Neighborhood Funders Group

NFG ORGANIZES PHILANTHROPY TO SUPPORT GRASSROOTS POWER BUILDING SO THAT COMMUNITIES OF COLOR AND LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES THRIVE.

AMPLIFY FUND, A POOLED FUND HOUSED AT NFG, GREW ITS FUNDER LEARNING COMMITTEE TO 20 FOUNDATIONS IN 2021. AMPLIFY'S GRANTEE PARTNERS ALSO HAD MANY OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONNECTION INCLUDING PARTICIPATION IN REGULAR AMPLIFICATION CALLS WHICH BEGAN IN APRIL 2020 AND HAVE CONTINUED THROUGHOUT THE PANDEMIC. THESE CALLS ARE AN OPTIONAL, GRANTEE-ONLY SPACE TO CONNECT INFORMALLY AND SHARE LEARNINGS AND CHALLENGES. GRANTEES REGULARLY ATTEND THESE SESSIONS IN RELATIVELY LARGE NUMBERS AND HAVE DEVELOPED RELATIONSHIPS ACROSS THE FUND'S EIGHT PLACES (NORTH CAROLINA, MISSOURI, NEVADA, PENNSYLVANIA, PUERTO RICO, SOUTH CAROLINA, TENNESSEE, AND CALIFORNIA).

NFG'S FUNDERS FOR A JUST ECONOMY (FJE) PROGRAM LAUNCHED A NEW COMMUNITY OF PRACTICE (COP) IN NOVEMBER 2021, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH LIBERATION IN A GENERATION AND REWORK THE BAY. 22 FUNDERS FROM 9 FOUNDATIONS ARE PARTICIPATING IN THIS COP WHICH WILL GO THROUGH JUNE 2022, AND THE GROUP CONNECTS REGULARLY THROUGH VIRTUAL CALLS TO EXPLORE HOW TO DEEPEN OUR GRANTMAKING EFFORTS TO ADVANCE JUSTICE, INCORPORATE ANTI-RACIST PRACTICES IN PHILANTHROPY, AND PARTNER WITH MOVEMENT LEADERS IN THE CREATION OF AN INCLUSIVE ECONOMY. FJE ALSO HOSTED A VIRTUAL LEARNING VISIT TO THE CALIFORNIA INLAND REGION IN JULY 2021, COLLABORATING WITH OTHER NFG PROGRAMS: AMPLIFY FUND, INTEGRATED RURAL STRATEGIES GROUP AND DEMOCRATIZING DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. THIS THREE-DAY EVENT CONVENED COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND GRASSROOTS LEADERS TO LEARN HOW FOUNDATIONS CAN FUND MOVEMENT PARTNERS TO BUILD POWER. THIS EVENT HAD OVER 135 REGISTRANTS AND AVERAGED 80 PARTICIPANTS PER DAY.

INTEGRATED RURAL STRATEGIES GROUP (IRSG) HELD ITS SECOND ANNUAL MULTIRACIAL RURAL EQUITY SUMMIT IN DECEMBER 2021, BRINGING TOGETHER OVER 75 FUNDERS TO HEAR FROM MOVEMENT LEADERS AND STRATEGIZE TOGETHER ON HOW PHILANTHROPY CAN RESOURCE RURAL ORGANIZING AS AN INTEGRAL FUNDING STRATEGY TO ADDRESS CLIMATE JUSTICE, LAND SOVEREIGNTY, BUILDING A MULTIRACIAL DEMOCRACY, AND MORE.IN 2021 NFG'S IRSG AND MIDWEST ORGANIZING INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDERS GROUP COLLABORATED TO ESTABLISH THE CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT BLACK FARMERS, A POOLED FUND TO HELP BLACK FARMERS IN ILLINOIS RECLAIM THEIR LAND. BY THE END OF 2021 THIS CAMPAIGN HAD RAISED $55,000 TO SUPPORT THE FARMERS OF PEMBROKE TOWNSHIP, ILLINOIS AND BLACK OAKS CENTER, IN AN EFFORT TO PRESERVE AND PROTECT THEIR LAND OWNERSHIP AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY THAT ARE THREATENED BY DECADES OF SYSTEMIC RACISM IN FOOD SYSTEMS, PUBLIC SYSTEMS, AND LAND OWNERSHIP LAWS. IRSG ALSO DEEPENED ITS COMMITMENT TO ENGAGE LOCAL ORGANIZERS DIRECTLY IN OUR STRATEGIES, BY LAUNCHING THE INAUGURAL COMMITTEE OF MOVEMENT ADVISORS IN AUGUST 2021. ITS INAUGURAL COHORT OF SEVEN RURAL LEADERS WILL DEEPEN IRSG'S WORK TO INCREASE PHILANTHROPY'S ACCOUNTABILITY TO RURAL BIPOC MOVEMENT LEADERS.

THROUGHOUT 2021, NEIGHBORHOOD FUNDERS GROUP (NFG) SUPPORTED PEOPLE IN PHILANTHROPY TO CONNECT, STRATEGIZE, AND TAKE ACTION TOGETHER. ACROSS PROGRAMS, WE ARE WORKING TOWARD THE LONG-TERM OUTCOME OF LIBERATING PHILANTHROPIC ASSETS SO THAT BIPOC AND LOW-INCOME COMMUNITIES HAVE POWER TO SELF-DETERMINE. HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE YEAR INCLUDED: IN 2021, NFG'S TOTAL INSTITUTIONAL MEMBERSHIP GREW TO OVER 140 ORGANIZATIONS. NFG'S HIGH QUALITY, CUTTING-EDGE PROGRAM OFFERINGS HAVE ATTRACTED 13 NEW FUNDERS TO NFG AS MEMBERS AND PARTICIPATING LEADERS, INCLUDING THE GERALDINE R. DODGE FOUNDATION, KATALY FOUNDATION, KOLIBRI FOUNDATION, AND ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON FOUNDATION. TO HOLD SPACE AND CONTINUE TO BE A POLITICAL HOME FOR FUNDERS DURING THE ONGOING PANDEMIC, NFG HELD REGULAR MEMBER CONNECTION ZOOM CALLS. WE CONNECTED OUR MEMBERS AND OTHER FUNDERS THROUGHOUT THE YEAR, ORGANIZING OVER 21 VIRTUAL EVENTS WITH A TOTAL OF 557 UNDUPLICATED PARTICIPANTS, INCLUDING OPPORTUNITIES TO CONNECT THROUGH COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE, FUNDER TABLES, AND PEER LEARNING CALLS. WE BROUGHT TOGETHER A COHORT OF VISIONARY LEADERS IN THE PHILANTHROPIC FIELD THROUGH PHILANTHROPY FORWARD, NFG'S FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM FOR FOUNDATION CEO LEADERS WHO CENTER RACIAL AND GENDER JUSTICE AND COMMUNITY POWER BUILDING TO DISRUPT AND TRANSFORM THE FUTURE OF PHILANTHROPY. OUR THIRD COHORT LAUNCHED IN MAY 2021 WITH 16 FELLOWS FROM FOUNDATIONS AROUND THE COUNTRY. THROUGHOUT THE YEAR-LONG DURATION OF THE COHORT, FELLOWS ATTEND SIX VIRTUAL SESSIONS, UNDERGO A 360 LEADERSHIP ASSESSMENT, ACCESS PEER LEARNING AND COACHING, AND HAVE INFORMAL CONNECTION OPPORTUNITIES INCLUDING OPTIONAL WEEKLY VIRTUAL COFFEES.OUR THIRD COHORT FOR PHILANTHROPY FORWARD WAS COMPOSED OF 87% BIPOC FELLOWS AND 13% WHITE FELLOWS, AN INTENTIONAL COMPOSITION FOR THE PHILANTHROPY FORWARD PROGRAM DESIGN. IN 2021, THREE FOUNDATION CEOS PARTICIPATING IN THE COHORT HELPED DIRECT $16,550,000 IN NEW FUNDING STREAMS TO ADVANCE RACIAL JUSTICE AND ADDRESS STRUCTURAL RACISM IN THEIR COMMUNITIES. THIS BRINGS THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF DOLLARS PHILANTHROPY FORWARD FELLOWS HAVE MOVED TO BIPOC-LED ORGANIZATIONS AS A RESULT OF THEIR PARTICIPATION TO $41,550,000.PHILANTHROPY FORWARD'S ALUMNI NETWORK CONVENED A ROBUST GROUP OF 50 FOUNDATION CEOS WHO ARE CURRENT AND PAST FELLOWS, THROUGH OPTIONAL BI-MONTHLY NETWORK MEETINGS. EXCITING CONVERSATIONS AND POTENTIAL COLLABORATIONS HAVE EMERGED AROUND A RANGE OF ISSUES INCLUDING LIBERATED HR AND GOVERNANCE STRATEGIES, IMPLEMENTING BIWOC FEMINIST AGENDAS IN PHILANTHROPIC INSTITUTIONS, AND DEVELOPING INVESTMENT PORTFOLIO PRACTICES FOR FOUNDATIONS THAT CENTER ECONOMIC JUSTICE.NFG'S PROGRAMS CONTINUED TO BE A WELCOMING PLACE FOR BIPOC AND OTHER JUSTICE-MINDED FUNDERS TO PRACTICE SHARED LEADERSHIP IN PHILANTHROPY WITH MOVEMENT LEADERS, AND ORGANIZE THEIR PEERS TO SUPPORT BIPOC COMMUNITY POWER-BUILDING. NFG'S PROGRAMS ARE LED BY COMMITTEES, WITH A TOTAL OF 37 FUNDERS INVOLVED IN FUNDER ORGANIZING THROUGH THESE NETWORKS.