Thread by @roselonghurst

Little thread:

I often get asked about philanthropic communities of practice I find useful, and recommendations for awesome participatory grantmakers, so I thought I'd make a little public list. I'd welcome any additions! 

First, a few philanthropy networks I benefit from:

1. @EDGEFunders Alliance (NOT the same as The Edge Fund!) is the global network for progressive philanthropy. They were the first donor space talking about Just Transition, Systemic Change, Participatory Grantmaking... They also run an ace deep-dive for funders, the GEL

2. @AriadneNetwork / @hrfunders are networks for human rights funders and have some great spaces for funders to share. They host a forum for participatory grantmaking (set up by @redumbrellafund ), plus a great new one on climate funding (set up by the great @GreengrantsFund UK)

3. I also want to give a quick shout-out to the ace @1000currents , who run a leaning journey (the Thousand Currents Academy) which is where I met the awesome @Swatee of @WITHandFORgirls for the first time!

I'm also part of the Participatory Grantmaking Collective with a bunch of amazing folks who have been doing this work for many years, but as this isn't a formal, open space, I'm not sure it helps to mention it, sorry.

But there are plans to grow this work, so watch this space!

Now, participatory grantmakers:

Here are a few orgs who have been pioneering this work for years. All are participatory in politics and practice, and have been from the offset.

Note that the approaches of many of these amazing orgs are detailed here: grantcraft.org/content/takeaw…

1. @theedgefund - radical to its core, supporting grassroots groups fighting injustice and inequality, Edge has really pushed the UK philanthropy sector to think differently about power and systems change. Anyone who can, set up a direct debit NOW! edgefund.org.uk

2. The Disability Rights Fund (@DisabRightsFund ) funds disability rights work globally, really living the values of 'Nothing about us without us is for us' since 2008 disabilityrightsfund.org

3. Red Umbrella Fund (@redumbrellafund ) is the first global fund by-and-for sex workers, and have worked tirelessly to promote both participatory grantmaking and sex worker rights since 2012 redumbrellafund.org

4. FRIDA Young Feminist Fund (@FRIDAfund ) is run by and for young feminists, supporting feminist organising worldwide. They were also one of the first organisations I knew of who used the Co-Director model which is now becoming more popular youngfeministfund.org

5. UHAI EASHRI (@UHAIEASHRI ) are based in East Africa, where they fund sex worker and LGBTQI organising. They've been doing this work for more than a decade, led by activists who live the successes and struggles of the movement daily uhai-eashri.org

6. Camden Giving (@camden_giving ) were introduced to me recently and I was so happy to hear about them! They bring together folks in Camden to collective decide how resources should be allocated, and I hear they have a great participant trainee program camdengiving.org.uk

7. FemFund, Poland's first feminist fund, was set up in 2018 using experience from many of the others here, though they've added SO MUCH to this approach since then! They way they deal with community fundraising and conflict of interest is inspirational femfund.pl/en/

8. FundAction (@FundingAction) was set up by activists and funder staff from a wide range of movements - feminists, municipalists, environmentalists and more. It's an ace community of people who are working daily towards a more just and equitable Europe fundaction.eu

These are all orgs that I know take the principles of PG seriously: ceding decision-making power about funding - including the strategy and criteria behind those decisions - to the communities that funders aim to serve. There are more, but 8 is my favourite number, so I'll pause!