Building Movement Project (BMP) is a national non-profit organization that supports and pushes the nonprofit sector to tackle the most significant social issues of our times by developing research, creating tools and training materials, providing guidance, and facilitating networks for social change. In 2021, BMP released Move the Money, a set of multimedia resources geared toward philanthropy to make long-term, meaningful and sustained investments in movement ecosystems (leaders, organizations, and networks) that are organizing and advocating for social change. BMP's project, SolidarityIs has a new website where you can find resources such as the social change ecosystem framework, the Solidarity Is This podcasts, and information about training opportunities including Solidarity Semester and the Power Up Internship Program.
Move The Money
Practices and Values for Funding Social Movements
Move The Money is geared toward professionals in a range of grantmaking institutions, from smaller foundations or donor-advised funds with the appetite and flexibility to experiment and diversify their portfolios to larger well-established national foundations that have influence in setting grantmaking trends to emerging funder collaboratives seeking to support a field of movement-building organizations. Move The Money consists of four videos and accompanying discussion guides which contain reflection questions and recommendations that highlight the perspectives of movement leaders and funders on the following topics:
Overarching Findings
Social movements are increasingly becoming catalysts for systemic change in the United States and around the world. Beyond being associated with widely recognizable hashtags, such as #BlackLivesMatter, #ClimateJusticeNow, and #MeToo, social movements also represent masses of individuals and organizations, deploying robust strategies and tactics, online and in the streets, creating a groundswell of urgency that makes it impossible to ignore their calls to action and demands. Social movements are pushing for systemic, structural, policy and cultural change, and building people power at every step of the way.
Even though social movements are critical in mobilizing large numbers of people, these organizations and networks don’t receive sufficient resources. For example,, a recent report called Mismatched from the Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity, includes preliminary analysis that identified the number of funders investing in racial equity and racial justice has increased fivefold in the US over the past decade, but the amount going to racial justice is minuscule relative to all domestic foundation giving, despite promises made in 2020.
Philanthropy has a critical role to play in supporting social movements and leaders. The movement leaders we interviewed for Move The Money share that they expect more resources from philanthropy to support skills-building, long-term sustainability, and solidarity across movement ecosystems.
Reflection Questions
We suggest that philanthropic professionals reflect on the following questions.
Does your foundation support movements—leadership, infrastructure, ecosystems? Why or why not?
How can philanthropy sustain the long-term capacity of movement leaders who are addressing multiple crises in this moment?
How can philanthropy alter its practices in order to shift the imbalanced power dynamics between funders and movement organizations?
What is the risk of not funding movement-building groups?
What does it mean to facilitate cooperation between groups instead of competition? How does funding an ecosystem enable deeper partnerships among organizations?
When genuine trust develops between a foundation and its grantee-partners, what could be possible?
Lead Contact
Deepa Iyer
Deepa Iyer is Director of Strategic Initiatives at Building Movement Project where she builds projects, resources, and narratives that support nonprofits and individuals engaged in transformative movements for progressive social change. Her work includes creating the social change ecosystem map, and coordinating Solidarity Is, an initiative that trains people through Solidarity Schools, provides narratives via the Solidarity Is This podcast, and fosters multiracial and cross-movement connections.
