The A.J. Muste Memorial Institute is seeking applications for the Social Justice Fund.
The Social Justice Fund makes grants for grassroots activist projects in the US, giving priority to those with small budgets and little access to more mainstream funding sources. They are especially interested in funding efforts to:
end the violence of borders and the criminalization of immigrants, shut down CBP and ICE
abolish prisons and dismantle and redefine systems of policing and criminal justice
confront institutionalized violence against racial, ethnic, gender-based, and LGBTQ communities
put an end to economic exploitation, class stratification, systemic poverty
stop the war machine, end state sponsored terrorism, expose the dangers of nuclear power
Priorities
The Social Justice Fund’s priority is to support:
direct grassroots activism and organizing
groups with diverse, representative and democratic leadership structures
groups that have or can obtain enough economic and in-kind support to carry out their regular work, but need additional support to carry out a project or build capacity
Funding Information
The maximum grant award is $5000.00.
Eligibility Criteria
They seek proposals:
for projects with expense budgets under $50,000
from grassroots organizations with annual income of less than $500,000
from groups with limited access to more mainstream funding sources
from groups which have not received Social Justice Fund grants in at least two years
from groups with or without 501(c)3 status or a fiscal sponsor: the Social Justice Fund only requires a fiscal sponsor if the group receiving the grant does not have its own bank account. If you cannot receive a grant check made out to the name of your organization, you will need a fiscal sponsor. They cannot issue checks to individuals.
Ineligible
individual efforts or scholarships
schools or universities academic or research projects
organizations with regular access to government, corporate or mainstream charitable funding
art, theater, film or video projects that are not directly tied to activism or organizing
sectarian religious purposes
economic development projects
capital campaigns or expenses
direct social services
legal defense or litigation
lobbying or electoral campaigns
projects geared toward participants personal improvement or business success
conflict resolution or violence reduction projects, unless they directly promote activism
projects that will have already taken place by the time the grant is received
