“WE READY” Rapid Response Resource List

We know our power always is with the people. And, that this love of our communities is keeping many of us up at night. So, we put together our “We Ready” list of rapid response and community protection resources. In the face of uncertainty, Emergent Fund is here to do what we do best: move money to movements. In times like these, rapid response to us includes: 

• Protecting Black, Indigenous, Women of Color and movement-building (community organizing, base-building and mobilization) organizations led by women, trans queer and gender expansive folks of color

• Community safety support (digital and physical)

• Healing and wellness to soothe and sustain frontline organizers

• Bail fund and legal support to protect our protestors

• De-escalation support in anticipation of militia, vigilante violence and voter intimidation

We hope that we at Emergent Fund can offer care, comfort, and resources to you in this moment, in addition to some of the other great resources and tools below.

“WE READY” Rapid Response Resource List

General Preparedness

• The Ruckus Society’s Action Safety and Community Care in times of Rapid Response Toolkit and their list of direct action resources

• How do I make meaning of this moment? What’s my role? We’re absolutely in love with Building Movement’s Social Change Map

Rapid Response & Community Protection FunD

As a rapid response intermediary fund with a team of two that fundraises for every dollar we regrant, Emergent Fund is committed to continue to case-build for and to push our philanthropic peers to grow the pool of grants like ours that are truly open-access, trust-based, movement-led and unrestricted.

We would also like to share the information about the following rapid response funds, each with their own criteria and funding process:

• Emergent Fund, A rapid response fund for grassroots, BIPOC movement and frontline organizers. Grant sizes range from $4000 to $20,000. Low-barrier, no strings attached applications on a monthly cycle with decisions made the last two weeks of each month.

• North Star Fund: Rapid Response Grant We are a social justice fund that supports grassroots organizing led by communities of color building power in New York City and the Hudson Valley. We organize people across race and class to give in support of these movements.

• Groundswell: Rapid Response Fund for Reproductive Justice. Grant sizes may range from $5,000 to $30,000. Applications are considered on a rolling basis as they are submitted and decisions are made between 2 – 3 weeks of submission.

• Urgent Action Fund: Rapid Response Grants for Security and Opportunity. Applications are accepted anytime and in any language. Maximum grant size is $5,000.

• Proteus Fund initiative: RISE Together Fund: Rapid Response and Opportunity Fund. Focused on building the capacity of organizations centering Muslim, Arab and South Asian communities. Applications accepted on a rolling basis, and grants approval (if accepted) is within 2-3 weeks. Grants size is $1,000-$6,000.

• Third Wave Fund: Mobilize Power Rapid Response Grant. The Mobilize Power Fund resources gender justice* organizations with monthly rapid response grants for youth-led groups, nonprofits, & coalitions in the USA - regardless of 501c3 status or fiscal sponsorship

• NDN Collective Grants and Fellowships. NDN Collective is an Indigenous-led organization dedicated to building Indigenous power. Through organizing, activism, philanthropy, grantmaking, capacity-building and narrative change, we are creating sustainable solutions on Indigenous terms.

MOVEMENT INFRASTRUCTURE & CAPACITY BUILDING

And, if rapid response funding like ours were actually not what you were seeking, you might also be interested in the following grant opportunities and resource lists. These are just a few of our many fellow movement-aligned funders so this short list is far from comprehensive. 

However, they may be a good starting point in your resourcing journey:

• Borealis Philanthropy Collaborative Funds

• Solidaire Movement Infrastructure Fund (and their list of Social Justice Funds)

• Southern Power Fund

• Funders for LGBT Issues Grant Opportunities List

• Decolonizing Wealth Project’s Food and Land Sovereignty Grant

• New Breath Foundation

• Funders’ Collaborative for Youth Organizing 

• Kolibri Foundation

• Constellations Culture Change Fund by Culture Strike

• Pop Culture Collaborative

Healing & WellbeinG

• Mental Health Fund (MHF) for Queer and Trans People of Color provides financial assistance to queer and trans people of color to increase access to mental health support for QTPoC by QTPoC* in response to the increased violence, threats, surveillance, and instability following the presidential election in 2016. 

• Trauma Healing Fund for Black Folks is a disability justice microgrants of up to $150. We will prioritize Disabled, queer, and trans Black folks.

• The Family and Youth Institute’s Election Debrief Toolkit, a recently released compilation of mental health resources that addresses the specific election anxiety shared by many Muslim Americans

*Please know that not everything in this list is necessarily endorsed or recommended by the Emergent Fund. If you know of additional resources, please reach out to our Senior Program Officer, Angela, at angela@emergentfund.net. 

PHOTO OF A BLACK LIVES MATTER PROTEST NOV. 10, 2015 IN WASHINGTON, D.C., BY JOHNNY SILVERCLOUD USED UNDER A CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE.