Some years feel like they’re happening in fast-forward, every week a new headline that feels like a sequel to the same tragedy from the week before. Across California, that sensation has become less of a shock and more of a steady hum – of policy rollbacks, escalating inequality, and the aching pressure of knowing that entire communities are rushing to gather resources to keep each child, neighbor, and loved one safe.
And still, there is another constant truth that continues to resurface: we will not give up and we refuse to give up on each other.
We see organizers who wake up and do the work anyway, even when it feels like the world is fraying at the seams. We see trans and gender-expansive folks writing new blueprints for survival and joy. We see immigrant communities building whole ecosystems of care while the state pretends scarcity is inevitable. We see Black and Indigenous leaders holding the line on the future, insisting that liberation is something we practice, not just something we hope for.
As we near the end of 2025 and replenish for 2026, we’re asking you to practice resourcefulness and liberation with us – to meet this moment with your bravest resources.
We are inspired to echo the clear calls to philanthropic action from our friends at Third Wave Fund:
If you have access to wealth:
This is a moment to give in a way that is expansive, a little bit terrifying, and unmistakably aligned with your values. Add a zero, or more. Drain your DAF. Make a multiyear gift. Make a gift that pushes you, that deepens your deep breath, that understands what we are experiencing now as the realized risk of NOT funding leaders building the multiracial feminist future we all deserve.
To working-class folks:
Individuals and institutions with wealth should be taking notes from the courage and resourcefulness of your giving! You are stretching resources and leading creative strategies for resistance with the least access to capital. Continue leading grassroots efforts to raise funds for our communities and movements. Make a one-time or sustaining monthly gift to address the urgency of this moment and to resource our movements for the long haul.
To foundations:
Liberate your endowments now. Commit to increasing grantmaking beyond the legally required minimum of 5% to match the courage and leadership of our movements. Commit to that increase for at least five years. Dear colleagues, get your CEOs and boards aligned. If in five years foundation endowments are smaller and our communities are safer and our democracy stronger, we will understand this as the moment our sector embraced solidarity and transformation that was long overdue.