In November of 2010 eight young feminists from Africa, Asia, The Middle East, Latin America, the Caribbean, The United States, and Eastern Europe gathered in Beirut, Lebanon to envision what would become FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund. Brought together by Women’s Rights in Development (AWID) and the Central American Women’s Fund, these young feminists gathered to share ideas, discuss, debate, and work together to refine the vision, mission and primary goals of a new fund that would serve the needs of young feminists globally. Fifteen years on and FRIDA remains committed to grantmaking that is rooted in the long-term sustainability of young feminist movements across the global majority. Sustainability, however, keeps proving itself to be a bit of a moving target. As we spotlight shrinking civil space and access to resources for the sector along, it would be disingenuous to assert that access to resources for radical and overtly anti-capitalist-patriarchy social justice movements has ever been easeful. As the geopolitical landscape continues to shift further and further to the right (wing) it is becoming urgent for us to interrogate why social movements have struggled to find true allyship in the philanthropic sector, or, more accurately, why the philanthropic sector has faltered in its role as a radical, risk-absorbing ally to movements, and what we can do to change that.
Feminist funders, African philanthropy, liberation movements and the like have often held a critical mirror to traditional western philanthropy. We have witnessed this in discourse and advocacy around:
- Trust-based philanthropy – traditional western philanthropy has proven itself to be inherently distrustful of Black and brown activists.
- Movement driven philanthropic strategies – traditional western philanthropy has paternalized movements, often deciding on their own what movements need.
- Core funding vs project funding – traditional Western philanthropy prioritizes project funding and log-frames over the people doing the work.
- Participatory grantmaking – traditional Western philanthropy relies on its own privilege and understanding to decide where funds, obtained directly because of the exploitation of global majority (also referred to as the Global South) communities by the global minority / Global North.
Traditional Western philanthropy is not an uncontested paradigm, these efforts at equalizing power in the sector are proof of this. Yet western philanthropy frameworks continue to dominate and therefore determine how foundations, intermediaries, bilaterals etc. conduct the business of grantmaking.
One huge discrepancy in these attempts to dissolve oppressive power towards the cultivation of shared power is the unidirectional flow of labour expected of civil society. Organizations are expected to mobilize resources through proposal development and submission to funding opportunities (regular open calls) that have low award rates, oftentimes even below 10%. Unremunerated and invisibilized labor goes into mapping suitable open calls, drafting proposals, submitting applications, and, if awarded, providing reference checks and clearing due diligence. These processes communicate that the power to ensure the survival, flourishing and subsequent longevity of social justice movements still very much lies majorly in the hands of those who hold the money – the funders.
Sustainability, however, keeps proving itself to be a bit of a moving target.
Power, as it is defined and understood by feminists activists, does not equate to ‘bad’. Power in and of itself is not a force or an energy to distance oneself from. It’s in the ‘how’ of power being used where the possibilities – or the issues – lie. Men, white people, the global minority, heretosexual people (all holders of disproportionate power in society) are often called upon to share and use their power to expand the ‘field’ of access, privilege, power and resources to those intentionally relegated to the margins of society. We at FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund believe that in this moment of global crises and in-real-time reversal of human rights and dignities, philanthropy is similarly being called to use its privilege and influence to make real and more possible a well-resourced and thriving civil society to combat this violent and brazen swing to the right.
Fifteen years ago, FRIDA was cultivated as a young feminist fund that would not only direct resources to young feminists across the global majority, but a feminist fund that would also work towards fashioning a more just and activist-centred and powered philanthropy. FRIDA has poured countless hours, resources and labour into building a grantmaking mechanism that centres the voices and experiences and decision-making power of young feminists.
In response to this moment(s) in global history, in service of a thriving feminist ecosystem, and in an effort to dismantle unidirectional power in the philanthropy in resource mobilization – In September 2025 FRIDA held its very first Reverse Call for Applications. A prototype envisioned by The RINGO Project and the West Africa Civil Society Institute(WACSI), to flip the script on traditional funding mechanisms by inviting funders and iNGOs to apply to fund civil society organizations.
Traditional western philanthropy has proven itself to be inherently distrustful of Black and brown activists.
As a funder, FRIDA adopted and adapted this protocol by: Putting together a portfolio of all the (consenting) grantee partners who were nearing the end of their four-year cycle of core funding from FRIDA and sharing this portfolio amongst FRIDAs networks within the philanthropic sector. Engaging with funders directly to participate in the reverse call for applications. Then finally osting a webinar in which funders, activists and current and former FRIDA grantee partners and advisors gathered to celebrate the work of grantee partners, and delved into the political commitment and integrity of reversing power in this way and its potential for philanthropy.
The function of the reverse call was two (or three or four) fold. To hold a mirror back to philanthropy to see the often-hidden flow of power, but also to bring into focus the feminist principles of collective care and collective power. As mentioned, an important part of carrying out the Reverse Call for Applications, was the aspect of reaching out to and engaging with other funders about, in this instance, funding FRIDA grantee partners who are approaching the end of their funding relationship with FRIDA.
But this collaboration and conversation among funders goes beyond organizing extended resourcing for FRIDA groups. It presents to funders the opportunity to really collaborate on building cross-institutional systems and frameworks that have the potential to co-absorb the effort, time and labour civil society puts into mapping and sourcing funding opportunities. To create strong bridges of support and allyship that can band together to mitigate and absorb the inherent risks of speaking and organizing against oppressive power. These risks are too often left to activists to deal with. To weave together the kind of philanthropic sector that uses its power and influence to be a true supporter of, and partner to, movements. This allows movements to focus on the work of organizing while we focus on the work of providing the resources.
Longstanding institutions and ways of doing, working and being, by design, often seem impossible to change. Asking funders, intermediaries, foundations and bilaterals to apply to be able to fund civil society organizations may seem outlandish. Like an impossible ask from naive and (too) bright eyed young feminists who don’t know how things ‘really work’. But fifteen years ago asking the pool of applicants to choose amongst themselves who should get the grant seemed impossible. But now participatory grantmaking is at least an aspiration and at most a standard of grantmaking for progressive funders and intermediaries. The truth is that it’s not impossible, but it does take a lot of work. A lot of planning. A huge investment of institutional financial and human resources. As demonstrated, the investment of these resources already exists in the way of resource mobilization and mechanisation – it just sits predominantly within civil society.
Amanda Hodgeson is the Communications and Advocacy Manager at FRIDA.