Women's Fund Grants Promote Social Change

Thirteen local organizations will create social change with support from Women's Fund 2006-07 grants. The Women's Fund Grants Advisory Committee put its new grantmaking process into action, funding programs that promote economic justice, social justice and leadership development.

"With this new process, we were much clearer about what social change philanthropy means for us as a funder, and we were a stronger partner for our grantee organizations," says Women's Fund Program Manager LG Shanklin-Flowers.

The Women's Fund modeled its new process on "Making The Case," a tool created by the Women's Funding Network, an international association of women's and girls' organizations. During the process, the Women's Fund was proactive in providing technical grant-writing assistance to local agencies. The Fund also worked with staff at several agencies to broaden their understanding of social change beyond social service.

"The assistance we were able to offer will help agencies be more successful in applying for grants in general," says Shanklin-Flowers. "It also positions the Women's Fund as a leader in social change efforts."

One of the most significant changes for the 2006-07 grantees will be their use of the "Making The Case" evaluation tool. The evaluation will enable the Women's Fund to measure the impact of each grant, track the impact of its grantmaking over time, and the Women's Funding Network will be able to track the overall impact of women's funds world wide. The Women's Fund will provide training for 2006-07 grantees on use of the evaluation tool.

Several of the 2006-07 agencies are new grantees for the Women's Fund. "We attracted and funded advocacy programs from a diverse group of organizations working on the root causes of poverty and injustice many of whom do not attract mainstream funding." said Grants Advisory Committee Chair Maria Rodríguez.