We Raise Foundation

We Raise Foundation identifies innovative ideas, people, and programs that raise consciousness, community leadership, and capital. Motivated by our belief that freedom is grace in action, we provide grants and assistance with resource development to organizations that work at the intersection of poverty, violence, and inequality. We have a preference for solutions within the areas of education, workforce development, and criminal justice—funding non-profit, Christian organizations that predominantly serve communities of color.

We Raise provides grants and resource development to organizations working at the intersection of poverty, violence, and inequality. Our GrantsPlus grant recipients fall into three broad programming categories: education, workforce development, and criminal justice. To provide meaningful financial support that has long-term impact, the GrantsPlus program focuses on four geographic areas: Chicago, St. Louis, Milwaukee, and the San Francisco Bay area. These cities were selected following a rigorous review process in which need and potential for change was determined through a scoring process. We fund new initiatives – less than three years old. Where other foundations require a robust record of success, We Raise invests early because true change is only possible when people with fresh ideas and energy are empowered to challenge the status quo.

Access to high-quality education early in life is a determinant of lifelong success, and it is critical that we support programs which give children the opportunity to break intergenerational cycles of poverty. To do so, We Raise supports Christian schools, before and after school care, and tutoring programs for low-income children in kindergarten through eighth grade. With this support, the next generation to enter the workforce will be equipped with the skills and tools necessary to become contributing members of society.

Also critical to breaking the cycle of poverty is workforce development programming for parents, particularly mothers, which supports them as they seek the education, skills, and training to acquire living-wage jobs which provide them with a pathway to stability.

Finally, We Raise invests in programs that offer solutions to recidivism by providing inmates and ex-offenders with support and training to successfully re-enter society. We believe effective justice requires consequences for those who break the law, but every crime should not result in a lifetime sentence. Through programs that provide legal services to low-income individuals and those that offer prisoners and ex-offenders the tools necessary to re-integrate into society, including employment training, our communities will become more vibrant places for all.

In addition to the financial award, GrantsPlus grantees also receive:
• A resource development assessment that includes an analysis of their current fundraising plan and identification of opportunities
for additional revenue streams.
• An incentivized crowdfunding campaign, which could provide up to $20,000 in additional funding.
• Donor and foundation research

In addition to the financial award, Emerging Leader grantees receive:
• $5,000 for leadership development, which includes:
• Attendance at a Leadership Fundamentals conference through The Center for Creative Leadership
• Attendance at the Global Leadership Summit through satellite locations
• Individualized Leadership Coaching

We Raise Foundation currently operates with a $3M budget, 8 board members, 5 full-time employees, and dozens of volunteers. Our staff includes members with extensive experience managing grant programs, making and maintaining important connections with others in our field, communicating and marketing for our organization, and raising funds.

Through a series of conversations with our grantees and other non-profit leaders, it became clear that grant funding, while helpful, would be inadequate to truly support organizations with innovative ideas. So, in addition to monetary support available through each grant, We Raise also offers GrantsPlus awards tools and services to strengthen the capacity of grantees in fundraising, resource development, crowdfunding support, and access to donor and foundation research to accelerate their growth. By helping them become more effective at resource development, we are investing in a function critical to sustainability.

With this additional capacity building support, the value of a We Raise grant nearly doubles immediately but its true value is felt in the years after the award. This approach, combining significant financial support with capacity building services, is singular in its approach in the United States, and we believe will lead to results that could not be achieved otherwise.

We have made over 2,000 grants totaling more than $45M throughout our history, which has impacted over one million people. In 2018, we intentionally designed a three-year strategic plan that reflects our deep commitment to bring greater value to our grantees, but also allows for the fluid dynamic that is represented in the human service sector. Our core objective is to get more resources into the hands of the innovative leaders and organizations that are bringing solutions to the issues of poverty, violence, and inequality. We believe our value proposition—to help organizations be more effective at generating resources—uniquely positions us in the grantmaking community and we hope to inspire others to similar models of service. In short, we are evolving with the growing needs of our grantees.