News
Turning 30: What We've Learned
Turning thirty. It is one of life's great moments. You've got some experience under your belt, but still have youthful energy and the anticipation of possibility. As North Star Fund prepares to celebrate our 30th anniversary in 2009, we're taking stock of what we've done as a grantmaker and an agent of change. We are reflecting back in order to understand how to build on our strength and success as we move forward.
Investing in Leadership
The recent presidential campaign demonstrated the power of investing in grassroots organizing and base-building to create a movement. But the Obama campaign did not step into a vacuum. It tapped into the powerful network of thousands of neighborhood activists, local unions and community groups all over the country, enlisting their connections, their strategies and their people power.
Despite the turmoil in the economy, this is a critical opportunity to build a stronger movement for progressive social change. According to Oona Chatterjee, North Star Fund's board chair and founding director of Make the Road New York, "In the ten years that I have been doing organizing in New York City, I've seen the number and the sophistication of groups increase--most of them have received support from North Star Fund. I've seen people raise the standards for their work. These organizations have strong leadership. Many of them have racked up meaningful victories. Most importantly, they're connected to a strong base of people. The next step is to strengthen and expand that work."
Moving forward, North Star Fund will deepen our support for leaders to work better together in a movement building framework. We will connect new and emerging kitchen table activists to larger community organizing groups--and leverage more significant resources for both.
Connect Netroots to Grassroots
In the last several years, we've returned to our roots as a donor organizer, by which we mean building a community of support for grassroots activism and movement building. We've seen that the conceptual division between 'donor' and 'activist' doesn't capture how our community is interconnected. Generally, people become donors to North Star Fund through some lived experience of the power of grassroots activism, whether it's the movements for racial justice, feminism, global justice, LGBT liberation, civil rights, or environmentalism.
As the city changes, North Star Fund is finding new ways to expand our reach. Our donor diversification efforts have brought in many new donors of color. Collaborations with groups such as Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and Resource Generation have connected a new generation of both people with inherited wealth and significant earned income to our practice of community-led grantmaking. And our Beyond Giving workshops on topics such as socially responsible investing offer donors at all levels with the latest innovations in leveraging investments for social change.
At 30, North Star Fund remains strongly connected to grassroots issues and organizing. We've seen during the campaign that fusing the Internet with community organizing can be powerful. North Star Fund's goal ahead will be to deepen the impact of the netroots by connecting it with the grassroots. Our new website will tell the stories of our grantees and supporters using multiple media, including video, photography, and internet radio. And it will use social media resources like Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube to grow and energize our community.
Commitment in a Time of Crisis
In the face of tough economic times, our agenda is ambitious. But North Star Fund was born in the middle of a fiscal crisis, in response to the planned shrinkage of city services to low income communities. As we move into a period of economic downturn and another fiscal crisis, the firm and sustained support of our donors will be critical.
We thank the leaders and supporters who have stood by us for 30 years, which has enabled the North Star Fund's continuing, unique commitment to funding grassroots activism and the movement for equality, economic justice and peace.
