Inside Philanthropy

Who's Funding What & Why

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Borealis Philanthropy

OVERVIEW: Borealis Philanthropy describes itself as a “social justice philanthropic intermediary” and runs funds to support grassroots organizations in the areas of racial justice, criminal justice reform, LGBTQ causes and disabilities.

IP TAKE: In less than 10 years, Borealis Philanthropy, a GUTC signatory, has become a leading player in the social justice movement in the U.S. It is a crucial source of unrestricted funding for grassroots organizations working toward racial justice, LGBTQ rights, criminal justice reform and disability rights. A key component of its work is maintaining close communication with donors, providing multiple opportunities for funders to engage with and learn from grantees in this rapidly changing philanthropic landscapes.

In addition to its grantmaking, Borealis offers “grantee-driven capacity-building support at the individual, organizational and movement levels. Historically, each of (its) nine grantmaking funds have designed and delivered their own capacity-building programs, which include leadership coaching, finance and fundraising training, IT and security assistance, as well as peer learning opportunities and convenings.”

Only two of Borealis’ nine funds accept application materials, but the organization is approachable and invites prospective grantees to reach out with questions and introductions. Each fund’s webpage offers an individual email address for contact. Beyond this, networking with members of the Borealis board of directors will likely be important in terms of getting this funder’s attention.

PROFILE: Based in Minneapolis, Borealis Philanthropy was founded in 2015 by philanthropy veteran Margarita (Magui) Rubalcava with funding from the Ford Foundation, the Open Society Foundations, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation and many other well-known philanthropic organizations. Borealis’s mission is to “direct resources to people building powerful, thriving communities” by investing in “leaders, organizations and movements using diverse and leading-edge strategies to pursue transformational change.”

Borealis is not a traditional grantmaker; it describes itself as “a social justice philanthropic intermediary working to resource grassroots movements for transformative change,” and describes its work as “build[ing] bridges between funders and organizers to support movements working to make a future that serves all of us.” In addition to grantmaking, Borealis keeps its donors engaged and informed about the causes it supports via frequent communications, “learning sessions” and other events that focus on change and progress surrounding priority issues, communities and geographical regions. The organization currently runs nine funds focusing mainly on racial justice, LGBTQ causes, criminal justice and the rights of disabled people. In all cases, grantmaking decisions are made by committees of individuals representative of and vested in the area of interest.

Grants for Racial Justice and Equity

Funding for racial equity dominates Borealis’ annual grantmaking. While the organization has several funds dedicated to racial justice, several other funds intersect with racial equity, focusing on LGBTQ rights or criminal justice reform.

  • The Black-Led Movement Fund was established in 2014 in response to the demonstrations surrounding the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri. The fund “invests in powerful local organizations that anchor the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) as well as the movement infrastructure that amplifies their work.”
    • It began funding in 2016, and has since then moved more than $28 million in grants to racial justice organizations in the U.S. and Puerto Rico.
    • This fund is not accepting applications for funding at this time, but it is moving towards a participatory grantmaking process in 2024.
    • Grantees include Action St. Louis, the Black LGBTQA+ Migrant Justice Project and Dream Defenders, a Florida-based organization that focuses on transformative justice and creating “alternatives to dealing with harm and violence.”
  • The Racial Equity to Accelerate Change Fund (REACH) provides critical support to “racial equity practitioners advancing racial equity organizational development in the nonprofit sector.” The fund aims to support initiatives for organizational development, programs that promote and enact racial equity in communities and opportunities for nonprofits to “share key learnings, including accelerators and barriers for progress toward racial equity within philanthropy, nonprofits and practitioners, broadly.”
    • Grantmaking from this fund began in 2019 and is not currently accepting proposals for funding.
    • Previous grantees include the Institute of the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, the Interracial Institute for Social Change and the Center for Diversity and the Environment.
  • Borealis supports racial equity in journalism through one of its newer initiatives, the Racial Equity in Journalism Fund, which aims to “strengthen the capacity and sustainability of news organizations led by and for people of color to provide relevant, accurate information to increase civic engagement in the communities they serve.”
    • Specific grantmaking strategies include providing general operating support to trusted organizations, capacity support for smaller and new organizations and the facilitation of “peer-to-peer learning and ecosystem-building” for journalistic and media outlets serving communities of color, immigrant communities and other areas that lack equitable media.
    • Since its establishment in 2019, this fund has moved about $10 million to 40 journalism and news organizations across the U.S.
    • This program accepts LOIs through Borealis’ application portal.
  • Borealis’ Racial Equity in Philanthropy Fund was established to support philanthropic organizations in their efforts to “integrate racial equity policies and practices into their grantmaking programs” and to “normalize grantmaking strategies that prioritize structural change and contribute to ending racial disparities.”
    • Established in 2018, the fund has moved about $28 million in grants and has prioritized initiatives and programs that offer opportunities for learning and sharing best practices among its grantees and other philanthropic organizations. However, this fund will be sunsetting by 2025.
    • The fund is not currently accepting funding proposals or LOIs.

Grants for Criminal Justice Reform

Borealis conducts its grantmaking for criminal justice reform through a racial justice lens and currently oversees two funds in this area: the Communities Transforming Policing Fund and the Spark Justice Fund.

  • Communities Transforming Policing prioritizes communities “impacted by deadly and discriminatory policing practices” and aims to improve the accountability of law enforcement and increase “investment in community-based programs and services as alternatives to police, jails and prisons.”
    • Grantmaking prioritizes organization with annual budgets of less than $500,000 and organizations led by BIPOC and/or “individuals who have been directly impacted by the criminal legal system.”
    • Geographic priorities include “communities in historically underfunded geographic areas, such as the South, rural areas, U.S. territories, Native reservations, etc.”
    • Communities Transforming Policing does not accept applications for funding at this time.
  • The aim of Borealis’ Spark Justice Fund is to support “grassroots and power-building groups to decarcerate, close jails and advance transformative visions of pretrial justice in the communities most impacted by incarceration.”
    • In addition to monetary support, Spark offers its grantees technical support, leadership development and other learning opportunities.
    • The Spark Justice Fund is not accepting applications at this time.

Grants for LGBTQ Causes

LGBTQ causes are the main focus of two of Borealis’ current funds, though these funds intersect with gender justice and racial equity, as well: the Fund for Trans Generations and the Emerging LGBTQ Leaders of Color Fund.

  • The Fund for Trans Generations supports “trans-led organizing to support a future where transgender, gender nonconforming and nonbinary people live with freedom, safety and self-determination.” Launched in 2016, the fund has supported almost 250 trans-led organizations with grants totaling over $11 million. This fund has prioritized the U.S. South, where “resources are most scarce.”
    • Trans Generations is the only fund at Borealis that runs a Rapid Response Fund, for which it accepts grant applications from trans-led organizations with annual budgets or project budgets of less than $600,000.
    • Applications are accepted at any time through Borealis’ application portal, and grants are awarded in amounts of up to $10,000.
  • Borealis’s Emerging LGBTQ Leaders of Color Fund (ELLC) focuses on supporting “leaders and organizations who understand that the issues like community safety, reproductive justice, immigrant rights and others do not exist in isolation from each other, and who approach liberation work from a place of inclusion.”
    • ELLC funding aims to provide stabilizing, consistent and sustainable support to small and medium-sized organizations that have the potential for large impact on the communities they serve.
    • Recent grantmaking has prioritized organizations working at intersections of the causes and issues that are important to Borealis and initiatives in urban areas of the U.S. This program is not accepting grant applications at this time.

Grants for Disability Rights

Borealis’s Disability Inclusion Fund, established in 2020, represents a five-year, $20 million commitment to “disability justice movement-aligned funding including a participatory grantmaking process that involves members of the disability community to guide funding decisions.” In addition to funding initiatives for disability rights, justice and inclusion, the fund aims to improve disability inclusion in philanthropy and is supported by the President’s Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy, a group of “foundation presidents who are committed to disability inclusion as a part of improving diversity, equity and inclusion.”

  • Grants have prioritized organizations that are led by members of the disability community and that work collaboratively and in solidarity with other disability groups and activist movements. But, like other areas of this funder’s giving, work also centers on investing in BIPOCs.
  • While this fund is not currently accepting applications, its web page suggests prospective grantees sign up for the program’s newsletter to keep up with new opportunities.

Important Grant Details:

Borealis’ grants mostly range from $5,000 to $500,000, with grant amounts and ranges often set by individual funds.

  • Borealis’ largest giving area is racial equity, which accounts for about 80% of its total grantmaking and stems from six of its nine funds.
  • About 70% of this funder’s grants consist of unrestricted general operating support to grassroots organizations, most of which are small to medium sized and operate at local and regional levels.
  • Many grantees have received “scaffolded” multi-year support.
  • This funder also provides extensive technical support, leadership development and other opportunities to its grantees on an ongoing basis.
  • Grantmaking is limited to organizations based in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and while the philanthropy does not prioritize any one region, it tends to focus its resources on areas that lack philanthropic support for specific issues of interest.
  • For additional information about recent grantmaking, see Borealis’s recent annual report.
  • Most of Borealis’ funds do not accept applications for funding. However, the Fund for Trans Generations accepts applications for its Rapid Response grants at any time, and the Racial Equity in Journalism Fund accepts LOIs. Materials for both of these programs should be submitted through Borealis’ grant application portal.

Borealis Philanthropy invites prospective grantees to reach out via its contact form and to sign up for email updates about funding opportunities. The names of Borealis’s board of directors, as well as links to its social media handles, are available at the website.

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