General Service Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The General Service Foundation maintains a strong focus on social justice. Its current grantmaking areas of interest include justice-related issues for racial and ethnic minorities, women and girls and immigrants. It also supports the development of progressive public health policy and civic engagement causes.
IP TAKE: This funder tends to support “emerging” and grassroots social justice organizations. In 2017, it joined a collaborative group of funders to support inclusive democracy in the U.S. The General Service Foundations is not currently accepting applications for funding, but may reopen the process in 2021. It is otherwise typically accessible, but during COVID-19, it is maintaining commitments to some previous grantees, since this funder likes to support organizations for multiple cycles. This is a supportive funder focused on social justice.
This foundation also prefers to build long-term relationships with its grantees. As a result, grantmaking is competitive here given the more crowded grantmaking space. But if you can get funding, this is a collaborative and supportive funder.
PROFILE: Based in Berkeley, California and Aspen, Colorado, the General Service Foundation was endowed in 1946 by Clifton and Margaret Musser, an Iowa couple who made their fortune in timber and other industries. From the outset, the foundation was run by the Musser’s children, and today their descendants and other relatives sit on its board. The theme of this funder’s grantmaking is justice, and its goal is to “support and amplify the efforts of those who are working to create a more just world. Making grants in the areas of human rights, women and girls, public health, racial justice and civic engagement, this funder runs three initiatives: Building Voice and Power, Lani Shaw Movement Award and the Healing Justice. The foundation tends to support “emerging” organizations with multi-year grants and aims to “minimize the power imbalances that are typical in funder-grantee relationships.” Funding is generally limited to the U.S.
Grants for Human Rights and Racial Equity
The General Service Foundation gives to human rights causes in the U.S. via its Building Voice and Power initiative and the Lani Shaw Movement Award. The Building Voice and Power program names racial and income equity as primary areas of interest and aims to respect and elevate the voices of those most affected by injustice. Funding supports the development of grassroots organizations and leaders, as well as advocacy and policy implementation efforts. Past grantees include the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition and the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. The 2019 recipient of the Lani Shaw Movement Award was the National Domestic Workers Alliance’s Families Belong Together campaign, which aimed to prevent further federal funding of private prisons and detention centers in the U.S. Previous recipients of the award have included Mijente, an organization that worked to prevent the separation of families at the U.S. borders in California and Texas, and United We Dream, a youth organization involved in immigrant justice.
Grants for Women and Girls
The General Service Foundation’s Building Voice and Power program prioritizes gender justice. Although the foundation does not outline specific goals for its work in this area, past grantmaking suggests a strong commitment to women’s health, labor issues and safety. The foundation has given to Community Catalyst, a healthcare reform organization, for its Raising Women’s Voices Program, which works collaboratively with 30 health organizations to expand affordable care for women. The foundation has also contributed to the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors’ Collaborative Fund for Women’s Safety and Dignity. Other past grantees include the Ms. Foundation for Women, the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Foundation, the Women’s Foundation of California and URGE: United for Reproductive and Gender Equity.
Grants for Racial Justice and Equity
Racial justice is a primary goal of the Building Voice and Power initiative and grants in this area make up a significant portion of the foundation’s annual giving. The foundation appears committed to projects that promote leadership development, worker’s rights, economic equity and criminal justice reform. One past grantee is the Color of Change Education Fund, which invests in black communities and fights for systemic change in education, media, criminal justice and healthcare. Another grantee, NEO Philanthropy, used funding to support the National Black Worker Center Project, which offers support to workplace justice campaigns and Black labor organizations in U.S. cities. The foundation has also given to the Praxis Project’s Black Organizing for Leadership and Dignity Program and the Action Center on Race and the Economy Institute, “a campaign hub for organizations working at the intersection of racial justice and Wall Street accountability.”
Grants for Public Health
Public health funding stems from General Service’s Building Voice and Power program and prioritizes reproductive health, healthcare access and policy development for universal coverage. In the area of reproductive health, the foundation supports the National Network for Abortion Funds and the Fund for Reproductive Equity. Another grantee, the National Health Law Program, advocates for health care policy change in California.
Grants for Civic Engagement and Democracy
Responding to movement leader “burnout and exhaustion,” the General Service Foundation established the Healing Justice program. This initiative supports social justice leaders in two ways, by “funding organizations that offer healing and resilience services, training, and/or supports to social justice leaders and organizations” and “supporting GSF grant partners with healing justice stipends.” It has supported projects and groups such as generative somatics, Coaching for Healing, Justice, and Liberation and Rockwood Leadership Institute.
Important Grant Details:
The General Service Foundation makes about $3 million in grants each year, with grants ranging from $10,000 to $200,000. Its average grant size is about $75,000. Most of the foundation’s grantees are either grassroots organizations working in areas of social justice or national organizations that support smaller organizing efforts across the country. Funding is limited to the U.S. See the foundation’s grants page for additional information about past grantees.
This funder generally offers multi-year or long-term support to its grantees. It is not currently accepting applications from new grantseekers, but may reopen its application process in 2021. General inquiries may be directed to the foundation via email or telephone at 510-679-3876.
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