Since the AWID International Forum in 2016, philanthropy has seen the expansion of women’s rights and gender justice funding initiatives: Black Feminist Fund, Equality Fund, Numun Fund, Shake The Table, and philanthropists Rohini Nilekani and MacKenzie Scott, to name a few. Yet, retrenchment is also occurring in notable ways with far-reaching consequences.

Before the 2024 Forum officially begins, AWID, Alliance for Feminist Movements, Count Me In Consortium, Gender Funders Colab and Prospera will facilitate a day-long convening for a group that represents bilateral donors, individual wealth stewards, and private, family, and corporate foundations. More than sharing knowledge, practice insights, and strategies, the purpose is to lay the groundwork for better resource mobilisation and identify possibilities to collaborate across differences.

To kickstart the conversation, I spoke with Lisa Mossberg (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency), Monica Aleman (Ford Foundation), and Faye Macheke (AWID) about the current context for funding feminist movements and the transformative potential this moment contains.

What should people know about the funding landscape?

Monica: In the last 10 years, we’ve seen the emergence of critical players such as corporate philanthropy and individual donors in the Global South, Europe, and North America. This has brought more flexibility, opportunities, and funding to the sector and helped strengthen the infrastructure of feminist movements. However, it’s essential that this growth continues to ensure reliable financial means at the scale of the problems feminist movements are responding to around the world. This shift in giving has led to new understandings of philanthropy that expand our notions of wealth, prosperity and well-being for all. If harvested well, they can help us more efficiently navigate the complexities present in volatile working environments.

Human rights backlash is not only targeting women, girls, and non-binary people. It’s also targeting fair and free elections in democratic societies and progressive work to stop climate change.

Lisa: Governments that devote a proportion of their national budget to Official Development Assistance (ODA) operate with dual accountability to their taxpayers and their partners in the feminist ecosystem. In Sweden, debate has formed around the extent to which we should prioritise International Development Cooperation. We have a tradition of generous ODA, and there’s been broad support for efforts that ensure human rights, gender equality, and democracy. It’s now being questioned if the partners and programs we finance are effective and transparent enough.

Therefore, it’s important that Sida, with our partners, explains what we contribute to, the impact achieved, and how it affects women and girls. Sida’s methodological guidance highlights how supporting women’s rights organisations is the most effective way to make progress on gender equality. This guidance explains how to provide long-term and flexible funding, that makes sense for our partners.

Faye: The resourcing landscape for feminist movements sees a mixture of progress and ongoing challenges. Some funders have heard our messages on getting multi-year, core, flexible funding directly to grassroots groups and are moving in this direction — at least in discourse. Yet, feminist movements remain underfunded, and political, economic, and social challenges are growing. The rise of far-right, authoritarian governments multiplies our challenges because the rights of women, LGBTQI+ people, and Indigenous and Black communities are first to be targeted when democracy is threatened. We need more funding for feminist movements because they deserve it and they deliver.

Why is this an important moment to fund with a gender justice lens?

Lisa: It will always be important until we achieve global gender justice. Over the last few years, we’ve seen anti-rights movements challenge earlier wins. Gender equality remains a priority for Sweden, but at the same time, we are now, like many other bilateral donors, directing a larger proportion of our funds to Ukraine, the climate crisis, and other urgent humanitarian assistance needs. It’s important to recognise that it’s not an either/or decision. Gender equality is a precondition for democracy and human rights, as well as effective work to stop climate change and meet humanitarian needs. Without a gender lens, we will fail to achieve what’s expected in other areas.

We can’t sit idle while we see and experience injustices around us. We must rise to the occasion through our funding, narratives, and actions.

Faye: Women and gender-diverse folks have always been at the forefront of change in many areas: human rights, climate, economy, technology, and defending democracy. The fragmentation of relegating gender resourcing to one portfolio is counterproductive. Also, the majority of funding still goes to organisations based in high-income countries instead of local groups on the frontlines in places most affected. Investing in strengthening feminist movements that work effectively across silos and advance comprehensive social change is strategic to stop backlash.

Monica: The scale of the problem feminist organisations, networks, and funds face requires us to act — from weak democratic systems to the epidemic of gender-based violence. We can’t sit idle while we see and experience injustices around us. We must rise to the occasion through our funding, narratives, and actions. This includes doubling down on commitments to funding in the Global South. We must expand our capacity to provide financial resources in regions of the world and to communities that have been historically excluded.

What potential do you hope the gathering activates?

Lisa: We need to make the best out of the funding available and make sure our resources are relevant for those doing the work. This looks like long-term and core support, of course; but we also need partnerships that go beyond the one-way transaction of funding and include two-way knowledge exchange, shared assessments, and joint advocacy. We must coordinate and achieve complementarity between different kinds of work, not be part of competition. Human rights backlash is not only targeting women, girls, and non-binary people. It’s also targeting fair and free elections in democratic societies and progressive work to stop climate change.

There’s an opportunity to combine different funding streams and align them with other demands. Government funding will probably always be more burdensome because of the double accountability we have towards taxpayers, while philanthropic funding can often be more flexible. I hope we can elaborate on how we can collaborate to support our partners to make the best out of these different kinds of funding.

Monica: My hope is that we aren’t overly focused on grant-making, explore the systems by which wealth is created and distributed, and deepen our understanding of other revenue sources, including investments and fee-for-service, that bring money to the table. We have a historic opportunity to influence a generation of philanthropic investors about the importance of generating large-scale revenue sources for social good. It’s equally imperative for feminist movements to not shy away from recognising the resourcing that’s planned and allocated beyond grant-making. We must be ready to be in those conversations, partner with unlikely allies, and diversify and redefine how financial management systems operate to advance gender justice. We cannot just wait for others to change; we need to be willing to change ourselves.

Faye: People are tired of the same conversations, so we’ll go beyond restating the problems and focus on creative, adaptable, implementable, and forward-thinking solutions. We need to listen to and hear each other, articulate clear demands, and co-create strategies to immediately increase funding. That includes concretely stating how to move, track, and increase resources in coordinated, efficient, and effective ways. We don’t have a money problem; we have a distribution problem. Since we can’t make social change without social connection, AWID brings us together to expand horizons of what’s possible and gives us the tools to do it.

Mandy Van Deven is the Founder of Both/And Solutions, a global consulting collective that provides strategic advice to individual wealth holders and philanthropic institutions, and the Co-lead of Elemental, a community of practice for funders that cultivates the conditions to resource narrative power.

This article is part of a series leading up to the Moving Money, Building Movements convening. Taking place one day before AWID’s 15th International Forum, the convening is for funders and activists to come together to connect and strategize. Please note the views in this article do not necessarily represent the views of all the organizing partners of Moving Money, Building Movements.