Resources

Mapping of the historical and emerging field of support and organising groups for funding feminist movements in the Global South

Gender Funders CoLab commissioned Shake the Table to provide a topline analysis of funding to gender equality, key drivers of new funders to the space and an analysis of key network organisations bringing together funders of gender equality to provide space for learning, coordination and identify opportunities for joint funding, influencing or advocacy. This document provides an overview of some of the new entrants into the gender equality and feminist funding space.

Movement Building & Philanthropy: Learning from Grantees’ Priorities & Recommendations for Funders

Women’s rights and feminist movements are at the forefront of social change in every region around the world. Yet the ways in which they organize – sometimes outside of formal institutions, often across issues and regions, and always in response to their specific contexts – is rarely matched by typical philanthropic grants. 

From a survey we conducted with 70 groups and funds supported by our members, we learned that 60% of their time is spent engaging in movement-building work. One of the most resounding findings is the high rate of collaboration across movements. This is trend extends beyond women’s rights and feminist organizing. Paul Hawken describes in his 2007 book, Blessed Unrest, high levels of collaboration marks a “growing global movement to create a healthy, humane world—work that is happening not under a single banner, but by millions of unaffiliated individuals and groups around the world.”

This report aims to spark dialogue about how foundations can responsibly, effectively, and meaningfully support movement building that advances the rights of women, girls, and trans people.

A Feminist Approach to Common Applications & Reports: Lessons from the Gender Funders CoLab

Over several years, Gender Funders CoLab and Women´s Funds have co-created a set of common application and reporting forms to jointly pilot the use of these forms. 

This initiative was in response to current practices that have not served the field well. Applicants and grantees have reported that these processes can be tiresome, funder-centric, a waste of time and money, and overly bureaucratic. Meanwhile, grantmakers say they don’t always read grant reports, and when they do read them, the information they contain isn’t always useful.

This report summarizes the learnings from the pilot of this initiative. It describes the insights gained and opportunities available to further streamline grant application and reporting processes. Adopting the common forms had value for grantees and funders alike. Not only did it save the grantee’s time to complete one report or application for multiple funders, but the participatory, feminist process used to develop the forms meant they used questions that yielded higher quality, more relevant information. The template application and report forms used by CoLab members are included as an appendix.