From the Boston Tea Party that served as a harbinger of the Revolutionary War to the racial justice uprisings following the murder of George Floyd, acts of protest have long been a foundational part of American civic life. They serve not only as expressions of frustration but as a means for everyday people to effect change. Last month saw the latest major examples in this heritage of protest, including the nationwide No Kings protests and the anti-ICE-raids protests in Los Angeles.
While the right to peaceably assemble is enshrined in the First Amendment, in recent years, legislation has been introduced to curb the right to protest and broaden existing time, manner and place restrictions. These efforts are part of the ongoing attacks against American rights, including civic rights, voting rights and the freedom of the press.
The International Center for Not-For-Profit Law (ICNL) notes that since 2017, 45 states have considered more than 350 bills that would restrict the right to assembly. Of these bills, 55 have been enacted and 32 remain pending. This type of legislation, ICNL points out, tends to follow on the heels of major protest movements, such as ones in recent years for racial justice, on college campuses, and against new oil and gas pipelines.
In 2021, for instance, the year after the racial justice uprisings, there was a significant spike in proposed legislation, with 92 total bills introduced, 12 of which were enacted. And since the post-October 7, 2023, pro-Palestine protests on college campuses, several state bills have been introduced to restrict the right to protest on campus. In Arizona, HB 2880 banned protest encampments on state colleges and universities.
An increasingly common tactic among those who seek to curb the right to assembly is to paint predominantly peaceful protests as “riots” or as posing serious threats to community safety. In Los Angeles, the recent protests against ICE raids were largely peaceful and confined to a five-block area in downtown L.A. Despite this, media outlets, members of the Trump administration and figures on social media sought to paint the entire city as being engulfed in riots and flames.
Violence against protesters has also gained disturbing new protections, whether perpetrated by civilians or by law enforcement. The state of Louisiana, for example, passed legislation that limits civic liability for drivers who kill or injure protesters who were “unlawfully in the street.” And in West Virginia, a 2018 bill eliminated police liability for any deaths incurred while dispersing riots and unlawful assemblies.
Where are philanthropic funders in all of this? Philanthropy has long provided support for organizations that work to defend the rights of Americans, including the First Amendment. One organization to note is the First Amendment Coalition, whose key issues include defending the right to free expression. Its donors include the James B. McClatchy Foundation, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Jonathan Logan Family Foundation, Meadow Fund, Ben King, Rowland Rebele, and the Hearst Foundations. The American Civil Liberties Union also receives philanthropic support.
But while a steady stream of philanthropic funding goes toward safeguarding civil liberties, not much of that tends to be earmarked specifically to defend protestors and their rights. And while direct support for protestors tends to spike following major demonstrations — such as funds to bail out people who were arrested — that often comes from smaller donors, not institutional funders.
In a guest piece published in Inside Philanthropy last year, Solidaire Network’s executive director Rajasvini Bhansali wrote that funders must help defend this constitutional right. “We believe strongly that funders are not just bystanders — we must act as agents to safeguard our constitutional right to free speech and peaceful assembly… Philanthropy must protect front-line organizers before freedom of speech and assembly is stripped from us all,” she wrote.
To that end, here are some of the funders working in this space.
Proteus Fund
Established in 1994, the Proteus Fund is a funder intermediary that works to create “a more just and equitable world.” One of its signature funds is its Piper Fund, which supports grassroots organizations dedicated to protecting American democracy and advancing reforms to make it more inclusive and representative.
Among the Piper Fund’s three signature initiatives is its Right to Protest fund, a pooled fund which, as the name suggests, seeks to protect the rights to protest and dissent.
Its work includes grants to counteract harmful narratives that “dehumanize and delegitimize protestors and their actions,” public education grants to front-line organizations in states that are facing legislation that would roll back the right to protest, and messaging research and support to help organizations and advocates with their communications strategies. Alongside the Piper Action Fund, a program of the Proteus Action League, the Proteus Fund’s 501c4 sister organization, the Piper Fund has also developed Protect Dissent, a national network that provides coordinated support and works alongside with state groups.
In a recently published guest post, Piper Fund Director Vina Kay urged more funders to join Piper in backing the right to protest.
Solidaire Network
The Solidaire Network’s Janisha R. Gabriel Movement Protect Fund (MPF) works to protect front-line movement organizers from a variety of security threats, including digital attacks, vigilante violence, state repression and institutional backlash. In addition to rapidly moving resources, it also invests in long-term safety infrastructure.
MPF was launched in September 2020 after a Solidaire staff member experienced an active shooter threat. This came at a time when Solidaire’s movement partners reported they were facing increased security risks during the 2020 protests and mobilizations for Black lives. To date, MPF has awarded more than $9.3 million for this work.
MPF lists a number of the funding needs movements are currently experiencing, including crisis response teams, legal defense, mass bailouts, physical security measures and security personnel. As one concrete example of its work, take the case of activists with Black Lives Matter Phoenix Metro who were arrested during protests in May 2021 that commemorated the death of George Floyd. The organization was able to use funding from MPF to fight in court to free the activists. Charges were ultimately dropped for more than 300 protestors who had been detained, including those from Black Lives Matter Phoenix Metro.
In addition to its work through MPF, Solidaire has also contributed to protestors’ bail funds, including the Atlanta Solidarity Fund.
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Tides Foundation
The Tides Foundation has supported a number of organizations and initiatives whose work includes protecting the right to protest. Its Healthy Democracy Fund, for instance, has worked alongside community leaders to respond to lawmakers’ efforts to suppress the protests that followed the murder of George Floyd.
Tides is also a fiscal sponsor of Palestine Legal, which works to protect the civil and constitutional rights of people in the U.S. who advocate for Palestine by challenging efforts to silence activists. The organization works with a number of organizations, including the Center for Constitutional Rights and the National Lawyers Guild to provide activists with legal support.
Like some other progressive funders, Tides has faced significant backlash for supporting pro-Palestinian advocates. But because Tides is so operationally complex, operating as a host for pooled funding and donor-advised funds as well as a fiscal sponsor, it’s easy to mistake the degree to which the funders who give through Tides are directly backing any given controversial cause. At the same time, the anonymity that, say, a DAF can provide may also be a way in for funders who are looking to back the right to protest but are afraid of being targeted for it.
Open Society Foundations
Founded by George Soros, the Open Society Foundations have a long record of backing civil liberties around the globe since 1979. One of OSF’s current priorities is Protecting Rights, Freedoms, and Justice, and the grantmaker gives to groups that “may seek to articulate and amplify dissenting voices through, for example, petitions, meetings, and peaceful public protests.” While OSF does not pay people to protest — despite accusations to the contrary — it does support the constitutional right to protest, calling it a “hallmark of any vibrant democracy.”
In 2020 after the death of George Floyd, OSF released a statement in which it reaffirmed its support for organizations that promote civic engagement and champion the right to protest.
“Those protesting the death of Mr. Floyd and police brutality across the nation do so out of a deep and abiding concern for their country; they don’t do so for pay from these foundations or any other, as some cynics claim. Such assertions are false, offensive and do a disservice to the very bedrock of our democracy, as enshrined in the First Amendment,” OSF wrote.
