Collaborative Funding Efforts
Collaborating with other funders and donors through joint funds is a crucial part of how we create systemic change. The issues we work on are too big for any of us to solve on our own. By working together, we can leverage our collective resources and tackle the most important issues impacting the health of our democracy.
We can't do this work alone.
Like many of the issues philanthropy cares about, the health of our democracy cannot be protected and strengthened by one grantee or even one funder. Joint funds are financial vehicles that allow philanthropists to maximize each dollar’s impact by collaborating with other funders, aligning strategies, and exchanging expertise and information. Moreover, coordinated giving through joint funds eases and accelerates the grant process for organizations who already contend with limited staff capacity and time. For these reasons, joint funds are an important piece of our grantmaking strategy.
Whether you, as a funder, intend to participate in a joint fund or not, our staff of democracy experts and practitioners is available to advise your grantmaking strategy.
Efforts we're a part of
Democracy Fund participates in a number of highly-impactful joint funds.
Trusted Elections Fund
The Trusted Elections Fund (TEF), a nonpartisan pooled fund, supports efforts to prepare for and respond to high-risk threats to U.S. elections. Since its founding in 2019, TEF has focused on election crises – including illegitimate disputes over election results, interference with vote tallies, political violence, and candidate refusal to accept legitimate results. To meet these challenges, TEF invests [invested] in organizations that seek to prevent election-related political violence, anticipate challenges to election administration, and develop infrastructure that protects our elections and reinforces the public’s confidence in their results.
For more information contact Project Director Jenny FlanaganNewsMatch
NewsMatch is a national matching funds campaign that drives dollars and sustainability coaching to support local reporting, cultivate the long-term sustainability of nonprofit news, and deepen relationships between newsrooms and communities.
NewsMatch is the largest grassroots fundraising campaign to support nonprofit news in the U.S., benefitting members of the INN Network. Since 2017, the campaign has helped raise $330 million to jumpstart emerging newsrooms and support independent media outlets that produce fact-based, nonpartisan news and information.
Learn more about this effortThe Racial Equity in Journalism Fund
Created in 2019, the Racial Equity in Journalism Fund launched with $16.2 million to support and build the capacity of newsrooms by and for people of color, who are best positioned to deliver critical news and information to their communities.
Learn more about this effort
The Legal Clinic Fund
The Legal Clinic Fund is a resource for legal clinics across the United States that advance and protect First Amendment rights, media freedom, and transparency in their communities and nationally. The fund prioritizes those legal clinics working in service of local communities and newsrooms.
Since 2019, the Legal Clinic Fund has awarded over $2 million to university legal clinics around the country including The University of Buffalo Civil Liberties & Transparency Clinic and Harvard Law School’s Cyberlaw Clinic.
Learn more about this effortThe NetGain Partnership
The NetGain Partnership is a global collaboration to address the evolving challenges and opportunities of the digital age. It brings together civil society groups and supports new relationships between researchers and advocates, specifically in the area of misinformation and online hate.
Collectively, NetGain partners invest more than $80 million each year towards expert convenings, learning events, research and grantmaking. Grantees include the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Center on Privacy & Technology at Georgetown Law, and the Center for Responsive Politics.
Learn more about this effortTech Justice Fund
Created in 2021, the Tech Justice Fund envisions an open, secure, and equitable internet space where free expression, economic opportunity, knowledge exchange, and civic engagement can thrive.
With racial justice at its foundation, this joint fund mobilizes philanthropic resources to support a multiracial coalition addressing the well-documented ways Big Tech and social media platforms have harmed BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) communities.
For more information contact Paul Waters, Associate Director, Public Square programWe hope you'll join us
Democracy Fund is committed to collaborating with our funders and partners in the field — it’s how we expand impact and create systemic change. For information about partnering with us, contact us below or reach out to any member of our team.