Grassroots Exchange Fund

Common Counsel's Grassroots Exchange Fund (GXF) is a rapid response small grants programme designed to support networking and collaboration between grassroots social change and environmental justice organisations throughout the United States (US). GXF prioritises grants to small community-based groups seeking to meet face-to-face with other grassroots organisations, to build collaborative campaigns, and to benefit from technical assistance opportunities.

The programme strives to meet three central goals:

• To strengthen the ability of small organisations to participate in public debates
  
• To strengthen key cross-region and cross-sector movements
  
• To contribute to collaborative policy victories in the realms of social, environmental, and economic justice
  

GXF grant awards range from US$200-US$800 with an average of US$500. Grants are given to approximately 65 groups per year to cover training, travel, or conference expenses. GXF grants are distributed on a monthly cycle February through November (no grants are distributed in December and January). Applications must be submitted by the first Monday of the month. Turn-around time for requests to be processed and reviewed by the grants committee is approximately four weeks from the deadline.