Grantmaking Principles

We practice participatory grantmaking.

We know that those closest to the pain, the problems, the brokenness in our world - should be those closest to the power. In our case, that power is in grantmaking.

These are our core principles:

  1. SHARED DECISION MAKING: All of our grantmaking recommendations will be made by a collective of decision-makers.

  2. REPRESENTATIVE GRANTMAKING PANELS: Our grantmaking panels will be composed of people who are deeply rooted in, connected to, and widely trusted within the communities we fund.

  3. INTEGRITY & TRANSPARENCY: Our grantmaking process will be guided by a commitment to integrity and appropriate transparency. Our criteria will be public, and clear, constructive feedback will be shared with unsuccessful applicants.

  4. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: All potential conflicts of interest will be disclosed by panelists. We believe that familiarity, insight, and knowledge of potential grantees strengthens our grantmaking. We also recognize that with greater familiarity comes relationships, expectations, and the risk of biased decision making. Our grantmaking decisions will be guided by clear assessment criteria, to reduce the impacts of implicit biases and conflicts of interest. When appropriate, a panelist will recuse themselves from final funding decisions. Our Conflict of Interest Policy can be found here.

  5. GOVERNANCE & OVERSIGHT: Our Steering Committee is responsible for providing governance guidance and oversight to the Jewish Liberation Fund and all of our activities. However, as a fiscally sponsored project of Proteus Fund, the Proteus Fund Board holds ultimate fiduciary responsibility for our activities, including grantmaking. Our grantmaking panels & Steering Committee will send grantmaking recommendations to the Proteus Fund Board, which will ultimately approve (or reject) those recommendations. We selected Proteus as a fiscal sponsor because of their strong values alignment, exemplary track record and history of supporting similar grantmaking projects, and leadership in the field of progressive philanthropy.