Seeding Advocacy across Oregon.
Background and Overview
Funding advocacy is a crucial component of movement building—without it, organizations cannot engage in systems change at a large scale. Early in 2024, Seeding Justice funded its first round of grantees under the Seeding Advocacy program. In this opportunity, Seeding Justice will fund Oregon-based organizations that believe, like we do, that those most impacted by the pain of injustice are the ones best equipped to come up with solutions to the problems that affect them.
This funding is intended to support community-driven public policy, advocacy and community organizing that is focused on systems change at the local and statewide levels.
Grant funding could be used for:
- Community organizing and leadership development
- Communications and messaging
- Training and Member Education
- Campaign Development (research, coalition building, polling, etc.)
No part of these funds may be used to support or oppose any political party or candidate for public office. Funds must be used for charitable, scientific, literary, or educational purposes.
The grassroots lobbying budget should be larger or equal to the Seeding Justice request.
Selection Criteria
Seeding Justice will prioritize projects that:
- are led by Black and Indigenous people and other communities of color, especially those that identify as LGBTQIA2S+, immigrants and refugees, folks living with disabilities, people living with low incomes, folks that are currently or formerly incarcerated, houseless people, and those living in rural communities;
- address the root causes of injustice and focus on changing systems, not just addressing symptoms of problems;
- build collective power by using community organizing, leadership development, base building, policy advocacy, and/or other strategies;
- are intentionally anti-racist, anti-oppression, and intersectional in their thinking, approaches and solutions; and
- are led by the people most impacted.
While we are accepting applications from groups of all sizes, our Grantmaking Committee has historically prioritized smaller, grassroots organizations.
Eligibility
In order to be eligible for funding, organizations must:
- Be based in Oregon and/or their work must benefit those who call Oregon home;
- Have 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(4) tax exemption, or have a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor; and
- Be organizations with a history of public policy, advocacy, and community organizing.
Organizations that received a Seeding Advocacy grant in 2024 are not eligible to apply. If you’re unsure if that’s you, please contact us at grants@seedingjustice.org.
Grant Types and Amounts
Seeding Advocacy grants are project support grants. Project support grants are restricted to a specific project or fiscally sponsored group. Grants are for one year, unless otherwise stated in the grant agreement. Applicants can request up to $20,000.
Seeding Justice strives to fund groups at the full amount requested. However, our limited budget and the high number of applications we receive sometimes force us to make smaller awards.
Open Applications
Applications must be submitted via our online platform, below.
After groups submit their applications, the Grantmaking Committee will review them and select the organizations that will receive funding.
The timeline for this cycle is as follows:
- Thursday, October 24, 2024 – Applications open
- Wednesday, November 22, 2024 – Applications DUE by 5 p.m. PST.
- By end of December – Notifications go out
- By end of January 2025 – Finalize grant agreements and Payment
