Immigrants Belong Fund (I-Belong Fund)
The Immigrants Belong Fund (I-Belong Fund) is a immigration advocacy initiative of the left-of-center pass-through funder Tides Foundation. 1 2 Its goal is to fund the creation and distribution of “pro-immigrant” digital content, with a focus on a “movable middle” audience. 1 The I-Belong fund was launched in 2023 with the goal of raising $6 million by 2026. 1
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The initiative is managed by Define American, a left-of-center immigration advocacy organization that was incubated by the pass-through funder NEO Philanthropy. 3 4
Immigrants Belong Toolkit
In December 2024, Define American released an “Immigrants Belong Toolkit” of research data and potential messaging to assist content creators in developing pro-immigration digital content. 5 The toolkit’s materials are targeted at a “movable middle” audience, largely on YouTube, TikTok, and other online platforms, whom it identifies as persuadable on immigration policy. 6 5
The toolkit suggests that organizations partner with social media influencers to promote pro-immigration messages, as “Moveable Middle respondents said that they trusted influencers whom they follow more than professors or journalists, regardless of qualifications.” 6
Grant Recipients
The Immigrants Belong Fund gave $100,000 grants to 10 nonprofit organizations that were invited to apply by the Tides Foundation, which did not accept unsolicited grant proposals. 7 Organizations with ethnic minority or immigrant leadership received preferential treatment in the grantmaking process. 8
The 10 grant recipients were Aliento Arizona, the American Business Immigration Coalition, the Asian American Advocacy Fund, the Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo, the Florida Immigrant Coalition, the Justice Action Center, La Union del Pueblo Entero, the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, and the Texas Civil Rights Project. 4