FAQ

Our granting philosophy

1. What kinds of work does the Memorial Fund prioritize?

The Memorial Fund supports the Transformation of Key Systems by providing grants to groups who are Building Community Power and Disrupting Institutional Inequity – including those doing advocacy or community organizing work; or affecting change from within educational institutions.

2. How do you support inspiring all to end racism and poverty?

Our path to inspiring all to end racism and poverty begins with our support of BIPOC-led efforts to improve education and related outcomes for their communities. To inspire the field of philanthropy, we are committed to learning, modeling, and sharing lessons with our peers. Other avenues used to inspire include various small grants and learning programs.

Critical to any institutional effort that is honest and that does not wish unintentionally to perpetuate harm, the Memorial Fund is also committed to our own internal work, individually and collectively

3. Where do white, racially conscious leaders fit within the ecosystem?

This will depend on how compatible they are with all of the other criteria and how they are partnering with and in support of BIPOC leadership. While no single criterion is likely to be a determining factor in the Fund’s decisions, taken together describe the criteria are the elements we look for in the most aligned groups.

4. How does the Memorial Fund expect grantee partners to measure progress?

We are interested in learning about how grantee partners are making sense of their progress or sometimes lack thereof. While we are not interested in prescribing what groups should measure or in defining success for them, we do think it is important that groups have a process for measuring their own work.

5. Are the Educational and Social Determinate issues examples or an exclusive list?

The issues listed are not meant to represent an exhaustive or exclusive list. While they are key priority issues identified by staff and grantee partners of the Memorial Fund, we believe that as groups working to build community power evolve and grow, their work will interact with many issues that intersect with education in ways we cannot predict.

6. Does the Memorial Fund have an abolitionist framework guiding its decisions?

While we do not have an abolitionist framework guiding our work we recognize the alignment that many abolitionist efforts have with our notion of Disrupting Institutional Inequity and Transforming Key Systems. We understand that much of the work we support takes a critical view of current systems. And while reforms may be sufficient in some cases, we realize that institutional systems must be fully reimagined to eliminate inequity.

NEW APPLICANTS

1. Who can apply under the new grant guidelines?

We anticipate that all current grantee partners will be invited to apply. For new groups, the first step is completing the Letter of Inquiry (LOI) on our website (insert link). After receipt of the LOI, program staff will reach out to groups with potential alignment.

2. When can groups apply for support?

For grantee partners on the September grant cycle, applications will be sent by ~~June 1st to be submitted by July 18th~~ for the Board of Trustees meeting in September. For grantee partners on the December grant cycle, applications will be sent by September 1st to be submitted by October 17th for the Board of Trustees meeting in December.

Letter of Inquiries for new groups will be reviewed on a rolling basis and if eligible, groups will be invited to apply in line with our Board meeting schedule.

3. Beyond the grant are there any other support the Memorial Fund will provide grantee partners?

Yes, the Memorial Fund offers additional support to grantee partners in a variety of ways. The Fund hosts convenings around areas of interest identified by our partners and supports conference attendance at key mission-focused conferences. We also offer communications support through The Narrative Project, an external, mission-aligned communications and PR agency.

We also provide additional funding through our Technical Assistance Program [LINK}, for training and skill building; coaching; organizational development; and healing and wellness.

4. What if I do not see my group’s work reflected in the criteria?

While we do not expect any group to be compatible with all of the criteria, if you feel you are stretching yourself to fit any criteria you may consider whether the Memorial Fund resources are compatible with your group’s efforts.

5. How will criteria regarding organizational capacity affect start-ups or emerging groups?

We will pay close attention to how the criteria and our recommendations may adversely affect newer or less traditionally structured groups.

We recognize that newer Black and Brown-led groups engaged in social change efforts are disadvantaged by being historically neglected and under-resourced.

We want to be deliberate when we are investing in a group’s efforts to build its capacity and in its capacity to make change.

We also want to understand how groups are anticipating ramping up their capacity to achieve their objectives.