Agape in Action

by Nicole Hsiang
Last weekend, I attended the 2008 Raising Change Social Justice Fundraising Conference, which was organized by the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising Training (GIFT). I was able to meet fellow fundraising comrades from all over the country (and some from other countries, as well), and attend workshops that covered everything from practical fundraising skills to analyzing our place in the global movement for social change.

The second morning of the conference kicked off with a lively debate on the topic, “Is the non-profit sector a vehicle – or has it become a barrier – to social justice?” This debate, by now, is not unfamiliar, thanks to the women of Incite! Women of Color Against Violence who recently produced the popular anthology, The Revolution Will Not Be Funded: Beyond the Non-Profit Industrial Complex, in which its contributors seriously critique and challenge foundations and non-profit organizations to be more accountable to the communities that they serve. Their book serves as affirmation of the growing frustration among activists with the non-profit sector, a now highly professionalized, highly funded field, becoming the home for social justice movement building. Having to pay salaries, office rent, postage and more, non-profits are often enticed to conform to the interests of wealthy funders. Radical politics are downplayed, subversive language is watered down, and hours of weekly work time are spent writing grants, gathering data, and filing reports. And this is the way the wealthy may maintain the privilege and security of the powerful ruling classes, using their charity to manage and control activism. (more…)

Members of ANAKBAYAN-East Bay, Agape Spring 2008 Grant Recipient with Agape Board of Trustee Members Gwyn Kirk and Susan Fang.

The Agape Foundation is once again casting its net out for emerging grassroots organizations that are ready and willing to change the world. We aim to fund community-based efforts towards creating systemic change for social justice. We value self-determination, in which leadership is taken from the communities most affected by the social problems they are working to change. Since our formation in 1969, the Agape Foundation is proud to have awarded more than 12.5 million dollars in the form of grants, loans and fiscal sponsorship to more than 800 grassroots organizations!

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