Stories that inspire
The Climate Justice Organizing HUB
The Climate Justice Organizing HUB’s Climate Space is one of the 2023 grantees of the Collective Fund for Climate and Ecological Transition at the Foundation of Greater Montréal. As participants in our funding request process, we asked them about their experience. Here is what they told us:
The Foundation of Greater Montreal strives to transform its grantmaking practices according to the trust-based philanthropy model. What was your experience with our call for projects, application process and collaboration with our team?
Our experience interacting with the FGM team has been very positive. There has been an overarching sense of openness and curiosity – it’s clear that FGM is eager to follow the lead of their grantees and learn through their projects. The application process was straightforward and not overwhelming, and we were able to get answers to all our questions when applying for the grant and after receiving the grant. We have been able to communicate our challenges and detours with FGM staff and receive unwavering support and non-judgement, which we are so grateful for!
Besides lack of funding, what other challenges are organizations like yours facing?
Navigating the different cultural and structural norms between grassroots and institutional worlds is a constant challenge for youth-led organizations embedded in social movements. Receiving this grant was so motivating for our team and community. However, when it came down to executing the project, we felt both worlds clashing head-on. It was difficult to reconcile the tension between spending it in an efficient (and more informal) way that respected grassroots norms, versus our reality of needing to respect legal and organizational norms that have more formality and structure than grassroots activists are accustomed to.
As a mediator between grassroots and institutional worlds, I often feel like it’s impossible to satisfy both sides’ wants and needs. I also find it difficult to build understanding on both sides and communicate the cultural and structural difference between grassroots and institutional worlds. This burden wears me and my peers down, contributing to the high levels of burnout in grassroots and youth organizations. We feel as though we’re being perceived as incompetent from the institutional side, and we simultaneously feel that we’re losing trust with our grassroots peers because we’re trying to uphold some level of institutional norms. Managing the starkly different expectations between grassroots and institutional worlds feels like a near-impossible line to walk.
In what other ways, besides funding, can the funders support your work?
Youth leaders often feel the pressure to accomplish enormous goals with very little resourcing and support. There seems to be this idea that youth are extremely passionate and high-capacity (which is true) and therefore don’t require a lot of resources to execute their projects (which is not true). We need allies in the philanthropic space who can advocate for the valorization of youth work, otherwise we will continue trying to reach the unrealistic expectations put on us and continue to burn out.
We would also benefit from more mentorship and guidance to learn the ropes of building organizations and managing projects. Normalizing this type of mentorship could also build more understanding between funders and youth-led/grassroots organizations.