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Capacity building grants for grassroots gender
& reproductive justice organizations to own their work
The Own Our Power Fund will make grants for grassroots organizations to:
  • Support communities most impacted to lead the work;
  • Develop sustainable revenue models and fundraising strategies; and
  • Harness the power of self-representation through community-led research, storytelling or communications.

own our power fund details & application instructions

What is the Own Our Power Fund? The Own Our Power Fund will make one and two-year capacity-building grants of up to $25,000 for projects that seek to increase the agency communities have over their organizations by supporting leadership, sustainability, and self-representation. 
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Types of projects this fund would support:
Leadership -- support communities most impacted to lead the work
  • Executive leadership transitions that intentionally shift leadership to a member or members of the community.
  • Support for new leaders who come from the community to receive coaching, skills-building, or training.
 Sustainability -- develop sustainable revenue models and fundraising strategies​
  • Transforming the model of the organization to be more sustainable.
  • Mergers or other efforts that pool resources between organizations.
  • Building grassroots fundraising capacity.
Self-Representation -- harness the power of communities telling their own stories
  • Participatory research projects that train and empower community members to conduct their own research.
  • Projects that allow community members to harness the power of storytelling.
  • Building out strategic communications capacity.
This fund will not make grants to support general operating, legislative advocacy, start-up expenses, or capital campaigns.
Who can apply?
  1. Grassroots organizations with an annual budget of up to $200,000 USD that are a 501(c)3 or are fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)3 organization.
  2. Organizations that are committed to building the power and leadership of young people under 35 to achieve structural change.
  3. Organizations that are currently led by or transitioning leadership to young women, trans, queer, gender non-conforming, and intersex youth of color, and low-income youth.
  4. Organizations that address the root causes of oppression and use an intersectional approach to gender justice.
  5. Priority will be given to organizations that focus on communities, issue areas, and regions that are philanthropically under-resourced.
Not sure what gender justice is? Click here to get a sense of how we define it.
What is the timeline?
Informational Webinars: Anyone can register at http://thirdwavefund.clickmeeting.com
  1. Wednesday, July 5 at 2:30p Hawai’i / 4:30p Alaska / 5:30p Pacific & Arizona / 6:30p Mountain / 7:30p Central / 8:30p Eastern
  2. Wednesday, July 12 at 8:30a Hawai’i / 10:30a Alaska / 11:30a Pacific & Arizona / 12:30p Mountain / 1:30p Central / 2:30p Eastern
Application Deadline: Tuesday, July 25 at midnight (in your time zone)
Grants Awarded: Late September through Mid-October
How can you apply?
Download the cover sheet and application below which has complete instructions on how to apply. Be sure to submit everything in this checklist:
  • Cover Sheet (download below)
  • Written Narrative (download application below)
  • Project Budget (use the template in our application or submit in your own format)
  • Current Organizational Budget (yours and your fiscal sponsor’s, if applicable)
  • 501c3 IRS Letter (yours or your fiscal sponsor’s)
 

REquired Cover Sheet
 
Own Our Power Cover Sheet
File Size: 60 kb
File Type: doc
Download File
 

Application in Word and PDF
 
Own Our Power Application
File Size: 306 kb
File Type: doc
Download File
 
Own Our Power Application
File Size: 275 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
All materials must be submitted to programs@thirdwavefund.org
by midnight (in your time zone) on Tuesday, July 25.