Pink House Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Pink House Foundation is a social justice funder that places a strong focus on grassroots organizing and activism. Its areas of grantmaking include racial justice and equity, immigrants and refugees, civic engagement, economic opportunity, the environment, LGBTQ causes and mental health.
IP TAKE: This funder reorganized in 2019 to pursue a “community-driven grantmaking model” through which it partners with large coalitions of nonprofits to distribute grants to “frontline community organizations.” It is currently working with the Movement for Black Lives and no longer makes direct grants to organizations. This funder, however, is very collaborative, which would be another way to approach them beyond grantmaking.
The Pink House Foundation is not accessible and does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding, but general inquiries may be submitted to foundation staff via its online form. It is relatively approachable, but expect longer response times.
PROFILE: The Pink House Foundation was established in 2011 in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to “support community-driven organizations and movements that are building power and leadership in marginalized communities to advance systemic solutions to the root causes of social and environmental injustice.” From its inception until 2019, the foundation made direct grants to community organizations, but it recently transitioned to a “community-driven grantmaking model” through which it partners with “national grassroots alliances/coalitions and community-led social justice funds to redistribute grant funding to frontline community organizations.” This funder also recently transitioned it’s giving structure from a “private family foundation to a more streamlined donor advised fund: The Pink House Foundation DAF.”
Grants for Racial Justice and Equity
Racial justice and equity appear to be the Pink House Foundation’s largest area of giving. While the foundation does not outline specific goals for its giving in this area, it named the Movement for Black Lives Fund as the recipient of its partnership grant in 2019. Other racial justice grantees include Empower DC, the Racial Justice Action Center, the BYP 100 Education Fund and the SouthWest Organizing Project.
Grants for Immigrants and Refugees
Pink House’s social justice grantmaking broadly extends to organizations working with immigrants and refugees in the U.S. One grantee, the New York City-based Families for Freedom, organizes detainees, former detainees and individuals and families at risk of deportation in the effort to “repeal the laws that are tearing apart our homes and neighborhoods.” Other grantees working for the rights of immigrants include the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, Migrant Justice and Phoenix’s Puente Human Rights Movement.
Grants for Civic Engagement and Democracy
The Pink House Foundation’s grants for civic engagement and democracy tend to support efforts to increase the participation of minority groups in democratic processes. In Texas, the foundation has given to the Jolt Initiative, which supports the civic participation of Latinos, and Youth Rise Texas, which supports voter registration among young adults. The foundation has also given to the Movement for Black Lives Civic Engagement Fund.
Grants for Work and Economic Opportunity
A significant portion of Pink House grants go to organizations involved in the promotion of worker’s rights and fair pay. One grantee, the Voz Workers’ Rights Education Project, educates and organizes migrant and day laborers about their rights and safety. Another grantee, the Latino Union of Chicago, is an organization led by women that helps “low-income immigrant and U.S.-born workers to develop the tools necessary to collectively improve social and economic conditions.” Other work and opportunity grantees include the SouthWest Organizing Project, the Miami Workers Center, the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the National Domestic Workers Alliance.
Grants for Environmental Conservation and Justice
Although the Pink House Foundation names environmental justice as one of its core goals, only a few grants have supported organizations involved in conservation and/or environmental justice in recent years. The Black Mesa Water Coalition, an inter-tribal and inter-ethnic group, received funding to support its advocacy and activism “addressing issues of water depletion, natural resource exploitation, and public health within Navajo and Hopi communities.” Another grantee, the South Dakota-based Owe Aku International Justice Project, aims to stop mining practices that are contaminating the lands of the Oglala Lakota people.
Grants for LGBTQ Causes
The Pink House Foundation does not name LGBTQ causes as an area of grantmaking interest, but several grants have supported organizations LGBTQ organizations in the U.S. Southerners on New Ground received funding for its LGBTQ organizing and coalition building across the southern states. The foundation has also supported the Transgender, Gender Variant, Intersex Justice Project, which supports incarcerated transgender, variant and intersex people.
Grants for Mental Health
Destigmatizing mental health was the foundation’s main area of focus in 2015. Grantees included the Josh Anderson Foundation, which works to prevent teen suicide, the Mental Health Association of Morris County in New Jersey, Emory’s Veterans Program and Arizona’s Teen Action and Support Center. The foundation has provided ongoing support to the Fireweed Collective. Formerly known as the Icarus Project, Fireweed aims to “disrupt the harm of systems of abuse and oppression, often reproduced by the mental health system.”
Important Grant Details:
The Pink House Foundation makes about $500,000 a year in grants. All grants are awarded in amounts of $50,000 or less, and the foundation’s average grant size is about $20,000. The foundation prioritizes grassroots organizations that are led by and serve underrepresented people in various areas of social justice. The foundation maintains lists of past grantees by year on its website.
This funder does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding. The best way to reach the Pink House Foundation is via its contact form.
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