December 2023 — Moving the Needle | Woods Fund Chicago
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As the year comes to a close, Woods Fund Chicago is reflecting on the commitments outlined in our current strategic plan ahead of its final year. A significant focus of our 2022-2024 strategic plan announcement in 2022 was sustainability: Strengthening Woods Fund Chicago’s capacity and infrastructure and supporting the vitality and strength of Chicago’s organizing and advocacy ecosystem.
We are pleased to report our progress in our commitment to sustainability internally as a foundation and in supporting the sustainability of our grantee partners. In addition to our strides, we also continue our reflective work in understanding where there is room for growth as an organization, how we can better serve our partners, and how the philanthropic sector as a whole can boldly act to disrupt white supremacy culture and forge healthy, meaningful, and lasting relationships with our communities.
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In 2023, Woods Fund Chicago completed its shift away from project-based grants to unrestricted general operating grants. To expand upon our commitment to funding that supports growth, we have restructured our grantmaking to include multiyear grants beginning in 2024.
A new grants portal has been implemented through GivingData to ensure the application process is accessible and aligned with our values of trust-based philanthropy.
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A multiyear budget is in place for 2024-2026 to coincide with multiyear grants and hold firm our increase in payout.
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We know that our ability to sustain impactful movement and organizing work in Chicago is intrinsically tied to our sustainability as an organization. We have evaluated our internal operations and taken steps to streamline and clarify our work, including:
- Initiating a new performance review process for the Board to evaluate the President
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Implementing a revised Board assessment process and annual Board retreat to implement benchmarking
- Aligning our communications approach with our advocacy strategy through storytelling
- Refining our grantmaking process
We’ve witnessed the power of this work through our grantee partners’ milestones and successes over the past year. This new year, we celebrate the lasting power of these movements and look forward to another year of growth, understanding, collaboration, and community.
Thank you for joining us in this work. We’ll see you in the new year!
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Woods Fund Chicago congratulates our numerous grantee partners who have organized so that Chicagoans will have the opportunity to vote on the Bring Chicago Home referendum, a proposal to utilize a one-time Real Estate Transfer Tax to fund permanent affordable housing. Bring Chicago Home has received the support of several WFC grantee partners, including the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Communities United, Not Me We, and ONE Northside who serve on the steering committee.
Bring Chicago Home Supporters: Brave Space Alliance, Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, Communities United, Community Renewal Society, Enlace Chicago, Grassroots Collaborative, Heartland Alliance, Housing Action Illinois, Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, Latino Policy Forum, Mujeres Latinas en Acción, Not Me We, Northwest Side Housing Center, ONE Northside, Palenque LSNA, Pilsen Alliance, Shriver National Center on Poverty and Law, Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation, Supportive Housing Providers Association, The People’s Lobby, and Westside Rising.
We also congratulate our grantee partners who organized around the Paid Leave Ordinance which passed the Chicago City Council last month, scheduled to go into effect on December 31. The Paid Leave Ordinance is cited as the most progressive paid time off legislation in the nation.
Paid Leave Ordinance Organizers: AFIRE Chicago, Arise Chicago, Centro de Trabajadores Unidos: United Workers’ Center, Chicago Community and Workers Rights, Chicago Workers Collaborative, Latino Union of Chicago, Shriver Center for Policy Law, Warehouse Workers for Justice, Women Employed, and Workers Center for Racial Justice.
We celebrate the historic work of our grantee partners to ensure Chicago communities can come together in solutions that provide dignity and quality of life for all.
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The True Cost of Billionaire Philanthropy
Why We're Reading It: The Institute for Policy Studies has shared a report detailing the discrepancies in how billionaires present their philanthropic giving against the reality of where their money goes, whether their wealth is impacted, and who is benefited — and burdened — by these pledges. Along with key findings, the report presents recommendations to “reverse top-heavy philanthropy.”
Institute for Policy Studies // Read now
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please visit: woodsfund.org
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