By Renata Saavedra and Vanessa Lucena
We were lucky enough to get to know the world of philanthropy from a very special point of view: the women's fund ecosystem. Women's funds are organizations that mobilize and donate resources to groups of women, girls and trans people around the world, providing them with financial and technical resources and strengthening networks to realize their vision of social justice. More than 40 of them come together in Prospera, a powerful global network.
Women's funds are extremely diverse, but they are found in many principles and practices that inspire us as workers in the field of philanthropy, and that we take as guidelines in our daily search for a feminist, decolonial and regenerative culture of giving. Here we highlight five of these lessons:
1) Philanthropy and giving are feminist issues
Feminist philanthropy is more than funding “women’s issues.” According to Nicaragua’s Fondo Centroamericano de Mujeres: “Feminist philanthropy is not an act of charity or an act of power. It is an act of solidarity and mutual empowerment, in which solutions to problems are seen as a matter of mutual responsibility.” Anne Firth-Murray, co-founder of the Global Fund for Women, writes: “It is the “how” that has the power to transform systems, structures, attitudes and behaviors of people who give and their recipients, not the “how much”.” If as people and donor organizations we are committed to discussing and transforming unequal power relations, and demanding equity among all people, we are dialoguing with feminist ideals.
2) Giving with intersectionality is necessary – and rare
It doesn't matter which cause you donate to: effective solutions will always require an integrated and intersectional approach. Intersectionality refers to the interaction between social markers of difference, such as gender, race, class, territory, disabilities, sexual orientation, age, etc. But even grants focused on promoting human rights tend to address specific populations and challenges, rather than activism that cuts across multiple communities or issues. The Human Rights Funders Network analyzed more than 27,000 donations and found that less than 5% of them reference 3 or more identities – for example, LBTQI black women. This means that we continue to let go of many people's hands, and that we need to apply an intersectional lens to break down the “silos” in donations.
3) We need to prioritize security and holistic protection
Mental health, safety and collective care are topics that are generally left out of conversations about donations. People on the front lines of organized civil society are often overworked and ill, facing a series of threats and risks. How can we donate to bolster the well-being, sustainability, and resilience of organizers and their communities? How can we combine physical and digital security with personal and collective care, from the inside out, in our organizations and with our partners?
4) Sharing power and decisions takes us further and deeper into change and our values
In line with much of what has been discussed more recently about regenerative philanthropy, feminists have long been experimenting with ways to share decisions with the communities and movements they support. In the Frida Fund's participatory grantmaking model, groups of young people who send proposals vote for the proponents from their regions that they consider best suited to receive the donations. Mama Cash, the first global women's fund, announced in 2021: “We are moving decision-making about our giving from our team to the communities we aim to serve.” Change is about practicing values. “Making decisions about how to support marginalized groups without their input also means we are sustaining – rather than challenging – the power hierarchies that enable inequality and oppression.”
5) Regardless of your cause or area of activity, women are key
Women are at the forefront of all struggles for social justice, donating their time, their networks, their knowledge, their hard work, their care. Community leaders, mothers who come together in search of justice and mutual support, farmers who regenerate the land that feeds us all, and many, many others – everywhere there are women who give generously. To discover a small and diverse piece of this universe, you can look for Criola, GAMI, Grupo Inclusivass, ANMIGA, Anis, CMTR or Amotrans. And dive into the extensive network of partners supported by philanthropy funds for social justice, brought together in Rede Comuá. It is with them that we can best learn about – and believe in – donation as a central element to build the country we want.
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We share some references on the topic above, important publications that systematize many practices of women's organizations active in both the global north and south, but unfortunately all in English. This is a challenge in the field of philanthropy: democratizing the knowledge produced and guiding discussions based on the realities of the global south, in different languages. In Brazil, do organizations have the necessary resources to systematize their learning and disseminate their practices? How can we diversify our references? As people and professionals dedicated to promoting the culture of donation, we can and should also seek references and inspiration from Brazilian feminists.
– “Feminist Funding Principles”, from Astraea Fund:
https://astraeafoundation.org/microsites/feminist-funding-principles
– Principles for Feminist Funding” from the Equality Fund:
https://canadianwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Feminist-Philanthropy.pdf
– Sisterhood Feminist Principles of Philanthropy, from Urgent Action Funds (UAF):
https://urgentactionsisterfunds.org/sisterhood-feminist-principles-of-philanthropy/
– “Feminist Philanthropy”, dossier in the Alliance Magazine edition of
December 2019: https://www.alliancemagazine.org/magazine/issue/december-2019/
– “Funding for Intersectional Organizing: a call to action for Human Rights Philanthropy”: https://www.hrfn.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/AHR-Intersectionality-Report-July-
“Step Up, Step Back: Reimagining Non-Competitive Grantmaking in Community”, from Equality
Fund: https://equalityfund.ca/grantmaking/step-up-step-back-reimagining-non-competitive-
The text above was originally published in the Vozes do Movimento newsletter, from the Movement for a Culture of Giving: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/cinco-coisas-que-aprendemos-com-feministas/
Renata Saavedra is a journalist and programmatic and communications coordinator at Bem-Te-Vi Diversidade, and Vanessa Lucena is public relations and executive coordinator at Bem-Te-Vi Diversidade. Both are members of the Movement for a Culture of Giving.
Vanessa Lucena She is in public relations for love and training and passionate about fostering connections between knowledge and people. Woman, mother, lesbian, anti-racist and feminist, she has worked in the third sector for 20 years and currently serves as executive coordinator of Associação Bem-Te-Vi Diversidade, an organization that promotes social justice and good living, through support for socio-environmental initiatives and human rights. She is a founding member of Silo – Arte e Latitude Rural and works voluntarily supporting organizations managed by women in the construction of projects and in the search for resources.
