Powering People, Not Just Projects: The Role of Unrestricted Funding in Movement Building
Movements are made of people—visionaries, organizers, advocates, and everyday individuals coming together to demand change. From environmental justice to education reform, from racial equity to housing rights, movements require more than strategy and slogans. They need staying power.
Yet the financial backbone of these movements is often fragile. Many grassroots organizations are caught in a cycle of chasing project-specific grants, leaving little room to adapt, plan long-term, or simply support the people driving the work. Unrestricted funding offers a different path forward—one that honors not just outcomes, but the human effort behind them.
Grants that provide flexible financial support, rather than tying funds to narrowly defined deliverables, are becoming increasingly vital for nonprofits working at the intersection of advocacy, equity, and systemic change.
Why Flexibility Matters
In movement work, the path is rarely linear. Organizers often face rapidly changing social, political, and economic conditions that demand quick pivots. A policy change might open new doors—or close old ones. A community crisis might shift priorities overnight. Unrestricted funding allows organizations to respond in real time, without being locked into outdated project goals or rigid budget categories.
More importantly, it makes room for creativity and experimentation. Innovation doesn’t thrive under micromanagement. It grows when leaders are trusted to allocate resources based on lived reality, not just grant guidelines.
For small or emerging organizations especially, flexibility can mean the difference between surviving and thriving. Whether it’s covering rent, hiring a new organizer, or upgrading digital tools, unrestricted grants give nonprofits the room to breathe.
Credit: David Shankbone – Own work
Investing in People, Not Just Outputs
Traditional funding often focuses on measurable outputs: the number of events held, reports published, or services delivered. While these are valuable, they don’t capture the full picture of movement building. Relationships, resilience, and leadership development are harder to quantify, but they’re essential to long-term impact.
Unrestricted funding shifts the emphasis toward people—the organizers holding it all together, the community members leading change in their neighborhoods, the staff sustaining energy behind the scenes.
This kind of support can cover fair wages, mental health resources, professional development, and capacity building. It recognizes that burnout is real and that caring for those doing the work is just as important as the work itself.
Building Infrastructure for Impact
Movements don’t just need inspiration—they need infrastructure. That includes everything from technology and transportation to legal support and communications strategies. These essentials often fall outside the scope of project-based funding but are fundamental to success.
Unrestricted grants give organizations the power to strengthen their internal systems. This includes setting up databases, creating evaluation frameworks, or simply having the time and resources to plan ahead instead of playing catch-up.
When nonprofits have strong foundations, they can take bold action. They can engage more people, communicate more clearly, and collaborate more effectively across coalitions. In short, they can lead movements that last.
Centering Equity in Funding Practices
One of the greatest barriers to equity in the nonprofit sector is the uneven distribution of resources. Larger, well-established organizations often have the staff, connections, and language needed to navigate complex grant applications. Meanwhile, grassroots groups—often led by and serving communities of color, immigrants, or other marginalized groups—struggle to access funding that aligns with their values and realities.
Unrestricted funding helps correct this imbalance by trusting those closest to the work. It values lived experience as much as formal credentials and seeks to fund organizations based on impact and insight, not just polish or prestige.
This model of giving helps shift power, not just resources. It reimagines philanthropy as a partnership rather than a transaction, and acknowledges that those doing the work know best how to use the support they receive.
Sustaining the Long Game
Movement work doesn’t end with a single campaign or legislative victory. It’s a continuous process of building awareness, shifting culture, and pushing systems toward justice. This kind of work requires deep roots and sustained effort.
Unrestricted funding allows organizations to play the long game. Instead of constantly redirecting energy to meet funder timelines, they can stay focused on strategy, community engagement, and vision. They can take the time to reflect, revise, and regroup when needed.
This longevity matters. Many of the changes movements seek—whether ending mass incarceration, securing climate justice, or transforming education—take years, even generations, to fully realize. Supporting that work requires funders who are equally committed to the long haul.
Encouraging Risk and Innovation
Movements often emerge from discomfort—from people challenging the status quo and imagining something better. That work is inherently risky. It can mean going against dominant narratives, speaking uncomfortable truths, or trying strategies that haven’t been tested.
Project-based funding tends to reward predictability. Funders want clear outcomes, deliverables, and assurances. But change doesn’t always come with guarantees. Unrestricted grants provide a cushion for experimentation and risk-taking, which are necessary ingredients for real transformation.
By freeing organizations from overly rigid expectations, this funding model encourages courage, not just caution. It opens space for new ideas and helps movements stay dynamic and forward-looking.
Strengthening Collaboration
No movement exists in isolation. Success often depends on collaboration—across regions, sectors, and issues. Unrestricted funding gives organizations the ability to show up in coalition spaces without worrying whether it fits neatly into their grant deliverables.
It also allows groups to share resources, co-create strategies, and build solidarity without competition. When funding isn’t tied to tightly scoped projects, it’s easier to align across organizations and support one another’s strengths.
This collective approach amplifies impact and reflects the interconnected nature of justice work.
Making Room for Rest and Renewal
Movement building is powerful, but it can also be exhausting. Constant urgency, emotional labor, and resource scarcity take a toll. Without time to rest and reflect, even the most passionate leaders can burn out.
Unrestricted funding helps make rest possible. It enables sabbaticals, staff retreats, and mental health resources. It acknowledges that healing and sustainability are not luxuries—they are essential to the health of any movement.
When people are well cared for, they do better work. They stay longer, lead more effectively, and nurture others along the way.
Redefining Impact
The nonprofit world is often asked to prove impact in terms of numbers and short-term wins. But movement work is about more than checkboxes. It’s about shifting narratives, holding power accountable, and building a more just future.
Unrestricted funding invites a broader, more nuanced understanding of success. It honors the slow, often invisible work that makes visible victories possible. It allows organizations to tell their own stories of impact—stories rooted in relationships, transformation, and collective power.
A Call to Fund the Future
To build movements that matter, we must fund them in ways that reflect their values. That means moving away from restrictive, top-down models and toward flexible, trust-based approaches.
Unrestricted funding isn’t just a financial strategy. It’s a philosophy of empowerment—one that prioritizes people over paperwork, justice over metrics, and trust over control.
As the landscape of change continues to evolve, so too must the ways we support it. Investing in unrestricted grants is not just a gesture of support. It’s a commitment to powering people—the ones who wake up each day to build a better world, step by step.