Photo Credit: EBASE

Grantmaking

Photo Credit: EBASE

PIVOT Pooled Fund

PIVOT exists to resource, connect, and collaborate with power-building organizations across issues to develop and drive a long-term agenda that centers the needs and self-determined priorities of California’s communities of color. Our pooled fund addresses chronic and severe underinvestment in year-round organizing and voter engagement, and catalyzes new and large-scale investments needed to build enduring political power for communities of color. 

Betting big on people power by supporting the infrastructure of c3, c4, and fiscally sponsored organizations, specifically:

  • Organizing Infrastructure: Recruiting, onboarding, developing, and retaining volunteer grassroots leaders and organizers to become part of the fabric of power-building organizations.
  • Narrative Infrastructure: Building narrative power and infrastructure to shift public opinion and change policies. 
  • Independent Revenue Infrastructure: Creating flexible financial and generating new funding to support and scale power-building over time.

Photo Credit: PICO California

In our grantmaking, PIVOT:

  • Grows resources to benefit all regions of the state, from LA and the Bay Area to the Inland Empire, Central Coast, and Central Valley. 
  • Emphasizes historically underfunded regions to build lasting power for communities that historically have not had a seat at the table. 
  • Builds the power-building infrastructure (skills and capacity, organizational forms and resources) needed in California to drive a long-term agenda defined by our communities. 
  • Leads new approaches to power-building by funding experiments in coalition building, voter engagement, grassroots leadership training, data systems, and narrative change. 

Grantee Highlights

Bay Rising

Bay Rising is a growing alliance of over 30 community-led organizations across the Bay Area representing Black, Latino, and Asian working-class communities, will kick off a groundbreaking fellowship to train lead organizers and civic engagement campaign leaders, building a systematic approach to organizing capacity-building.

Grantee Highlights

Gente Organizada

Gente builds intergenerational power for youth and immigrant families in Pomona, East San Gabriel Valley, and Inland Empire, will create a street team that will reach over 10,000 voters, fund grassroots leadership development for youth and parents, incubate policy campaigns, and form a 501c4 organization.

Grantee Map

In our first round of grantmaking, we moved more than $7 million in multi-year grants to 14 regional and statewide organizations, coalitions, and networks reaching more than 70 organizations around the state. Grants ranged from $250,000 to $1 million. Across California — from LA and the Bay Area to the Inland Empire, Central Coast, and Central Valley — we fund organizations that are leading breakthrough strategies to empower communities that have long been denied a voice in elections and government.

Click on the map to see a list of Grantees for a specific region or select from the left. To see the full list again, click “Reset List”.

Select Map or List to see a list of Grantees for a specific region. Click “Reset” to reset the list.

Frequently Asked Questions

Learn more about PIVOT, our structure, and process for our grantmaking.

How is PIVOT structured?

PIVOT is guided by a steering committee of 14 organizers and funders. The PIVOT steering committee determined the criteria for choosing grantees. Our grantmaking decisions are guided by the grantmaking ad hoc committee, made up of three funders, three practitioners, and PIVOT’s director. This committee takes the lead on creating the requests for information, supporting office hours, creating the scoring rubrics, reviewing RFIs, recommending the top applications to formally invite to apply, creating the grant application, and putting together a grant portfolio recommendation for the PIVOT steering committee to review, discuss, and approve. 

California Community Foundation is providing fiscal and administrative management of PIVOT.

Who are the organizers and funders that comprise the steering committee?

The Steering Committee includes leaders from ACCE Institute, Alliance San Diego, Bay Rising, Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE), Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA), Communities for a New California, PICO California, Power California, Million Voters Project, California Community Foundation, Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, San Francisco Foundation, The California Endowment and The California Wellness Foundation.

How were these grantees identified?

Our grantmaking is by invitation only. A total of 114 power-building organizations were invited to submit a request for information. All organizations invited to submit a request for information had been previously connected to PIVOT through our learning sessions or had been referred by a steering committee member. Of the 114, 71 organizations completed the survey. For the second phase, 35 organizations were invited to apply, and we received strong applications that reflected the incredible work happening in frontline communities across California, showcasing the strength and innovation of the state’s power-building ecosystem. We awarded grants to six statewide organizations and eight regional organizations.

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