For the last 30 years, NEO Philanthropy has helped all types of donors—individuals, foundations, and donor collaboratives—maximize their resources, support work they could not do on their own, and gain access to strategic and cutting-edge philanthropic advice and support.
Through our innovative, mission-aligned Donor Services program, our team helps donors overcome obstacles as they carry out their work and assists them in finding their way into an issue in order to realize their vision for social justice. Our customized approach means no two projects look the same. For some partners, we are heavily involved in the programmatic and strategic work; for others we focus solely on the administrative and operational tasks.
Currently NEO houses some 20 Donor Services projects, which range in issue area, size, and structure. Recently we’ve added four new projects to the NEO Donor Services roster.
Movement Building
- Cypress Fund Launching in 2020, the Cypress Fund will support social justice in the Carolinas, with a focus on donor organizing and strategic investments in movement building. Bringing together donors, organizers and grassroots fundraisers across race and class, the fund builds relationships and grassroots power and puts decision-making in the hands of the movements. Through a funding method called a giving project, cohorts of people will come together, get political education and training on fundraising and grant-making, and then fundraise their communities and decide on the grantees for that cycle.
- Piece by Piece The Piece by Piece project works in tandem with foundations, organizations, movement leaders, and emerging movements in order to develop the core infrastructure of the youth-led organizing and civic engagement sector. Through community-based and culturally relevant strategies for individuals, organizations and ecosystems and by serving as capacity builders—primarily for youth organizations, emerging movements, and groups seeking to build the power of young people—Piece by Piece helps sustain these organizations and their ongoing work, and win real change.
International Grantmaking
- Oak Foundation The Prevent Child Sexual Abuse program (PCSA) of Oak Foundation, in partnership with NEO, is launching a new capacity-building initiative to support the critical work of Oak’s international partners. Through this new project, Oak partners will have the opportunity to leverage the benefits of a specific capacity-building grant and attend capacity-building trainings designed to grow their organizational and leadership effectiveness and power. NEO will provide tools and support for international partners in areas such as forming alliances, fundraising, building strategic approaches, using the right tactical approaches, and making child participation a reality.
- Thought Partnerships Dedicated to preventing identity-based violence, Thought Partnerships brings together individuals and organizations seeking to address the gamut of identity-based violence from hate crimes and structural discrimination to commissions of mass atrocities. In order to create just and inclusive societies, Thought Partnerships creates collective impact by building effective communities of practice. By creating opportunities for deep learning and sharing within and across diverse geographies, Thought Partnerships helps harness the collective wisdom of experts, activists and practitioners in emerging sectors to amplify impact and advance a more peaceful world.
Our Donor Services program is proud to have these projects join us at NEO,” says Crystal Tsoi, senior project manager in Donor Services. “Whether it is building the capacity of grassroots organizations domestically in the U.S. or addressing systemic issues around identity-based violence internationally, the work each of these projects engage in is crucial to the work happening across multiple social justice sectors.
See what the Donor Services team can do for you or your organization today.