The Seeding the Movement Fund is one of three grant programs within the Peace Development Fund’s Community Organizing Grants (COG) portfolio. The Peace Development Fund (PDF) is a private philanthropic organization focused on supporting grassroots community organizing that seeks to shift power and promote justice. This fund is dedicated to organizations in the United States, Mexico, or Haiti that are building and sustaining broad-based movements for justice.
The fund seeks to support organizations that are either expanding their base of active members or functioning as movement support organizations that cultivate and sustain movement leaders. Applicants must clearly articulate how they build capacity, organize impacted communities, and develop leadership. PDF emphasizes the importance of deep embodiment of its Four Pillars of Community Organizing: shifting power, building a movement, dismantling oppression, and creating new structures. All grant proposals are reviewed for alignment with these core values.
Grants under this fund average $7,000 and are open to small organizations with an annual budget of $250,000 or less. Applicants must either have 501(c)(3) nonprofit status or a U.S.-based fiscal sponsor. Funding is not available for programs outside the eligible countries, or for projects that are not rooted in community organizing. Organizations that have received three consecutive years of funding from PDF must wait two years before reapplying to any COG fund, including Seeding the Movement.
The application opens in November and closes at the end of January. First-round decisions are issued in March, with final awards announced in early May. All COG programs use a shared application form titled “Community Organizing Grants,” accessible through the Peace Development Fund’s online grants portal. The submission process does not require a separate pre-application.
This fund follows an annual cycle and is expected to reopen every November. Successful applicants should demonstrate how they are developing grassroots leadership, sustaining movement work, and operating with a long-term vision for justice. The program supports both direct organizing efforts and organizations that serve as critical infrastructure for movement building.
Show how your group cultivates leadership and sustains movements; align with PDF’s Four Pillars; explain community base and structural focus
