FMW Peace & Social Justice Fund

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FMW Social Justice Fund

Next Deadline:  Friday, April 19, 2024
Apply using this Form.
 

Background:

In 2017, Thomas Crews bequeathed a portion of his estate totaling nearly $28,000 to “The Religious Society of Friends, Friends House, Washington, D.C for assistance in promoting their political endeavors." Consultations among Friends led to the conclusions that (1) the Friends Meeting of Washington should be the beneficiary body, and (2), since FMW does not and cannot engage in endeavors that are directly “political,” the funds should be used for transformational social justice or peace work by Friends, under the supervision of FMW’s Peace and Social Concerns Committee.  Since then, Peace & Social Concerns fundraising efforts and other contributions have added additional monies to the Fund.

Guidelines:

FMW's Peace & Social Concerns Committee (P&SC), in consultation with Trustees and others, has created the following plan to make funds available for small scale, strategic support for social justice work in which FMW members and attenders are involved:  

  1. Funds will be spent on projects in which FMW members/attenders are directly engaged, so that these funds will increase the impact of our work. 
  2.  Priority will be given to projects that support structural change--to make the world a more just, equitable and sustainable place (not just for educational or charitable purposes).
  3. The focus will be on grants of up to $1,000 that help make work happen, (but this is not a hard limit.)
  4. Initially, the plan was to spend down the funds over approximately four years, but successful fundraising along with memorial and other contributions has kept the fund sustainable over the last several years.
  5. Sharing the experience & lessons: P&SC may share some details of successful proposals with the FMW community. (Please communicate any confidentiality considerations clearly.) Grant recipients are also asked to share progress and outcomes of their project.
  6. In one year we will invite members of the FMW community to participate in discussion of the process and impact of these grants so far, and future plans.
  7. Peace & Social Concerns will request proposals twice a year, Spring and Fall  (but can consider supporting time-sensitive requests outside of this schedule.)

The P&SC Committee invites members of the FMW community to apply for Peace and Social Justice Fund Grants to assist, expand, or improve the social justice work in which they are involved. 

How to apply:

Applications should be submitted electronically via email or this Form.

Spring deadline: Friday, April 19, 2024  Time-sensitive requests can be considered between cycles.

For more information about the FMW Social Justice Fund, contact Peter Nye email: p_nye@yahoo.com or C.J. Pfutzner email: cpfutzner@gmail.com.