Funding a Movement
Grantmaking Philosophy
Jewish Liberation Fund aims to fund a Jewish progressive movement with the capacity to win cultural and legislative victories for all people. These are the intentions we set as we choose which organizations to make grants to:
Planting the seeds of power - JLF supports organizations who are are taking action and building the political and cultural power to transform our communities, institutions, and societies to be more whole, more just, and more equitable. Trusting in the knowledge of our steering committee, JLF seeks to support grassroots organizations who many traditional funders would overlook for being too political and provide them with an infrastructure to thrive.
Nourishing the whole - Movements flourish when we create room for the whole people who populate them. Not only does JLF invest in the frontline organizations building political power, but we also invest in the spiritual initiatives, cultural creators, music-makers, and artists that provide spiritual nourishment for the individuals.
Sustaining the movement - JLF provides our grantee partners with substantial and consistent support. Oftentimes, grassroots organizations are at the whims of the news cycle and the frequently-changing preferences of donors. JLF’s grants are all generally between $10,000 and $25,000. Though we do not yet have the capacity to give formal multi-year grants, we aim to reduce the application burden for repeat applicants, and most grantees who re-apply for funds receive them.
Grantmaking Priorities
As an expression of these intentions, JLF evaluates grant applicants by the following criteria:
Movement-building - Work that nourishes and grows the progressive Jewish movement for justice and liberation through traditional movement building work, or through spiritual, arts, and cultural-creation work.
Anti-racist praxis - Explicit organizational/project commitment and demonstrated praxis of anti-racism.
Jew of Color Leadership - Project’s leadership is composed of Black Jews, Indigenous Jews, Jews of Color, Sephardim, or Mizrahim (BIJOCSM), and/or poor/working class Jews.
Tricky-to-fund - Work that is unlikely to receive funding from other Jewish institutional funders, on account of the project’s political convictions.
Catalyzing - Work that generates buzz, communal conversation, and action in new ways.