Collaborative Partner
Charitable donor fund that pools and aligns resources to support community organizing
The Civic Power Fund (CPF) is a new pooled fund that supports community organizing and aims to build the leadership and infrastructure it needs to thrive. It is the first dedicated organizing fund in the UK. CPF will build grassroots coalitions in key geographies across the UK, with an emphasis on giving communities the resources and skills they need to take on big problems.
A central investment focus for CPF is new leadership building organizations, predominantly led by women and people of color, and leaders mobilizing their own communities in three key geographies. This work is a vital part of scaling up organizing in the UK, but often unseen by funders and unsupported by infrastructure.
CPF is governed by movement builders, with trustees drawn from leaders of social purpose organizations. Their broader governance and grantmaking model is rooted in the principles of racial and economic justice. CPF employs a participatory and trust-based grantmaking process that works with organizations as partners. Its aim is to deliver long-term, unrestricted support. By working in this way, CPF is setting out to innovate in philanthropy and to shift the landscape for the long-term funding of organizing and movement-building so prevailing community power is properly resourced.
CPF is currently focused on building a shared long-term strategy with future grantee partners and funder partners. CPF advances Unbound Philanthropy’s Public strategy area.
Year Founded
2021
Collaborators
Paul Hamlyn Foundation; Barrow Cadbury; Betterworld
Too many communities feel powerless and unable to change the things they care about. Civic power is key to reversing this and to building a more just society, where every person and place can achieve their full potential. That is why we are so excited to launch the Civic Power Fund - the UK’s first donor fund for community organising. Through strategic investment in key geographies and grassroots organising led by women and people of colour, we aim to build and sustain a diverse and flourishing network of community power.
Martha Mackenzie
Executive Director of the Civic Power Fund
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