What Solidago Foundation does

Solidago Foundation is an independent 501(c)(3) philanthropic foundation founded in 1996 by Joseph Rosenmiller and his son David Rosenmiller, headquartered at 150 Main St. #24 in Northampton, Massachusetts. The foundation's core activity is relational strategic grantmaking to grassroots organizing organizations working on social, racial, and environmental justice, with a 2021 strategic pivot to exclusively fund civic empowerment work, including voter engagement, voting rights, voter protection, and democracy reform in key U.S. states. Since inception, Solidago has awarded more than 3,600 grants totaling millions of dollars to nearly 1,000 organizations and projects, and does not accept unsolicited letters of inquiry. Operational programs include the LIFT Fund (a 2012-launched partnership between labor unions, foundations, worker centers, and academia that has distributed over $1.5 million to 38 worker center union collaborative projects) and the Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund (co-founded with other philanthropic partners to build climate power in communities of color and low-income communities in Florida, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Virginia).

The foundation operates with a lean 4-person staff led by Executive Director and President Linda Stout, supported by Muthoni Magua (Director of Finance and Compliance), Dave Nordstrom (CJI Fiscal Agent Coordinator), and Zoë Lane (Office and Grants Manager), with governance from a board including Rev. John Vaughn and Treasurer Isabelle Leighton. Originally structured as a spend-down foundation rather than a perpetual endowment, Solidago announced in 2021 a commitment to deploy all existing assets over approximately two years in support of the pro-democracy movement, alongside the related See Forward Fund. The go-to-market model is community-led, working in close partnership with grassroots groups led by people most directly impacted by structural inequities, with distribution channels limited to invitation-based direct grantmaking and partner convenings rather than commercial sales.

Name

Solidago Foundation

Legal name

Solidago Foundation

Website

https://solidago.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Solidago Foundation is a Northampton, Massachusetts-based 501(c)(3) that provides relational strategic grantmaking to grassroots organizing groups focused on civic empowerment, voting rights, voter protection, and democracy reform in key U.S. states, having awarded 3,600+ grants to roughly 1,000 organizations since 1996.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Grantmaking

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Social Justice & Human Rights Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAN)

Keywords

• Philanthropic grantmaking
• Grassroots organizing funding
• Civic empowerment grants
• Social justice philanthropy
• Progressive foundation grants

Headquarters

HQ city

Northampton

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Grantmaking and Philanthropy: Solidago Foundation operates as a philanthropic foundation that makes grants to grassroots organizing organizations. The foundation was originally established as a spend-down foundation and has committed to spending down all existing assets over approximately two years to support the pro-democracy movement.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Solidago Foundation is a philanthropic foundation that makes grants to grassroots organizing groups working on social, racial, environmental, and democratic justice. It distributes funding through relational strategic grantmaking focused on civic empowerment, voter engagement, voting rights, voter protection, and democracy reform, and it operates two signature programs: the LIFT Fund (a labor/worker-center partnership) and the Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund.

Product overview

Solidago Foundation is a philanthropic organization that operates primarily through grantmaking programs rather than traditional technology products. The foundation's core offering is its grantmaking initiative supporting grassroots organizing across social, racial, and environmental justice movements. Two notable programs include LIFT FUND, a partnership between labor unions, foundations, worker centers, and academia advancing workers' rights, and the Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund, co-founded by Solidago to build power in communities of color and low-income communities for climate action. The foundation does not offer a technology platform, software product, or API-based services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Solidago Foundation Grantmaking Invitation-based relational strategic grantmaking to grassroots organizations working on social, racial, environmental, and democratic justice; since founding has awarded more than 3,600 grants totaling millions of dollars to nearly 1,000 organizations.
• LIFT Fund Grantmaking and convening program supporting worker-center and labor-union collaborative projects for workers' rights, good jobs, and a fair economy; has awarded more than $1.5 million to 38 worker-center union collaborative projects since 2012.
• Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• LIFT FUNDcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2012A project of the Solidago Foundation. First-of-its-kind partnership between labor unions, foundations, non-union worker centers, and academia working to create strategic collaborations for a 21st Century Labor Movement. Since 2012, has awarded more than $1.5 million in grants to 38 worker center union collaborative projects.
• Climate and Clean Energy Equity FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founded by Solidago and other philanthropic partners. Works to build powerful organizations in communities of color, low-income communities, and communities impacted by climate change. Develops strategies and collaborations, aligns resources, and makes grants to build grassroots power on climate and clean energy. Currently supports grantees in Florida, Minnesota, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
• Center for Popular DemocracymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner since 2015-2021. Works with community organizations, progressive elected officials, and individuals in the fight for responsive democracy advancing pro-worker, pro-immigrant, racial and economic agenda.
• Asian Pacific Environmental NetworkmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner since 2014-2017. Environmental justice organization working in the Asian Pacific American community. Works on climate and environmental justice and inclusive economies.
• Center for Community ChangemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner since 2017. National organization working to build power and improve the lives of low-income people and communities of color.
• People's ActionmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner since 2014-2015. National network of grassroots groups building power for people and the planet.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Ford Foundation: One of the largest private foundations globally with significant grantmaking in social justice, democracy, and economic fairness. Overlapping mission space but vastly larger asset base and broader programmatic scope than Solidago.
• Open Society Foundations: A major global philanthropic network funding civil society, democracy, and human rights. Shares Solidago's emphasis on democratic resilience and grassroots empowerment, though at significantly greater scale.
• Tides Foundation: A large progressive philanthropic intermediary and fiscal sponsor supporting social justice, climate, and democracy movements. Comparable grantmaking/fiscal-sponsorship model, though operating at substantially greater scale than Solidago.

Direct peers

• New Venture Fund: A 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor supporting a portfolio of progressive projects across democracy, media, and social justice. Comparable fiscal-sponsorship and movement-building infrastructure role to Solidago's Circle for Justice Innovations hosting.
• Movement Strategy Center: A movement-support intermediary providing grants, capacity-building, and infrastructure for progressive organizing networks. Comparable grantmaking and movement-infrastructure function, particularly on inclusive economies and racial justice.
• Borealis Philanthropy: A philanthropic intermediary pooling resources from multiple foundations to fund racial justice movement infrastructure. Comparable convener model to Solidago's Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund co-founding approach.
• Arcus Foundation: A progressive private foundation focused on social justice and conservation, including LGBTQ rights and great ape conservation. Comparable private-foundation grantmaking structure and progressive mission orientation to Solidago.
• Proteus Fund: A progressive philanthropic intermediary and fiscal sponsor that supports social justice movement infrastructure, including civic engagement and democracy work. Directly comparable to Solidago's grantmaking and CJI fiscal sponsorship model; Solidago's Director of Finance previously served as Proteus's CFO.
• Peace Development Fund: A grantmaking foundation supporting grassroots organizing for peace, racial justice, and social change. Direct peer given overlapping mission; Solidago's Executive Director previously led Peace Development Fund and a board director is a former Executive Director there.
• Haymarket People's Fund: A progressive community foundation providing grants to grassroots organizing in New England and beyond. Directly comparable grantmaking model; co-founder David Rosenmiller began his social-justice philanthropy career at Haymarket.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/solidagofdn
• Facebookfacebook.com/SolidagoFoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/solidago-foundation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Solidago Foundation