JustFund is a digital platform for organizations to provide and seek grants in support of left-progressive political advocacy. It is a project of the left-progressive Solidaire Network. ¹

JustFund helps organizations to manage their grantmaking and grant proposals. The project offers a membership that allows members to access its database of proposals. Premium members receive administrative, management, and consultation services for their grantmaking or grant-seeking activities. ²

Background

JustFund was founded in 2017 by Lara Peng as a project of the left-of-center Solidaire Network. JustFund was created to be a digital platform that connects left-progressive foundations with prospective grantees and expedites the grantmaking process. ³

JustFund’s platform targets left-progressive organizations looking to fund left-of-center advocacy groups and campaigns. The platform is designed to make grant-seekers transparent in how they will use funding, so that member organizations can provide grants more quickly and efficiently. ⁴ JustFund’s platform for nonprofit organizations allows funding organizations to list grants for which prospective grantees may apply, facilitates the endorsement of organizations, and provides services for donors to organize grantmaking. ⁵

Partner Organizations

As a project of the Solidaire Network, JustFund was also created with the help of the left-of-center Marisla Foundation,  Overbrook Foundation,  and Neighborhood Funders Group as a solution to the slowness in the political grantmaking process. The organizations wanted a platform that would allow large organizations to quickly fund left-progressive organizations responding to time-sensitive political events. ⁶

In 2018, JustFund partnered with the left-progressive Amalgamated Charitable Foundation to help manage Amalgamated Charitable Foundation’s donor advised funds (DAFs), including the Emergent Fund and Way to Win. In return, Amalgamated Charitable Foundation provides financial, administrative, and consulting services for JustFund’s members to help them manage their grantmaking. ⁷ Amalgamated Charitable Foundation is a charitable administrative arm of Amalgamated Bank, a financial institution owned by the Workers United division of the SEIU labor union. ⁸

Grantmaking Services

JustFund’s website has a database for left-progressive groups that allows grant-seeking organizations to post grant proposals for prospective funders to browse. JustFund also allows organizations to post their work, so that funders can determine the validity of the proposals. JustFund CEO Lara Peng claims that this database allows funders and grantees to connect and develop networks of vetted, left-progressive funders and reliable recipients. ⁹

JustFund’s premium foundation members, with the help of Amalgamated Charitable Foundation, receive management and consulting services to digitally organize and track their funding activity. Prospective grant recipient members also receive help with advertising, obtaining grants, and analyzing  performance. ¹⁰

In JustFund’s first year, it helped over 200 grantmaking organizations give out $5 million in grants. In 2019, JustFund’s CEO reported that it had over 600 individual donors and foundations that were a part of the six donor networks which make up the platform. ¹¹

In 2021, JustFund reported that donors had disbursed $83 million worth of grants using its website. The project also claimed to have over 400 grantmaking organizations and 3,000 grantee organizations on the platform. ¹²

People

Lara Peng is the founder and CEO of JustFund. She has helped start several left-of-center and left-progressive groups as the founder of Young People For, co-founder of the Emergent Fund, and director of the Solidaire Network. ¹³¹⁴

Melody Lee is JustFund’s managing director. She cofounded the left-progressive Katal Center for Health, Equity, and Justice and previously worked for other left-progressive campaigns. ¹⁵

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7. Foundation, Amalgamated. “Powerful Collaboration: JustFund and the Amalgamated Foundation.” Powerful Collaboration: JustFund and the Amalgamated Foundation | Amalgamated Foundation. Accessed July 16, 2021. https://www.amalgamatedfoundation.org/insights-and-initiatives/powerful-collaboration-justfund-and-amalgamated-foundation.
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13. Peng, Lara. “Lara Peng.” LinkedIn. Accessed July 16, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/iara-peng/.
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15. JustFund. Accessed July 16, 2021. https://justfund.us/who-we-are/.