With our approach, we strive to...

Shift power and resources to communities affected by and fighting against structural inequality. We believe that addressing structural inequality by shifting power to those who lack it provides the most marginalized with the opportunity to shape their own lives. We believe that all communities are affected by inequality. We believe in supporting organizations and people that are tackling structural inequality and its effects. We believe that shifting power to marginalized people will increase justice.

Give desired resources and skills, and shift decision-making power to affected communities. We want to move money, expertise, connections, resources, and skills to those who need them most. We believe that building trust with individuals and communities with needs is the best way to ensure effective giving. An important principle of our local giving is ensuring that when we give, we are guided by people who who live, work, and belong to the communities to which we are giving. As we build relationships, we aim to provide affected communities with increasing voice and power in giving decisions.

Challenge each other and our community to give 1% of income and .1% of wealth. We want to push ourselves to give, and to give progressively. For us, that means those with more, give more. We set specific expectations based on our individual income and wealth as a way of encouraging ourselves to give more to reflect our class privilege. We push ourselves, and still value all levels of giving. Some of us have more to give financially, others have more to give through our networks, resources, skills, or connection to affected communities. We value all types of giving.

Develop lasting relationships with each other and those we support. We are a group of friends first. Through giving, we are developing our relationships, and strengthening our collective understanding of social justice and of each other. We are in it for the long haul, and want to develop lasting relationships with the individuals and groups that we support. We acknowledge the power dynamic of a donor-grantee relationship, and aim to prioritize grantees’ needs ahead of our own. Receiving support should not be a burden.