We may have never imagined that fascism would be looming in our lifetimes, and yet, this is where we find ourselves. Over the last 40 years, individual donors, corporations, donor-advised funds (DAFs), and super PACs have lavishly funded the right. The results of decades of strategic, unrestricted funding streams are reflected in an effectively organized movement that has gradually shifted toward extremism.

Political and legislative losses in recent years—from the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision overturning abortion rights, to the historic rise of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation—have made clear that rights we thought were well established are under attack. Anyone whom White nationalists deem as “other” (including people who are Black, Indigenous, people of color, LGBTQ+, immigrants, differently abled, and people with uteruses) will experience the most severe impacts of fascist-leaning politics. We now face an urgent crisis—a presidential election that may fundamentally shift the ground that our country stands on.

Progressive funders are moved to do something to respond to these times and are committed to moving resources quickly to protect our democracy. However, the only way we can ensure a truly democratic future is to fund grassroots organizing courageously and strategically. This political moment calls for a comprehensive philanthropic strategy that protects marginalized communities from physical and political attacks while building the economic, cultural, and political power we need to create a future where we all can thrive.

What Is the Courageous Giving Framework?

The Courageous Giving Framework™ is a philanthropic strategy that donors and their advisors can employ to ensure they are working with social justice movements to build a just, multiracial democracy. It calls for funders to be as ruthlessly strategic as our opposition and shift from a defensive posture to an offensive one.

The framework consists of four strategic priorities: building the grassroots political power that is an essential component of a truly just democracy; maintaining the civil rights gains of the last 50 years; protecting marginalized communities; and adapting to create nimble, responsive funding structures.

Read the full article about Courageous Giving Framework by Marsha Davis at Nonprofit Quarterly .