February 6, 2025 – Borealis Philanthropy is pleased to announce the Black-Led Movement Fund’s (BLMF) 2025 Request for Proposals (RFP). The deadline for proposals is March 7 at 9am PST / 12pm EST. This announcement includes background information about the BLMF and important details about how to apply for funding. 

About Borealis Philanthropy 

Borealis Philanthropy is a social justice philanthropic intermediary working to resource grassroots movements for transformative change. From Black-led movement-building, to queer and trans liberation, to disability justice and inclusion, our work is rooted in the understanding that in order to upend oppressive systems, we must support the people most impacted by those systems. Founded ten years ago, in 2015, Borealis has grown to include nine collaborative funds working to enhance our collective impact within and between movements across the country. 

About the Black-led Movement Fund

The Black-Led Movement Fund (BLMF), based at Borealis Philanthropy, supports the Movement for Black Lives (M4BL) and other politically-aligned organizations to better shape policy agendas for Black communities, create alternatives to institutions that have been harmful to Black people, and build local Black community power. The BLMF is a donor collaborative that provides a dedicated vehicle for funders to support the ecosystem of grassroots, Black-led power building organizations working towards community safety, justice and liberation. More information about the Fund can be found here.

BLMF’s Values

The Black-Led Movement Fund is rooted in a commitment to:

• Intersectional feminism* and the leadership of Black women/femmes, girls, queer and trans people, as well as Black disabled people; 
• Funding organizations addressing the root causes of anti-Black racism, misogyny, ableism, racial capitalism, xenophobia, homophobia, and transphobia;
• Being adaptive, flexible and responsive;
• Funding work that centers Black joy;
• Resourcing anchor organizations in interconnected movement ecosystems; and
• Solidarity, collaboration, and transparency.

*Please see our definition of intersectional feminism in the BLMF RFP Frequently Asked Questions.* 

Funding Opportunity 

The Black-led Movement Fund will provide $183,300 general operating support grants ($91,650 per year) over a two year period, 2025-2027, to U.S. based Black-led power building organizations that are in alignment with the grant eligibility criteria and funding priorities below. 

BLMF Grantmaking Process and Timeline 

The deadline for proposals is March 7 at 9am PST / 12pm EST. Borealis staff and a committee of leaders from communities, groups and networks in and/or politically aligned with the M4BL will review the proposals from March 2025-September 2025. Grant notifications will be made in October 2025. Below you will find more information about grant eligibility criteria, and funding priorities.

Grant Eligibility Criteria 

Applicants must meet all of the following grant eligibility criteria to apply. Applicants include:

• Power building 501(c)3 or fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)3 organizations that serve and organize with majority Black populations
  • We cannot support: universities or colleges, individuals, hospitals, or government agencies, among others – see the full list of entities we cannot offer support to below.
• Organizations working within the Movement for Black Lives ecosystem (M4BL) OR working in a movement space that is aligned with M4BL Values. Organizations do not have to be working directly with or within the M4BL.
• Organizations that are based in the U.S based or U.S. territories.
  • U.S. Territories Include: American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, United States Virgin Islands, Minor Outlying Islands, Bajo Nuevo Bank, Baker Island, Howland Island, Jarvis Island, Johnston Atoll, Kingman Reef, Midway Islands, Navassa Island, and Palmyra Atoll.

We CANNOT support:

• Universities or colleges
• Organizations that are non-U.S. based or not based in a U.S. Territory
• Individuals (private individuals who are not affiliated with an organization) 
• Hospitals
• Government agencies
• Organizations or projects that only provide direct service (i.e., Personal Care Attendants, durable medical equipment, behavioral or medical care, employment supportive programs, adaptive sports, etc.) Organizations or projects that provide direct services are eligible only if they also engage in community organizing, advocacy, and/or policy work.
• Organizations or projects that only provide research. Organizations or projects that provide research are eligible only if they also engage in community organizing, advocacy, and/or policy work.

BLMF Funding Priorities 

The Black-led Movement Fund invites proposals from eligible organizations that:

• Deeply value AND practice intersectional feminism and M4BL Values; 
• Build local power through base building/campaign organizing, cultural organizing, mutual aid, and/or movement lawyering; and 
• Organize bases and/or constituencies that represent the expertise of, but not limited to, Black LGBTQIA folks – especially Black trans people, Black women + femmes, Black youth, Black disabled people, Black Southerners, and Black Midwesterners.

What We’re Looking For

1. Values Alignment – Applicants are asked to describe how their organization values AND practices both intersectional feminism and M4BL Values.
   • Please see the BLMF RFP Frequently Asked Questions for the definition of intersectional feminism that we use. Regarding M4BL values, we are not asking you to speak to each value; rather, we are more interested in concrete examples of how your current organizing and/or programmatic activities put some of these values into practice.
2. Building Local Power – Applicants are asked to describe their strategies to build local power, lived experiences of their bases and constituencies, and issue areas of focus.
   • BLMF priority power building strategies include, but are not limited to:
     1. Base-Building / Campaign Organizing [door-to-door community engagement, community gatherings, leadership development and political education towards a goal to create better conditions for Black communities]
     2. Cultural Organizing [using arts + culture strategically to shift policies and practices within Black communities]
     3. Mutual Aid [solidarity support for Black people, in which Black communities unite against a common struggle instead of leaving individuals to fend for themselves]
     4. Movement Lawyering
        [using legal advocacy and the law to flank community organizations that are building power for people] 
   • BLMF priority issue areas include, but are not limited to:
     1. Abolition [organizing and advocacy to divest from, dismantle, and reimagine systems that have harmed Black people and communities, and efforts that defend against — and care for victims of — the practices of policing, criminalization, institutionalization, and incarceration] 
     2. Economic Justice [organizing and advocacy that build economic power and workers’ rights for poor and low-income Black people and communities]
     3. Disability Justice + Healing Justice [holistic interventions and/or collective practices that respond to structural and systemic violence and can impact the consequences of anti-Blackness and white supremacy on the hearts, bodies and spirits of Black people]
   • BLMF priority bases and/or constituencies that represent the expertise of, but are not limited to:
     1. Black LGBTQIA folks, especially Black trans people
     2. Black women + femmes
     3. Black youth
     4. Black disabled people
     5. Black Southerners
     6. Black Midwesterners
3. Work across Interconnected Movement Ecosystems: Applicants are asked to share how their core organizing work is connected to other issues and movements. Examples of other issues and movements include, but are not limited to, climate justice, food and land justice, im/migration, reproductive justice, birth justice, transformative justice, gender justice, and arts and culture. We are not asking you to speak to each issue area or movement; rather, we are more interested in some examples of who your partners across movement ecosystems may be and how you work together to build local power. 
   
4. Use of funds – Applicants are asked to describe their intended goals/use of the funding. 

How to Apply

Proposals will be submitted by using the Borealis online grant portal. You will need to log in before completing the eligibility quiz. 

1. Log into the grant portal here. If you do not have a user account, you can create a new one by clicking on “new user.” 
2. Open a second browser tab and click the eligibility quiz link. You will not see the eligibility quiz once you log into the grant portal. Please use the link provided. 
3. After completing the quiz, you’ll be automatically redirected to the application. 

Required Attached Documents to Apply

The following documents are required to apply. If these documents are not included, this could make you ineligible for funding. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Please see our Frequently Asked Questions for additional information about the application and narrative questions. 

Contact Us 

For questions related to the application, please email blmf@borealisphilanthropy.org. 
For technical questions, please email grants@borealisphilanthropy.org.