Convening Recap
Dear friends, supporters, and allies,
Thank you to those of you who continue to help us brainstorm and generate the vision and launch of the Cypress Fund. For our future co-conspirators, we hope this convening recap can give you insight into what is bubbling up from the ground in North and South Carolina. We would love to connect with you or any colleagues interested in learning more or partnering with the Cypress Fund.
October 18 and 19, 2019 marked the launch convening of the Cypress Fund! The Cypress Fund supports social justice organizing in North and South Carolina, with a focus on resourcing traditionally underfunded groups and groups led by directly impacted communities, supporting coalition-building across the two states, and donor organizing. Cypress Fund will put decision-making power in the hands of grassroots leaders through a Movement-Led Grantmaking Body that controls the vast majority of the funds. Additionally, Cypress Fund will lead an annual Giving Project to bring together cross-class, multiracial donors to learn about social justice philanthropy, gain grassroots fundraising skills to resource local movement work, and decide on where to grant a pool of collectively-fundraised resources.
The convening brought together movement leaders from across North and South Carolina for a two-day retreat. This was the first time in recent history that the attendees could remember connecting with other organizers in the neighboring state. The Cypress Fund gathered 20 leaders, including grassroots organizers, executive directors, other social justice funders, and healers to build a collective vision and assess both the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for the South and the interventions that Cypress Fund can make towards advancing a more just world.
Our initial learnings:
Movement leaders led and participated in pre-work and convening sessions to build a collective understanding and shared analysis of the key issues at stake, the organizing landscape, and the key challenges and opportunities. Some of our learnings include:
The need to re-imagine how we view nonprofit organizations and social change infrastructure. This includes cross-pollinating ideas between people doing resistance work and people building alternative economies and social structures, in order to shift culture within social justice movements from being just reactive to being proactive. Additionally, it includes creating organizing vehicles that expand beyond the typical 501c3 organizational structure in order to advance change.
Starting a new organization and building infrastructure is a difficult task – the Cypress Fund must ask hard questions and continue to get feedback from leaders on the ground, while also respecting leaders’ time and capacity. This includes questions concerning priorities and decision making. We must not be afraid to fail forward.
Organizers across NC and SC see a deep need for relationships with grounded, local funders who can advocate with them and directly resource their efforts.
It is imperative that the Cypress Fund be rooted in clear values that articulate its effort to be accountable to marginalized communities and operate in an equitable way.
Directives from organizers to Cypress Fund:
Together we visioned what would happen to the social justice landscape across the Carolinas if the Cypress Fund is successful, and what initial foci and interventions would move us towards the overall impact we wish to see. Organizers provided and refined the direction Cypress should take, including:
Fundraise for multi-year, general operating support geared at long term movement building infrastructure. Leaders in the room made it clear that there needs to be sustainable, multi-year support in order for groups to experiment, try new things, fail, and learn from it. This directive also included a focus on sustaining individuals who are not currently well-connected to funding, but who should be invested in to grow their leadership or offer their expertise to the broader movement (e.g. healing practitioners).
Provide additional support for things that are not traditionally prioritized by other funders, including ED coaching, back-end organizational health support, research, and exchanges. This included finding ways to help individuals with their basic needs – housing, medical bills, hiring undocumented folks, etc – with the understanding that in order to bring more people into movement work and help them develop as leaders, they need to be able to have their basic needs met.
Focus on donor education, helping institutions and individuals understand the root causes of issues that communities are facing, and funding in a way that addresses systemic injustice and supports social movement building. Specifically, approaching philanthropy from a politic of reparations – how can Cypress Fund approach its grantmaking in a ways that addresses the legacy of slavery and colonization, and influence other philanthropic institutions to do the same? How can we approach our work in a way that repairs harm, both past and present?
Create physical space for people to meet with concrete follow up – creating space and funding for generative, proactive campaigns, not just reactive and rapid response. Additionally, supporting organizations to buy land as well as funding efforts to create alternative ownership models, like community land trusts and cooperatives.
Train grantmakers from grassroots communities who understand the nuance of place and ecosystems of organizations – in particular, supporting movement groups that are beginning to become grantmakers themselves.
Build the DNA of the Cypress Fund to be responsive to organizers and accountable to organizations and leaders on the frontlines of social movements and social change.
Be intentional about reaching out and building relationships with folks who were not in the room, such as labor organizers, indigenous leaders, and others.
Our plan moving forward!
The convening was just that – a convening. The real work of moving resources and building responsive infrastructure to build thriving movements in the South is yet to come. Below is an outline of the work Cypress Fund is taking on going forward. We will be continually referring to the feedback and directives we received from this convening as we build our internal structures. Our hope is to:
Resource groups within social justice movements for the long haul. This includes starting multi-year funding in 2020 that is grounded in our long term values.
Launch donor organizing efforts including a Giving Project in 2020, that brings organizers and donors in community together, teaches fundraising and democratic grantmaking skills, and moves money to the field.
An official public launching of the Cypress Fund – grounded in values of equity, movement-led decision making, and deep partnership with communities on the frontlines of fighting for justice and social change.
Engage field leaders who came to the launch convening and expressed an interest in serving on advisory boards, providing additional feedback to Cypress Fund’s structure and values, being a part of Giving Projects, and leading trainings. Reach out to and engage additional leaders who were not in the room or who couldn’t make it to the convening.
Host exchanges and convenings with organizers in South Carolina and North Carolina to continue conversations about campaigns and best practices between states.