On Monday, June 8, nearly 700 people gathered on a call co-organized by NFG’s Funders for Justice and donor-organizing partners for the Movement for Black Lives to fortify our resolve and commitment to Black lives by ramping up our support to M4BL to the tune of $50M. Reaching this goal would be unprecedented — and would secure the national infrastructure to meet the urgency of the current moment, while building toward Black liberation for the long-term.

“What rules are you prepared to break in defense of Black lives?”

We are hearing your answers: Many of you are increasing your endowment payout, doubling your existing grants, committing to moving money to the movement for a minimum of ten years and inspiring your people to get bold and move resources. We see you – and we need you to keep going.

We. Just. Getting. Started.

This was the week we know you’ve heeded the call. You have been organizing, meeting, and starting to move money. We see you. We thank you. We’re closer but we’re not there yet. We see you, keep going. Our team will be in touch in the coming weeks to follow up, share resources, and connect you to each other for peer-to-peer organizing based on what we are hearing.

Important news!

M4BL has a big action June 19, in DC and everywhere. We need to let M4BL know we got their back, that we’re in their corner. You can do this by moving dollars, and mobilizing your people to do the same – TODAY. Let’s make sure that M4BL and the over 150 orgs in the M4BL ecosystem have the resources to turn out in numbers bigger than we’ve ever seen. Imagine all that is possible when M4BL wins. #DefendBlackLives #DefundPolice

As a reminder, here are the four ways we need funders to show up for Black lives:

FIRST: COMMIT. If you haven’t done so yet, complete this survey with your own pledge. The information you share will help us understand, support, and connect your efforts going forward. We are asking for a level of directness and swiftness that isn’t common for philanthropy — however these are also unprecedented times.

SECOND: ORGANIZE. We need you to organize your institutions, boards, friends, family, funder affinity groups — the communities you can and have organized to move resources — and schedule a meeting within the next week! Identify your highest and best resources towards Defending Black Lives and make a plan to unlock them. And please let us know if you plan to organize a meeting so we can reach back out to you to follow up.

THIRD: GIVE. We ask that you make a generous one-time donation and a sustainable recurring donation to M4BL and its ecosystem here. Share this link widely and look out for more resources from us on how to raise additional resources from your friends, family, and community.

FOURTH: FOLLOW THROUGH. Get ready to share with us what you are prepared to do, and what philanthropic “rules” you are prepared to break to Defend Black Lives today. If you haven’t heard from us already, we’ll reach out to you in the next few days.