Why most funding grants wouldn't work for us?

Contributor: Shashank

This piece emerged out of a team conflict around applying for a particular grant. The dissonance that I felt - I tried to pursue it, hold it and let it form some insights valuable for our collective and systemic work at Youth Alliance. Although I sat with it, with laziness and another of our team felt anger - Both I guess would be part of the 'dyesha' in us. 

I am also responding from the space - "The process of knowing who we are alongside the process of knowing who we are not" (we as an organisation / group / community).

This is what I think such grants wouldn't work for us:

• Big Bold / Scale : If you look at any of these grants - they would ask you for your big idea / bold initiative. Typically it means new but in the same frame, it means how do you reach out to more and more people. Or how do you apply technology. Doing a quick survey of last years' winners would make the pattern visible - a new impact investment app, a platform to help catholic church around the world manage land, a new cleaner energy solution etc.

• How do you measure your work? - Numbers - Another thing we falter at, are numbers. Like 100 folks per year - is not a big deal. Actually we try and focus our efforts on the intention, purity of our work with each person. We could easily use the curriculum and reach 100000 people. not easily but possibly then that would begin to work. 

• Self Reflective and System Reflective - Anything that does more work of the same order is funded. Anything that slows down the work, reflects on self and through the self on the system is not encouraged by the grants. Fundamentally the Theory of Change these grants rely on tech, scale, policy. More on this later. Just exploring Glenda's work on systems' change and Charles thought on why systems aren't changing reveal somethings. 

• Development agenda - Most of these grants etc work for the underprivileged - that's another catch. Not question the privilege.

More deeply

• The Worldview that these grants come from, in my understanding comes from human desire to control and conquer - to find the next solution to fix the next problem. Like for each problem we face, there's a better idea, technology etc available / possible to innovate and thw work of the grants is to find the best fit for the next big idea to change the world. However, more and more I think we are getting grounded in indeginous worldview which honors the mystery of life. Which likes to surrender to nature. Which likes to reorient our life in harmonious relationship with nature. 

• Structures that run the system we are reimagining (in our conversations, programs, team) - its harder to get their support. So typical recognition wouldn't come, big money wouldn't visit our doors, has been a realisation. Although like many of our elders say, we would rewarded in other ways - and if we are able to survive till the time for some of our ideas have come, thats the magic. 

My personal take on grants has been

I have been not fully sure of these thoughts and perhaps not confident enough to dismiss what seems like the only option for us to survive in the world (of course financially). Secondly, I thought its probably me who is not getting the energy in these processes, some other members in the team would - so let them take the lead. I am only understanding this in reflection - and therefore not proactive in communication of this. So when Anisha and Saloni became part of the grant process, I say great, i hope it works out. If V is excited to write an application - great. I could have supported you guys better, but this is where I was / am. 

So where is the hope 

- Friendships with individuals who can become patrons - Prakhar cracked it to some extent 

- Grants that are specifically about inner work, spirituality, like Fetzer etc 

- So far we have been reaching out to social change / entrepreneurship grantmakers to support spiritual-social work! Can we reach out to spiritual orgs interested in social service? Another glimmer is peace building framework of grants. 

- Studying models of orgs like Youth JAM. 

- Lastly material aspects of our work - since our work is so tangible - I have also been thinking on the lines of what material manifestation could there be if we layed out spiritual foundations. Its similar to the analogy of its hard to fund quality teaching but easier to fund school infra, tech etc. It could be creating sacred community land base, reviving local economy of an area, reviving forest etc. (just thinking of wild ideas)

What are the questions that still need inquiry? 

• If we know such structures wouldn't work for us - how do we show up to these places? Is not engaging a healthy option?
• How do we do the work of creating a voice for what we garner in our understanding of this work?
• How do we sustain energy and effort in the direction of figuring out financial resources for our work?

What I personally commit to

• To begin to land some of these ideas more concretely in our community spaces, programs. 
• Supporting more actively to you guys in matters such as F/R. 
• Raising money for immediate and medium term purposes
• Make ourselves known to people - as to what our thought behind our actions is. 
• Building on networks that put us in different field other than social entrepreneurship field