Our Approach
United by a shared vision of justice and equity for all, our members invest their wealth, time, and talents to multiply their impact and create transformative change together. We boldly mobilize collective resources to meet emerging needs, launch catalytic initiatives, and build the long-term power, capacity, and infrastructure of movements. We do this via several collective funding vehicles, incubated initiatives, and rapid-response funding.
Our Funding Principles
Grant for structural change. We believe that the challenges we face as a society are systemic, so our solutions need to be, too.
Center frontline leaders. People who have historically been marginalized in society – including women, people of color, immigrants, low-income communities, and people across sexual orientations and gender identities – must be centered to achieve change.
Fill critical gaps. Organizers with new and innovative solutions struggle to build the infrastructure necessary for change because they are early-stage or less traditional approaches. We listen to the needs of organizers and often act as initiating donors.
Give long-term and unrestricted. Time and trust over multiple years are the water and sunshine funders can provide to nonprofits to grow their impact. While we cannot promise multi-year grants because of our current fundraising model, we are committed to making long-term investments in our grantees and to inspiring multi-year commitments from our membership.
Minimize burdens on grantees. Nonprofits are often required to provide information that is already public and accessible. At WDN, we take responsibility for tracking this information. We do the research, seek out the details, and build real relationships with our grantees to understand the impact of their work.
Be transparent and responsive. We recognize the entrenched power dynamic between funders and grantees and work to create a more balanced, accountable relationship. As Rachel Herzig from Wellspring (formerly the Center for Political Education) said: “There is a role for funders in movement, but it’s not the frontline and it’s not direct strategy development. It is in service of movements, not directive of movements.”
Solicit and act on feedback. Our work is more successful when it is informed by the expertise and experience of our grantee partners. We regularly invite grantees to guide how we, as a donor-activist network, can best support their work and leadership. In calls, conversations, and formal and informal surveys, we consistently ask what we can do better.
Offer support beyond a check. We partner with our grantees to problem-solve, connect them to resources, and amplify their work. We also actively lift up their leadership to other thought leaders and partners, often helping spark broader recognition and additional funding opportunities.
We’re committing to collective resourcing — unlocking the full power of the many social and political resources we hold. When we pool our resources in deep partnership with movements, the future we dream of becomes inevitable.
