Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees

What Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees does

Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees is the country's sole immigrant-focused philanthropic organization. GCIR is dedicated to moving money, gaining power, and expanding the leadership of black, brown, indigenous, and immigrant communities. The work of GCIR is driven by a strong belief in equality and justice, as well as the realization that communities thrive when all of their members can make a positive contribution to economic, cultural, and social life.

Name

Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees

Legal name

Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees

Website

https://www.gcir.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees is the nation’s only immigrant-focused philanthropy-supporting organization.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropy Infrastructure Services

NAICS

Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB)

Keywords

• Immigrant philanthropy services
• Funder convening
• Grantmaker education
• Philanthropy infrastructure
• Immigrant justice funding

Headquarters

HQ city

Petaluma

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: GCIR generates revenue through annual membership dues from foundations and grantmaking organizations, structured on a sliding scale based on the member's annual grants budget. Individual membership is also available at $500/year for staff and trustees at foundations that prohibit institutional membership, and for philanthropic advisors.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

GCIR is a philanthropy infrastructure organization that mobilizes grantmakers through membership, communities of practice, regional funder networks, learning tours, webinars, and a biennial National Convening to direct philanthropic resources toward immigrant and refugee communities. It operates the Learning and Action Center, Impact Funds, and policy/issue-specific initiatives, providing funders with policy analysis, peer learning, consultations, and connections to movement leaders.

Product overview

Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees (GCIR) is a philanthropy infrastructure organization that serves as the nation's only immigrant-focused philanthropy mobilizing entity. The organization operates a platform of interconnected programs, communities of practice, and impact funds designed to move money and power to immigrant and refugee communities. Core offerings include the Learning and Action Center (providing webinars, resource library, and policy tools), multiple Communities of Practice (Economic Justice, Rural Belonging, Transnational Strategy), Impact Funds (California Immigrant Justice Infrastructure Fund), the biennial National Convening, regional programs (California, Michigan, Texas), and a Membership Program. These products work together to inform, connect, and catalyze philanthropic institutions to advance immigrant justice and belonging.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Membership Program Annual membership providing funders exclusive access to sector leaders, 1:1 consultations, learning sessions, discounts on conference fees, and participation in collaborative grantmaking networks. Tiered from $650 to $30,000+ annually based on foundation grants budget, plus $500/year individual membership.
• Learning and Action Center Central hub providing webinars, resource library, policy explorer, and issue statements to help funders stay informed and take action on immigrant and refugee justice issues.
• 1 in 4 Immigrant Children and Families Project Initiative amplifying efforts to meet the needs and protect the rights of immigrant children, providing virtual and in-person learning programs, strategy sessions, and funder recommendations.
• Advancing Economic Justice Community of Practice Confidential, peer-driven space where funders explore strategies to support immigrant and refugee workers, build power in historically exploited sectors, and shift economic systems toward equity.
• Resourcing Rural Belonging Community of Practice Collaborative effort centering rural migrant communities, providing peer-to-peer mentorship, education, and technical assistance for funders supporting rural immigrant communities.
• Transnational Strategy Community of Practice Funder learning space focused on addressing global root causes that drive displacement, exploitation, and oppression of migrants, facilitating transnational collaboration and organizing.
• California Immigrant Justice Infrastructure Fund Impact fund investing in and strengthening a thriving power-building ecosystem to address immediate and long-term needs of immigrant and refugee communities across California.
• National Convening Biennial in-person national convening bringing together funders to strategize, learn, and mobilize resources for immigrant and refugee justice.
• California Immigrant Inclusion Initiative (CIII) Community of grantmakers advancing the vision of a just and inclusive California where all immigrants and refugees can live with dignity and respect, operating since 2007 with quarterly meetings, working groups, briefings, and site visits.
• Michigan Regional Program Regional engagement partnering with philanthropy to advance immigrant and refugee justice in Michigan, a state with considerable and diverse immigrant communities.
• Texas Regional Program Regional engagement elevating and bolstering the work of advocates supporting immigrant communities across Texas within a complex landscape of power and possibility.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 120 member institutions and 1,200 individual grantmakers in network
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and key.

• Council of Michigan Foundations (CMF)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2024GCIR partnered with CMF for a funder conversation providing baseline understanding of immigrant and refugee issues in Michigan. This programming supported members in connecting to regional issues and building relationships with local advocates.
• Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2024GCIR co-organized a learning trip to the US-Mexico border (McAllen, Texas and Reynosa, Mexico) with HIP for 15 funders. The trip focused on connecting with nonprofits providing humanitarian relief, legal services, power-building, and advocacy in border communities. Goals included visibilize, mobilize, and amplify work being done in border regions.
• State of CaliforniacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGCIR launched the California Dignity for Families Fund (CDFF) in May 2021 as part of a public-private partnership with the State of California. The partnership mobilized philanthropic dollars to provide humanitarian relief to migrants, ensure due process for asylum seekers, and support integration into receiving communities. This partnership evolved into the California Immigrant Justice Infrastructure Fund.
• Arkansas UnitedkeyOthersFeatured on GCIR's Amplify podcast, Arkansas United is the state's first immigrant rights organization founded in 2012. GCIR provides a platform to amplify the organization's work including rural immigrant community organizing, co-governing strategies, and pro-immigrant worker law advocacy.
• We the People MichigankeyOthersFeatured on GCIR's Amplify podcast, We the People Michigan is committed to building power and strengthening civic engagement across Michigan through disciplined, rigorous, long-term community organizing. GCIR provides platform to amplify their organizing work and perspective on building multiracial democracy.
• Skylight PictureskeyOthersGCIR's Amplify podcast featured Paco de Onís (Executive Director) and Pamela Yates (Creative Director) of Skylight Pictures, a nonprofit human rights media organization. The partnership highlights narrative power work through their documentary 'Borderland: The Line Within' and discusses how philanthropy can support counter-narrative strategies.
• Alianza Nacional de CampesinaskeyOthersFeatured on GCIR's Amplify blog series, Alianza Nacional de Campesinas is a national network of farmworker women. GCIR provides platform for Executive Director Mily Treviño-Sauceda to share insights on intersection of gender, migrant, worker, and climate justice, and how philanthropy can support farmworker women's leadership.
• Western North Carolina Workers' CenterkeyOthersFeatured on GCIR's Amplify blog series, the Western North Carolina Workers' Center builds power among workers of color through organizing, education, and direct action. GCIR provides platform to highlight their participatory action research strategies and work in rural areas often neglected by philanthropy.
• United Philanthropy ForumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGCIR participates in the United Philanthropy Forum and co-convened its largest Foundations on the Hill (FOTH) delegation through this partnership. FOTH is the premier public policy and advocacy conference strengthening philanthropy's collective voice on Capitol Hill.
• Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC)keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerGCIR collaborated with ILRC on a podcast episode explaining the 287(g) immigration enforcement program. ILRC provided policy expertise and legal analysis that GCIR translated for its funder audience to support philanthropic response to enforcement actions.
• CASAkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerGCIR collaborated with CASA on the 287(g) podcast episode. CASA (with footprint in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Georgia) provided ground-level perspective on 287(g) implementation and community impact for funder education.
• Carolina Migrant NetworkkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerGCIR collaborated with Carolina Migrant Network on the 287(g) podcast episode. The organization provided perspective on 287(g) impact in North Carolina communities.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• United Philanthropy Forum: Industry membership association for philanthropic infrastructure organizations; GCIR is explicitly a participant and co-convener of its Foundations on the Hill delegation. Highly comparable as a peer membership/grantmaker-supporting body.
• Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP): Philanthropy infrastructure organization focused on Latino communities, with a parallel membership and funder-convening model. Co-organized GCIR's US-Mexico border learning trip—directly comparable in mission and operating model.
• National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP): Philanthropy watchdog and advocacy organization that supports grantmakers seeking to address structural inequities. Shares GCIR's funder-mobilization and policy-voice model with a comparable member-driven infrastructure.
• Philanthropy Roundtable: Membership association for individual donors, foundations, and giving programs. Operates a similar dues-funded, network/convening model for funders—comparable infrastructure with a different ideological orientation.
• Center for Effective Philanthropy: Philanthropy research and support organization providing diagnostic tools and resources to foundations. Comparable as a grantmaker-supporting infrastructure body with a research-and-advisory product mix.
• Funders Concerned About AIDS: Philanthropy mobilizing organization for a specific issue area (HIV/AIDS), founded in 1987—structurally analogous to GCIR as a single-issue funder infrastructure organization with membership, convening, and policy voice.

Broad incumbents

• Council on Foundations: The largest US membership organization for grantmaking institutions, covering all issue areas. Operates the same membership/convening/policy model as GCIR but at a much broader scale, making it a broader-incumbent peer.

Regional players

• Council of Michigan Foundations: State-level funder membership association; GCIR partners with CMF on Michigan immigrant-refugee programming. Operates the same grantmaker-convening model at a regional rather than issue-specific level.

Emerging players

• American Immigration Council: National nonprofit that combines immigration policy research, litigation support, and education. Adjacent to GCIR's mission of supporting immigrant communities and engages the funder ecosystem, but is not a membership-based grantmaker convener.

Others

• Migration Policy Institute: Think tank providing data, analysis, and policy development on migration. Adjacent to GCIR's policy-analysis work (e.g., Policy Explorer) and frequently cited by funders, but is not a member-based philanthropy infrastructure organization.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/gcirtweets
• Facebookfacebook.com/GCIRNetwork

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees