The Rapid Response Fund for Movement Building provides small, one-time grants to frontline grassroots organizations for new projects. These projects should address an unexpected, urgent event or external challenge while strengthening the voice and power of low-income residents and people of color.
Past projects supported by Rapid Response Fund include:
- Protest and actions in solidarity with targeted communities (e.g., immigrants, LGBTQIA+, and Black, Indigenous and people of color)
- Supporting community and organizer safety (e.g., trainings, wellness, and legal defense needs).
- Community-led organizing and mobilizations
- Know your rights, safety, and legal training and support
- Security, wellness, and healing justice support
- Strategic mobilization and organizing convenings
- Popular education and public awareness campaigns
- Community organizing and leadership trainings
Ways to Donate to the Rapid Response Fund
- Give online using our donation form and select impact area “SFF Rapid Response Fund.”
- Make a grant from your donor-advised fund.
- Send a check to the San Francisco Foundation for the purpose:
“Rapid Response Fund for Movement Building”
Apply for Funding
Applications should address the following criteria:
- Timely and urgent: Your organization must be responding to an unanticipated catalyzing event or urgent external challenge.
- Opportunity for immediate impact: The project is strategic with a clear timeline and goals, with the desired outcomes having the potential to positively affect the community right away.
- Clear focus on racial and/or economic equity: Your project specifically addresses racial and/or economic inequities. It should demonstrate a clear equity framework, explicitly responding to the unique needs, challenges, and strengths of marginalized communities.
- Movement- and power-building: The project must aim to build the voice and power of people of color or other marginalized communities.
- Representative leadership and staff: The project must be led by those who are most impacted by the racial and economic inequities that the effort aims to address (e.g. communities of color, immigrants, refugees, formerly incarcerated residents, youth, low-wage workers, people with disabilities, low-income residents, LGBTQ community members, etc.).
For current SFF grantees: apply through SFF’s Grantee Portal.
If your organization has not applied for a grant from the San Francisco Foundation before, please create your account and organizational profile as soon as possible here. Registration can take a few days.
If you have any questions regarding eligibility, please contact Bella Lopez at blopez[at]sff.org.
Refer to the Application Guidelines and FAQ below for additional information.
The Rapid Response Fund sometimes has a specific area of focus for funding, detailed in the description. Applicants should review the description above to ensure alignment.
Rapid Response Fund Applications and Grants
Application Guidelines
Grant size and duration:
- One-time grants of $3,000–$20,000 for discrete projects
- If approved, grant will be processed within 30 days of application receipt.
- The project must be completed within six months of receiving the grant.
Basic eligibility:
- Geography: funding requests must serve residents in one or more of the following five Bay Area counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo.
- Tax exempt status: Organizations must have an IRS 501(c)(3) tax exempt status or be a fiscally sponsored project of another nonprofit entity. 501(c)(4) organizations will be considered but must submit additional lobbying documentation. The foundation cannot make grants to individuals
Guidelines: projects must demonstrate the following to be eligible for funding:
- Timely and urgent: Your organization must be responding to an unanticipated catalyzing event or urgent external challenge.
- Opportunity for immediate impact: The project is strategic with a clear timeline and goals, with the desired outcomes having the potential to positively affect the community right away.
- Clear focus on racial and/or economic equity: Your project specifically addresses racial and/or economic inequities. It should demonstrate a clear equity framework, explicitly responding to the unique needs, challenges, and strengths of marginalized communities.
- Movement- and power-building: The project must aim to build the voice and power of people of color or other marginalized communities.
- Representative leadership and staff: The project must be led by those who are most impacted by the racial and economic inequities that the effort aims to address (e.g. communities of color, immigrants, refugees, formerly incarcerated residents, youth, low-wage workers, people with disabilities, low-income residents, LGBTQ community members, etc.).
Priority will be given to:
- Requests from small organizations (budgets of $500,000 or less) and new grassroots efforts, including faith-based groups and fiscally sponsored projects.
- Projects that partner with other local organizations and community leaders who are doing complementary work.
- Projects aimed at supporting actions, protests, and other movement building strategies.
Funding will not be provided for:
- Nonprofit general operating support
- Ongoing program support
- Capital improvements
- Budget shortfalls or fundraising events
- Previously planned or long-term campaigns
- Funding gaps due to internal organizational emergencies, such as office vandalism, resignation of an executive director, or sudden loss of funding
Additional resources about our Rapid Response Fund:
Questions?
Please contact programs[at]sff.org.
How to Apply
Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. All applicants must submit Rapid Response Fund applications through our Grantee Portal.
Please note that due to the volume of grant applications, any draft applications that are incomplete or not submitted will be removed after 90 days. Draft applications are recoverable in the event they need to be reopened after the 90 day period by contacting programs[at]sff.org.
How to apply
- Create an account or log in to your existing account to create an application.
- Have the following documents prepared to upload:
- Project budget (in a file format of your choosing)
- Letter of Resolution from your fiscal sponsor (if applicable)
If approved, you will be notified no more than 30 days after receipt of application. A check will be mailed shortly thereafter.
Additional resources on how to apply:
Questions?
Please contact programs[at]sff.org.
Donate to the Rapid Response Fund
Donors have contributed $2.4 million to the Rapid Response Fund since it launched in 2016. There are many ways to support this critical work:
- Give online using our donation form and select impact area “SFF Rapid Response Fund.”
- Make a grant from your donor-advised fund.
- Send a check to the San Francisco Foundation for the purpose:
“Rapid Response Fund for Movement Building”
Questions?
Please contact programs[at]sff.org.
