascendancy of a VP nominee who openly supports liquidating progressive foundations, and the threat of a politicized IRS many organizations are posturing on the defense.
But how grave are these threats right now, and how can we move from the offense? Below we’ve compiled a roundup of recommendations for fascist threats to movement funding:
Funders need to go on the offense: The brunt of legal repression is (and always has been) saddled by those on the frontline. As movement strategist Deepa Iyer poignantly wrote, now is the time for funders to double down funding for anti-authoritarian groups. This includes rapid response funding and “preparedness funding for nonprofits in the form of legal support, digital safety trainings and products, and data management”.
Funders need to speak out against repression: And as Roger Colinvaux recently wrote, funders need to forcefully “speak out against the appeals court decision and continue to perform their important work in the way they think best accomplishes their mission.”
Movement groups & funders need to weigh exact threats: Fear thrives under mystification. Knowing the very specific legal pitfalls that rightwing activists are exploiting can temper the chilling effect that their work is having on our movements. For example, many current attacks on identity-based funding are rooted in a section of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 that prohibits discrimination in issuing contracts. This allows funders an opportunity to reconsider how they issue grant agreements.
Know your enemy: Convergence Magazine recently launched the Anti-Authoritarian Podcast, and NEC’s Philanthro-Solidarity Compendium has a bunch of resources on right-wing organizing.
Expose the Right’s messiness: There are lessons to learn from the Right’s long-term legal & philanthropic strategies, but we need to forgo the notion that rightwing organizers have “figured it out”. For example, a recent Politico piece revealed the immense internal disputes, dysfunction, and shoestring operations of Project 2025. Our movements need to share narratives that underscore such dysfunction.
Build a “united offensive”: In the wake of the Fearless Fund ruling, Kimberley Bryant wrote about a need for a “united offensive” against rightwing attacks. A recent series from Convergence Magazine details what such a thing could look like, stating the need to interweave “more diverse organizational entities in the ecosystem (e.g., 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), LLCs, cooperatives, etc.), conducting ecosystem-wide threat assessments, and creating security plans for digital and operational security.
MORE NEWS
This September, Jasmine Rashid (of NEC member Candide Group) will release her new book The Financial Activist Playbook: 8 Strategies for Everday People to Reclaim Wealth and Collective Well-Being. For more, you can check out this recent conversation Jasmine had with Forbes, as well as attend the virtual book launch on September 10th & 18th.
NEC member Transform Finance publishes a new paper on investing in employee ownership.
Hamilton Nolan makes the case for why foundations need to fund labor organizing.
Obran Cooperative launches a new Chosen Family Office, providing integrated & redistributive financial planning services.
abdiel lópez of NEC member Justice Funders details a new vision for how foundations invest their assets.
AmbitioUS launches a new podcast, “The Soul of Capital“.
FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
Visit NEC’s Solidarity Economy Funding Library for funding, investing and fiscal sponsorship opportunities. Highlights this month include:
- A new easier way to view current open & rolling grant opportunities. We’ve currently got 29 Open grant opportunities, and 200+ rolling grant opportunities.
- 40+ movement-aligned fiscal sponsors.
Let’s keep building this resource together!