Chinook Fund’s democratized grantmaking brings together a diverse cohort of people from all income levels who are passionate about social change and interested in developing in fundraising, grantmaking, and community building. Through The Giving Project and our Grantmaking Committee (GMC), we are committed to resourcing emerging social justice leaders across Colorado.
Giving Project member applications will reopen in Fall 2027.
Previous Giving Project Cohort
Chinook Fund’s democratized grantmaking brings together a diverse cohort of people from all income levels who are passionate about social change and interested in developing in fundraising, grantmaking, and community building. Through The Giving Project and our Grantmaking Committee (GMC), we are committed to resourcing emerging social justice leaders across Colorado. Giving Project member applications will reopen in Fall 2027.
The Giving Project brings together a diverse group of people at all income levels who are passionate about social change and want to strengthen their skills in fundraising, grantmaking, and community building. Participants work together to deepen their understanding of social justice principles in order to support grassroots organizations that build power for social change in Colorado. Chinook Fund is proud to collaborate with seven other community foundations and justice funders in the national development of this innovative philanthropy model.
Over the next year, as we implement our Strategic Plan, Chinook Fund will pause our Giving Project program for two cycles (Fall 2026 and Spring 2027). We want to make the Giving Project program bolder, sharper, and even more accountable to the movements it serves, while carving out ongoing opportunities for organizing, political education, connection, and community-building among alumni. Chinook Fund remains committed to mobilizing critical resources during this time and will host a special grantmaking cycle for our current grantees. We will welcome new Giving Project members in Fall 2027.
Please contact Mateo Parsons, Program Director, at mparsons@chinookfund.org for more information about this program.
The Giving Project is a process. It requires a commitment of your time, talent, and resources over a period of six months. The basic Giving Project structure is:
Anyone. You do not have to know anything about nonprofits, philanthropy, or fundraising. There is no minimum (or maximum) amount you have to donate or raise as an individual. You should apply if you want to participate in resourcing social justice movements across Colorado; learn how to fundraise, make grants, and expand your network; are passionate about building community across race and class lines; and are ready to take on a challenging and transformative experience for six months. The Giving Project will be a diverse group. LGBTQ-identified people, people of color, and low-income individuals are especially encouraged to apply.
Our Giving Project members are building the movement! Thanks to their outstanding passion for justice and their dedicated collective effort, the Giving Project has strategically moved hundreds of thousands of dollars and activated hundreds of new donors to support change, not charity.
Members can expect about 100 hours of participation time over the program. Approximately 40 hours are spent in live sessions and 60 hours are spent reviewing materials, evaluating grants, and engaging in site visits.
Dates will be added below in anticipation of the Fall 2027 Giving Project cohort.
Typical Program Schedule:
Session 1: Laying the Groundwork
Session 2: Introduction to Philanthropy
Session 3: Understanding Race and Class, Part 1
Session 4: Understanding Race and Class, Part 2
Session 5: Grassroots Fundraising 101
Session 6: Social Justice Giving
Session 7: Meet the Changemakers
Session 8: Screening Applications, Part 1
Session 9: Screening Applications, Part 2
Session 10: Final Decisions, Part 1
Session 11: Final Decisions, Part 2
Session 12: Celebrate and Evaluate
Please reach out to Mateo Parsons, Program Director, at mparsons@chinookfund.org about joining a future Giving Project. Our next Giving Project will take place in Fall 2027.
Chinook Fund accepts applicants using an equity framework on a rolling basis. Any applicants who are not selected within two weeks of their interview are placed on a waiting list until recruitment for the cohort ends. Those who were not admitted are first-tier candidates for future Giving Projects. Chinook Fund can admit approximately 25 members with three alternates for each cycle.
The Giving Project funds diverse organizations engaged in all types of social justice community organizing across Colorado. Volunteers will make all grantmaking decisions independently. It is our firm belief that by having community members manage the grantmaking process, Chinook Fund is able to fund movements which are most relevant to the community.
Each Giving Project participant will attend an information session, submit an online application, and have a conversation with a member of the Giving Project leadership team. We are looking for people who can commit to all meetings in the process, have the time and capacity to fully invest in the cohort experience, and meet our overall goals for cohort diversity. We especially encourage people of color and LGBTQ-identified people to apply, and are looking for individuals from various class backgrounds. We admit members on a rolling basis with an emphasis on equity and diversity in philanthropy.
Yes. Chinook Fund is committed to providing childcare for meetings as part of the program. If you require childcare, please tell us during the application process.
The Giving Project participants will use Chinook Fund’s longstanding funding criteria to select grantees. We are committed to funding organizational efforts that change systems of injustice within Colorado. For grantees, nothing will change in our process or funding guidelines.
Frankly, most people do. Most of us feel intensely uncomfortable asking for money. There are a lot of reasons for that, which every Giving Project group will explore in our fundraising training. We will help you learn how to ask for money effectively and to feel good about it, knowing you are engaging in powerful action for social change. It’s not just about fundraising; Giving Project participants become donor organizers—leveraging their own donations to bring in the donations of others and help build power for those working for long-term social change. We just ask every participant in every Giving Project to challenge themselves, which will mean different things for different people.
We will train participants in grassroots fundraising. This means having conversations with people in your network one-to-one (or virtually) about their values and making a direct ask. We are not using online platforms like GoFundMe or crowd-sourced fundraising. The purpose of this is to build skills around relational fundraising, which is the most challenging—and yet still the most effective—type of fundraising.
