GROUNDING OURSELVES IN RADICAL GIVING
As a community, we understand that we are in a continued cycle of learning, taking action and reflecting. Through our guiding principles and practices, we are able to ground our work and entire network to create a shared alignment, and actively work to ensure that our entire community – staff, leadership and members – live these out every day.
ABUNDANCE
We believe that there is more than enough to go around. Whether it is our finances, time, energy, joy, or lifting up one another’s successes, individuals with access to wealth, privilege, and resources can use that abundance to be more bold in their giving.
COMMUNITY AND INTERDEPENDENCE
We are part of the Solidaire Network because we strongly believe in collective liberation, and that we will only achieve this by being in community with one another. No one person is too knowledgeable, too special, or too experienced to spend time being in relationship with others. This is a key ingredient to our success and the success of movements.
MUTUAL LEARNING
We acknowledge that learning is a constant journey and that we all have something to teach one another. We value holding curiosity and nuance, and the possibility of having our analysis constantly adjusted, challenged and reshaped as we learn and reflect together.
We all have unique gifts and strengths to bring to the community. Whether it’s an ability to practice deep listening, years of grantmaking experience, a sharp eye for copywriting, or on the ground organizing experience, we all have a responsibility to bring our gifts forward and actively look for opportunities to contribute freely and with kindness.
TRUSTING THE LEADERSHIP OF MOVEMENTS
Following the lead of movements means not just giving representation and voice to movement leaders, but actual power. Whether it’s taking the responsibility to adapt to relational dynamics or processes that are different from what we understand, to trusting leaders when they share challenges rather than questioning, we actively strive to center what movements teach and tell us. We also understand that means being ready to have difficult conversations around accountability.
These principles and practices are meant to be ever-changing and evolving, and we commit to reflecting on them on a yearly basis. We list these with the hope of understanding and committing to these key practices every day to support movements and donor organizing work. Our hope is to continue to deepen our praxis as a community, get more rigorous about what it looks like, and continue to adjust it.