May 2, 2023

New Report: Resourcing Movements for the Long Haul

A rectangle graphic with a light green backdrop with large magenta text to the left that reads "New Report." Underneath is text that reads "Read in Full" with a link in white text on a black text box that reads bit.ly/gpfreport2023. To the right is an image of the cover of the new report which is titled, "Resourcing Movements for the Long Haul: Lessons from the Grow Power Fund’s First Six Years". The Third Wave Fund logo is in the bottom left corner.

There is too much at stake right now. Every day there are escalating political attacks and legislative curtailing of bodily autonomy and human rights. It is critical that gender justice movements are able to focus on the work ahead, instead of jumping through hoops and bureaucracy in philanthropy.  

Organizations that make up these powerful movements need and deserve consistent support to build new skills, to build power, to grow their own vision, and to experiment, fail, iterate, and try again. And they need this space without the risk of losing their institutional partners or funding. That’s why in 2016 Third Wave started the Grow Power Fund, our long-term support fund that awards six-year grants meeting youth-led grassroots gender justice organizations wherever they’re at in support of their sustainability and long haul visions for community liberation.

In our new report, Resourcing Movements for the Long Haul: Lessons from the Grow Power Fund’s First Six Years, we document key lessons from the Grow Power Fund’s first cycle of long-term funding.

​Available in both English and Spanish, you'll hear directly from grantees—responding to mounting attacks against their communities—on the crucial impact of multi-year funding, the necessity for low-barrier and accessible reporting processes, and the interplay between building capacity and building trust between philanthropy and grassroots movements.

We've learned so much from our grantees and we will continue to shift, transform, and adapt our funding to meet movement’s needs.

This report is an invitation to all funders to shift and transform your grantmaking practice to meet the needs that youth-led movement leaders are naming. We hope you’ll join us in evolving your funding, and transforming your relationship with movements to be enriched by mutual trust as we listen to our grantee partners to meet them where we’re needed the most.

If you are not a funder but are moved by this fund, it exists because of individual contributions from our community! Consider joining our community of supporters who give monthly to sustain this multi-year funding, or give a one-time gift today.

Image description for image at top of blog post: A rectangle graphic with a light green backdrop with large magenta text to the left that reads "New Report." Underneath is text that reads "Read in Full" with a link in white text on a black text box that reads bit.ly/gpfreport2023. To the right is an image of the cover of the new report which is titled, "Resourcing Movements for the Long Haul: Lessons from the Grow Power Fund’s First Six Years". The Third Wave Fund logo is in the bottom left corner.