The History of Wisconsin Community Fund
The idea of establishing a fund to support social change was hatched in the early 1970s by a maverick group of young people, mostly from wealthy families, though not all “trust fund kids.” Their lives and values, shaped by the social change movements of the 1960's, led them to re-evaluate their backgrounds and what they hoped to accomplish. By and large, these were young adults who didn’t want to follow in the footsteps of their philanthropist parents. Rather than funding museums, hospitals or universities, they felt moved to align their charitable giving with social justice and social change.
In their zeal, some of these original visionaries got together a small group of friends to create a fund in Wisconsin using an original template. Namely, they envisioned an organization that brought together the wealth of individual donors and the expertise of community activists to support societal change from the bottom up. Monies raised for the fund would be pooled. Decisions as to which groups would receive funding, and for how much, would be entrusted to an activist panel, the very people closest to the community groups seeking to redress various forms of social injustice from the grassroots.
Since its founding in 1982, Wisconsin Community Fund has provided over $1,600,000 in grants, software, and equipment to nearly 900 community-based groups around the state. These groups all have one thing in common: a deep-seated desire to go beyond symptoms to confront the root causes of the social inequalities affecting their communities.
From its inception, Wisconsin Community Fund took its place as part of a national network of similar funds known as the Funding Exchange, or FEX. Between the FEX and its member funds, the network distributes nearly $15 million each year to groups working in 22 of the 50 United States. Together they do their modest part to help build a broader social change movement nationally.
As you would expect, some of the issue areas the Fund supports – such as media reform, disability rights and environmental justice – ebb and flow over time. Still and all, it’s remarkable how some issues come back into high relief over time. Anti-war work spiked in the early 1990s and has increased relevance again in the new millennium. Similarly, the issue of immigrant rights has raised renewed interest, much as it did two decades earlier.
And in the broader market of philanthropy, social justice grantmaking – while still a small share of overall charitable giving in the U.S. – could not be more compelling given the current situation. Community block grants that used to support local organizing and development efforts have long since been slashed in the Federal budget. Other manifestations of our erstwhile “social safety net" are showing gaping holes.
As with community organizing, there is power in numbers: the power of marginalized citizens to coming together to form a committee, project or group to push back against unequal societal odds; the power of activists coming together to make the difficult funding choices when there is inevitably at least three times more demand for funding than there are dollars available; the power of donors coming together, pooling their resources to make a difference for agents of social change in all corners of Wisconsin.
At our best, the end result is a fund that keeps its ear to the ground for the next breakout group leading the charge in their particular topic or community. The result is a fund that says “yes” to emerging social change organizations when mainstream funders only say “come back in a few years when you have a track record.” The result is a group of loyal backers who know their affecting change, in their own small way, in their own back yard.