OVERVIEW: The Proteus Fund is an influential progressive intermediary organization that makes grants in the areas of civic engagement and democracy, LGBTQ causes, social and reproductive justice, racial equity, civil liberties, human rights and movement building.
IP TAKE: The Proteus Fund was among the first batch of progressive intermediaries that emerged during the 1990s, along with larger outfits like Tides and NEO Philanthropy. One of its earlier initiatives, now retired, was the Civil Marriage Collaborative, which “worked diligently to support public education, organizing, advocacy, and activism efforts to change hearts and minds on marriage equality,” leading up to the landmark 2015 Supreme Court ruling legalizing same-sex marriage. Another longtime interest for Proteus has been supporting policy and legislative changes to keep money out of politics. Global peace and security is another signature cause. Over time, and particularly since U.S. politics shifted in 2016, Proteus has embraced a range of new interests and strategies. In a 2019 Inside Philanthropy interview, Proteus CEO Paul Di Donato said that “we’re trying to broaden our work to cover as many social justice areas as possible without getting so big that we lose our high-touch approach.” Across causes, Proteus values collaboration and intersectionality in philanthropy.
Proteus currently houses five distinct grantmaking funds in collaboration with other donors and philanthropies, as outlined below. These funds typically do not accept unsolicited requests for funding, although specific funds will announce calls for proposals within specific timeframes. In addition to donor organizing and grantmaking through its signature pooled funds, Proteus hosts DAFs, serves as a fiscal sponsor, and performs other philanthropy-serving roles. Proteus invites prospective grantees to contact program directors and officers for information about grantmaking opportunities, with contact information under the corresponding program page at the Proteus website.
PROFILE: Based in New York City and Amherst, Massachusetts, the Proteus Fund was established by philanthropy veteran Meg Gage in 1994 and maintains the mission of partnering “with foundations, advocates and individual donors to advance democracy, human rights and peace.” Gage headed the organization for twenty years until 2015, when current CEO Paul Di Donato stepped in. Inside Philanthropy founder David Callahan characterized Gage as a “pioneer” who “changed philanthropy—and the world.” In particular, Callahan noted the role Proteus played in showing the potentials of intermediary organizations in philanthropy and igniting donor interest in causes that weren’t getting enough attention, like civil liberties, marriage equality, and supporting grassroots activism.
Today, Proteus describes its work as an “ecosystem of donor collaboratives, fiscally sponsored projects, and donor advised funds” working together “to fight for the same ultimate goal: a more just and equitable world.”
The fund’s current areas of grantmaking include democracy, human rights, LBGTQI justice, racial justice and gender justice. Proteus runs four main cooperative funds:
- The Piper Fund supports democratic institutions and practices with an emphasis on disenfranchised communities.
- The RISE Together Fund supports BAMEMSA (Black, African, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian) organizations and communities.
- The Rights, Faith and Democracy Collaborative supports reproductive rights, the rights of LGBTQ people, and others affected by “religious extremism.”
- The Solidarity Collaborative supports solidarity and allyship among diverse groups and organizations toward an inclusive, representative democracy.
The fund also supports its grantees through a Safety and Security Fund and supports smaller organizations working in its areas of interest through its Fiscal Sponsorship and Evolving Philanthropy programs. Finally, Proteus manages donor-advised funds that help “philanthropists aligned with our vision, mission and values to shape their grantmaking while benefiting from the institutional knowledge and capacity of a trusted partner.”
Organizations that Proteus supports as a fiscal sponsor include the Contigo Fund and the State Law Research Initiative.
Grants for Civic Engagement and Democracy
The Proteus Fund supports civic engagement and democracy through the Piper Fund, which brings like-minded individual donors and foundations together to defend democratic practices. The Piper Fund runs the following sub-inititatives:
The Money in Politics Reform funding program seeks to “reduce the influence of money in politics” through the support of civic engagement, civic engagement and the participation of underrepresented groups in politics and elections.
In a recent year, this sub-program supported the Common Cause Education Fund of New Mexico, which conducts research, policy development and public education programs in support of government and media accountability, voter rights and election integrity.
Another grantee, California’s ACCE Institute, used funding to run public education programs that address the ways in which money in politics detracts from community priorities.
The Judicial Independence subprogram aims to defend the judicial branch against “unprecedented attacks by special and political interests.” New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice received funding to support its litigation and policy development work in judicial independence, and Wisconsin Voices received funding for a public education program on judicial recusal. Other grantees to receive support for their work in the field of judicial independence include Iowa’s Justice Not Politics, the Arkansas Public Policy Panel and the re:power fund, which used funding to bring together leaders from six states to develop strategic plans for strengthening judicial integrity.
The Piper Fund’s third area of focus is Protecting the Right to Protest. The program was established in response to the more than 100 bills recently introduced at the state and federal levels aiming to increase fines and criminal penalties for certain types of protests. The fund runs a program that makes rapid response grants to community-led organizations protecting the right to protest peacefully in the U.S.
One recent grant went to the Kentucky Conservation Committee, which used funding to organize a challenge to a bill that would criminalize protests around pipelines. In Wisconsin, the Native American group Menikanaehkem received funding to support lobbying and public education efforts to protect freedoms of assembly.
And in Alabama, the People’s Action Institute received funding to protect freedoms of assembly at colleges and universities. Other grantees include the Michigan Student Power Alliance, D. C.’s Partnership for Civil Justice Fund and the Progressive Voices Institute, a national organization involved in community radio programming.
Grants for Criminal Justice Reform
Criminal justice reform is not a main area of grantmaking focus of the Proteus Fund, but organizations working in this area have been funded via Proteus’s donor advised funds.
- The Oklahoma Criminal Defense Lawyers Association received funding for juvenile justice training programs aimed at limiting the number of life without parole resentencing for minors in the state.
- Another grantee, Vermonters for Criminal Justice Reform, received funding for general operating support.
Grants for Racial Justice and Equity
The Proteus Fund’s RISE Together Fund responds to the “bias, discrimination, and intolerance” that “Black, African, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian (BAMEMSA) communities” are faced with on a regular basis across the U.S. The program’s stated mission is to work “alongside impacted communities to advance their civil rights, fight for full inclusion, and promote their contributions to democracy, culture, and society.”
- Grantmaking for this fund has increased over the past several years and topped $2 million in a recent year, with many grants supporting voter registration drives, violence prevention, digital security, immigrants’ rights and rapid response for organizations and communities affected by COVID-19.
- Among the program’s many grantees, California’s Muslim Student Association West received a grant for its advocacy and engagement training programs for college students, and the Arab-American Institute Foundation, a national organization, received funding for the development of information campaigns aimed at educating public officials on “discriminatory and biased policies.”
- Another recent grantee, D.C.’s Defending Rights and Dissent, used funding for its Muslim Women’s Organizing Institute.
- Other grantees of this fund include Asian Americans Advancing Justice, Greater Birmingham Ministries, the Georgia Muslim Voter Project and South Asian Americans Leading Together.
Grants for LGBTQ
Proteus’s grantmaking for LGBTQ causes stems from its Rights, Faith and Democracy Collaborative, which was established in 2017 and has made over $900,000 in grants, mainly in the states of Georgia, Minnesota, Colorado and New Mexico. This program supports both LGBTQ causes and reproductive rights by supporting “coalitions to maximize collective impact” and resisting “discrimination under the false guise of religious liberty.”
- One recent grantee, Atlanta Jobs with Justice, brings LGBTQ, economic justice and civic engagement organizations together to “shift Georgia’s culture to one that recognizes the harms of religious exemptions and rejects them in favor of comprehensive and inclusive policies.”
- Another grantee, Minnesota’s Gender Justice, supports collaborations that strengthen the rights of women, LGBTQ people and religious minorities.
- Other grantees include the One Colorado Education Fund, New Mexico’s Center for Civic Policy and OutFront Minnesota Community Services.
Grants for Women and Girls
Grants for women and girls stem mainly from Proteus’s Rights Faith and Democracy Collaborative, which names reproductive health and freedom as main areas of grantmaking focus. Established in 2017, this grantmaking program has so far prioritized cross-sector collaborations that support reproductive justice in the states of Georgia, Minnesota, Colorado and New Mexico.
- The New Mexico Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice received funding for its Entiende Coalition, which supports access to reproductive healthcare and counseling for all people, “regardless of who they are or who they love.”
- Another grantee, Georgia’s Alternate Roots, used funding to run its Women Engaged program, a collaboration of women’s, LGBTQ, economic justice and civic engagement groups that promotes comprehensive and inclusive reproductive health policies.
- Women’s organizations in the U.S. have also received funding from some of Proteus’s donor- and family-advised funds. These include HEART Women and Girls, the Southern Birth Justice Network and Louisiana’s Women with a Vision.
Grants for Global Security and Human Rights
The Proteus Fund does not name human rights as an area of grantmaking focus, and its three main funds work predominantly in the U.S.
- Proteus has, however, made grants to organizations involved in global human rights via its many donor- and family-advised funds.
- Grants have recently gone to organizations including the Alliance for Global Justice, the NDN Collective, Grassroots International and the International Domestic Workers Federations.
Important Grant Details:
The Proteus Fund’s grants can range from $5,000 to $2 million, though most fall in the $10,000 to $150,000 range.
Recent grantmaking has mainly gone to grassroots organizations in the U.S. working in various areas of social justice and democracy, and strong priority is given to collaborative and collective movements toward social change.
The Proteus Fund runs an open application process for its Rise Together Fund’s rapid response grants and provides application materials and guidelines on the subprogram’s webpage.
Its other collaborative funds do not accept unsolicited proposals, but each of its program pages accepts contact from grantseekers.
- General inquiries may also be submitted to the fund’s staff via the form on its contact page or by telephone at 413-256-0349.
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