OVERVIEW: Fund for a Safer Future seeks organizations advocating for stronger policies to reduce gun violence and those that are engaging new donors to become involved in the anti-gun violence movement.
IP TAKE: FSF is not a traditional grantmaker in that you have to give it money in order to receive a grant. So, if you want to be considered for a grant, donate. Grant partners of the Fund for a Safer Future contribute to a “pooled fund” that is redistributed among members according to an overall strategy. Make sure to network with a program officer to better learn how its grantmaking is evolving and how you can tailor your proposal. Otherwise, the Fund does not typically accept unsolicited applications, but it does accept contact.
Expect FSF’s funding to ramp up considerably in the near future as a result of the Blank Foundation’s recent “game-changing” $25 million gift, which the Fund’s David Brotherton told Inside Philanthropy, “literally doubles the size of the organization in terms of annual budget, operating and grantmaking.” Nevertheless, funding is still competitive here, since it does not conduct more typical grantmaking.
PROFILE: The Fund for a Safer Future (FSF) is a donor collaborative of like-minded organizations that combine their resources to “invest in targeted, practical strategies to reduce gun injuries and deaths.” Formed in 2011, FSF supports “rational, evidence-based policies at the local, state, and federal levels.” An advisory committee composed of member representatives manages FSF and advises its grantmaking activities focusing on effective movement building, policy-relevant research projects, state advocacy campaigns, data-driven communications work, and the development of innovative legal strategies as they relate to reducing gun violence, injuries and deaths.
Grants for Violence Prevention and Civic Engagement
The Fund for a Safer Future’s grantmaking supports “advocacy, research, education, and community based organizing in order to reduce gun injuries and deaths” through all of its focus areas:
- Movement Organizing grants fund groups that facilitate collaboration or develop new constituencies within the gun violence prevention movement. It aims to improve communication and coordination among groups at the state and national level and expand the influence of the movement for gun violence prevention. Grantees include Center for American Progress, Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence and Guns Down.
- State Advocacy grants fund “advocacy and organizing in key states where effective advocates are poised to make progress.” The fund supports groups advancing state-level policy reform in key states with a high potential for success. It works by identifying “states where the greatest impact can be achieved,” building capacity for nonprofit and state groups, and facilitating coordination and collaboration between states. Partners include Texas Gun Sense, Protect Minnesota, Institute for a Progressive Nevada and the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence.
- Legal Strategies grants fund “legal scholarship and strategy to improve gun violence prevention law and policy.” It supports groups that “help build an intellectual framework for impact litigation” by supporting academic research and scholarship regarding the Second Amendment and building the capacity of the legal community to advance “evidence-based gun violence prevention policies.” Partners include the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence and the William J. Brennan Center for Justice.
- Communications & Messaging grants aim to combat misinformation and “amplify positive stories about national and state-based gun violence prevention work.” It supports groups that work to develop “effective and accurate messaging,” “create new communication channels,” and “grow new and diverse audiences.” Partners include Media Matters for America, Gun Violence Archives and Trace Media.
- Expanding Research grants fund research projects concerning effective gun violence prevention approaches. It seeks projects that “demonstrate the effectiveness of gun violence prevention policies,” “quantify the risk and protective factors for firearm violence,” and “provide insights about the characteristics of gun-related injuries and deaths.” The foundation has funded research initiatives at universities such as Duke, Johns Hopkins, Stanford, University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania.
- Community-Based Gun Violence grants support organizations working to make communities healthier and safer “by disrupting and dismantling the systemic inequities responsible for the disproportionate impact gun violence has on people of color.” It funds projects from BIPOC-led groups that work closely with impacted communities and those that address gun violence as a public health crisis. Grants also support “research, advocacy, leadership development and communications strategies that are centered around community-based solutions.”
Important Grant Details:
FSF does not disclose its grant amounts, but it names its previous grant partners on its What We Fund page. The Fund for a Safer Future uses a “pooled fund” that grant partners contribute to and is then redistributed among them in a shared strategy “in pursuit of a common goal.”
- FSF does not generally accept unsolicited requests for funding, however, it occasionally releases open requests for proposals.
- FSF is currently supporting projects with total budgets of between $25,000 and $250,000.
- The foundation may be contacted at Info@fundforasaferfuture.org.
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