The Scherman Foundation Counters Unprecedented Attacks on Civil Society by increasing Payout to 10% and Streamlining Grantmaking Process
With a pledge to maintain its core grantmaking, Scherman Foundation kicks off a two-year, $10 million Response Fund with an initial $3.35 million in new grants.
To counter the unprecedented attacks on nonprofit organizations, civil rights, and communities, the Scherman Foundation is increasing its payout to 10%—up from its regular 6%—resulting in an additional $10 million in grants over the next two years.
In June, the Scherman Foundation Board approved this increased payout—double the 5% required for private foundations—to bolster grantees that are navigating budget deficits due to canceled government contracts and shifting funder priorities, while also defending communities of color and fighting back against policies that erode civil society, the social safety net, and non-profit infrastructure. The additional funding will also go to organizations supporting non-profits in crisis and those litigating to defend communities under attack.
“This moment calls for decisive action, and we are responding,” said Marianna S. Schaffer, Scherman Foundation Board President. “The Foundation is moving swiftly to support our grantees and address urgent needs across the sector. We remain firmly committed to racial justice and are joining with other foundations to meet this moment with resolve, care, and courage.”
Beyond immediate support, the Foundation will also invest in bold, long-term organizing and movement-building infrastructure as well as innovative culture and narrative shift strategies. Grants will support work that allows grantees to reimagine what is possible when the most vulnerable communities have the resources to build power and create sustainable change.
In July, our program staff proactively contacted current and prospective grantees to assess critical needs, and in many cases, the Scherman Foundation was the first funder to offer grantees additional support this year. Through a streamlined process where Foundation staff handled most administrative work, the entire funding cycle—from initial outreach to disbursement—took place in six weeks. This expedited approach enabled the Foundation to make 41 grants, listed below, totaling over $3.35 million by early August; this is equivalent to about half of the Foundation’s regular yearly grantmaking.
In addition, the Foundation has accelerated some pending fall grants and will continue to identify opportunities to respond to emerging needs. Additional rapid response funding rounds will be by invitation only and continue through 2026, complementing our regular core grantmaking.
"We're witnessing cruel and unjust attacks on the nonprofit sector, leaving incredible organizations scrambling to survive," said Kristen Chin, Scherman Foundation Program Officer. "Our response has been both intentional and immediate: we streamlined our grantmaking process to require only a brief conversation rather than lengthy applications. This means grantees can focus their energy where it belongs—with their staff, their communities, and the urgent work at hand.”
As the philanthropic landscape evolves, so should the response from the sector. The Scherman Foundation will:
Remain steadfast in our core racial justice grantmaking. By focusing on our unwavering commitment to racial justice, we will continue to implement core grantmaking and develop new systems and operations to transform how we work.
Meet the urgent needs of the field. We will manage a Response Fund to provide special one-time grants to help our grantees and their ecosystems weather this storm over the next two to four years.
Reinforce work to create a better future. We will create a new Future Fund to seed the innovation and adaptation needed to build stronger movements in the long term.
The Scherman Foundation is committed to demonstrating that values-driven philanthropy means showing up with resources and urgency when it matters most.
“This crisis is an opportunity for philanthropy to re-examine and adapt its practices and structures,” said Gisela Alvarez, Scherman Foundation Program Director. “The Scherman Foundation’s Board empowered us to be creative, responsive, and transparent with grantees by shifting grantmaking authority to the staff, and we seized the opportunity to act quickly and strategically. We are committed to serving as an example of how foundations can be better, more proactive partners and collaborators during times of great need.”
The Scherman Foundation board and staff call on our fellow funders to protect and strengthen the organizations on the frontlines working tirelessly to defend civil society. Philanthropy must abandon its entrenched norms and embrace the swift, responsive action this moment demands. The stakes are too high for hesitation or silence. We must interrogate the processes and practices that prevent philanthropy from acting quickly or we risk failing the communities we exist to serve.
Response Fund
Abrons Art Center
African Communities Together
ALIGN
Alliance for Justice
Asian American Legal Defense Fund
Bronx Council on the Arts
Brooklyn Arts Council
Center for Constitutional Rights
Chhaya
Classical Theater of Harlem
Climate Justice Alliance
Documented
Earthjustice
El Puente
Environmental Protection Network
Heartland Fund
Hispanic Federation
If/When/How
LatinoJustice PRLDEF
Laundromat Project
Lawyers’ Alliance for New York
Lower Manhattan Cultural Council
Make the Road New York
MinKwon Center for Community Action
National Black Theater
National Council of Nonprofits
New Immigrant Community Empowerment
New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance
New York City Environmental Justice Alliance
New York Immigration Coalition
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
Nonprofit New York
Piper Fund
Riders Alliance Fund
State Voices
Staten Island Arts
UPROSE
Future Fund
Center for Artistic Activism
New Voices for Reproductive Justice
People’s Action Institute
Think Big Alliance
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The Scherman Foundation invests in the economic, political, and cultural transformation necessary for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to reclaim and build power. Learn more about our vision and current grantmaking priorities.
While these grants are by invitation only, we invite funding partners and press to contact us with questions at info@scherman.org.