In times of extraordinary uncertainty, grief, and antagonism, we find strength in regrounding in our values, fortifying our strategies, and taking action toward the future we know is possible. In this work, participatory practice is a value essential to our collective liberation.

To act in participatory ways is to heed the guidance of—and to meet the true needs of—our communities. It is to shift grantmaking power to the people and also to ensure that their voices inform our processes, our support offerings, and, above all, our strategies.

As intermediary funders deeply rooted in the communities we serve, what we feel, know, and hear directly from the frontlines of justice movements is this:

  • True social change is nonlinear, often immeasurable, and generational—and thus, requires flexible, multi-year funding from philanthropy.
  • During sociopolitical flashpoints, grassroots leaders and organizations rely on additional infusions of resources to sustain their work, their communities, and themselves.

Over the past several years, we’ve witnessed the deprioritization of rapid response funding, with good intention—to prevent harmful boom-bust funding and instead focus on long-term power building. What this approach misses, however, is that the swift distribution of resources during times of crisis is necessary for the health, wellness, success, and sheer survival of grassroots movements and leaders.

When paired with unrestricted, long-term strategic funding, rapid response resources buoy organizers to fend off extreme antagonism, ramp up offerings for marginalized community members, and pivot to seize key opportunities. These funds also support dedicated and exhausted activists to tend to and process their trauma, grief, and pain—and thus sustain their work for fights ahead.

Rapid response funds are particularly critical for BIPOC, queer, trans, and disabled folks since these communities are disproportionately impacted by all forms of crisis (from legislative to climate and beyond), and because the organizations that serve them are overwhelmingly and systematically under-resourced to begin with.

Read the full article about rapid response funds at Borealis Philanthropy.