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.” The decision was based on the belief that to advance social justice “those of us in philanthropy must do more than redistribute money to movements—we must also redistribute decision-making power over where that money goes.”
The Pink House Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding at this time. Nor does it provide a way of getting in touch. Network with one of its redistribution partners to get on their radar. An address and phone number are provided below.
PROFILE: The Pink House Foundation was established in 2011 in Washington, D.C. Its mission is “to support transformative social movements that are working to advance social justice and sustainability for all communities.” 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.” Grantmaking is mainly limited to the U.S. and U.S.-based tribal nations.
Grants for Racial Justice and Indigenous Rights
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, and has provided ongoing support to the movement. Other racial justice grantees have gone to the Groundswell Fund, which supports grassroots organizing to end race- gender- and class-based oppression, and the NDN Collective, an Indigenous led group involved in movement building, regranting and advocacy.
Grants for Immigrants and Refugees
Pink House’s social justice grantmaking extends to organizations working with immigrants and refugees in the U.S. One recent grantee partner, United We Dream, “the largest immigrant youth-led network in the country,” which works to “support, engage and empower” undocumented youth. Other past grants have supported the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, the Puente Human Rights Movement and New York City’s Families for Freedom, which supports families facing or at risk of deportation, including detainees and prisoners.
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 recent grantee, the National Domestic Workers Alliance, organizes and advocates for better wages and working conditions for domestic workers across the nation. 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 and the Miami Workers Center.
Grants for Environment, Climate Change and Clean Energy
The Pink House Foundation names environmental justice as one of its core goals and has increased its giving for the environment and climate change in recent years. One grantee, the Climate Justice Alliance supports community organizing for climate justice and against “polluting and extractive industries.” Other climate grantees have the Black Mesa Water Coalition and the South Dakota-based Owe Aku International Justice Project, which 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 back 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 made about $1.3 million in grants in a recent year, a significant increase in funding since its early years. All grants are awarded in amounts of $50,000 or less, and the foundation’s average grant size is about $20,000. An exception to this is when Pink House awards a partnership grant, as it did in 2019, and supports a designated organization with a much larger sum. The foundation prioritizes grassroots organizations that are led by and serve underrepresented people in various areas of social justice. as well as alliances and regranters that, in turn, prioritize grassroots movements and organizations. The foundation maintains lists of grantee partners by year on its website.
This funder does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding. This funder does not provide a direct avenue for getting in touch, but an address and phone number are provided below.
PEOPLE:
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LINKS:
CONTACT:
Pink House Foundation
1735 Connecticut Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 277-3224