Grantmaking Guiding Principles
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We partner with organizations and groups that strongly and directly align with our vision, mission, and funding priorities.
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Our main role is to support our grant partners and help to raise up their work. We seek to build relationships with our grant partners and work from a place of trust and respect.
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We know that we may not have the solutions. We aim to continuously learn, adapt, and course correct as needed.
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We strive to advance anti-racist and anti-oppressive practices in our organization and grantmaking. We seek to actively change racist and oppressive systems. This includes working on how we as a foundation need to change. This is ongoing, essential work for us. We look to partner with others who are also committed to this work. We focus on supporting organizations that are led by and serve Black people, people of color, and other communities that have been left out or left behind in the past.
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We believe those closest to challenges are also closest to the solutions. We listen to understand, and respond to the needs of our grant partners and community. We approach our work from a place of curiosity and are committed to working with our grant partners to identify how we can best align our work together. We aim to be reachable and actively seek feedback.
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We know the challenges we face cannot be solved alone. We are willing to take risks, be creative, and try new ideas together to create social change.
Trust-based philanthropy
We strive to use a trust-based philanthropy approach in all we do. We see trust-based philanthropy as a model that is driven by values. It is centered on relationships. It is aware of how power works. It prioritizes equity, trust, and ongoing partnership. It is an ongoing practice for SJF. We actively work to include trust-based principles, values, and practices in everything we do, including our granting.
Some of our trust-based practices include:
PRIORITIZING RELATIONSHIP BUILDING
MULTI-YEAR AND UNRESTRICTED FUNDING
BEING TRANSPARENT
BEING CLEAR ABOUT FUNDING REQUEST AMOUNTS
BEING ACCESSIBLE TO GRANT PARTNERS
BEING FLEXIBLE
ASKING FOR AND USING FEEDBACK
DEFINING PARTNERSHIP AND TRUST TOGETHER
WALKING ALONGSIDE GRANT PARTNERS FROM BEGINNING TO END
We have been inspired by, and continue to learn from others who have led the way in trust-based philanthropy. To learn more about trust-based philanthropy and resources available to support this approach, please visit the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project.