The Muste Foundation is dedicated to providing grants, sponsorships, and educational resources to grassroots projects worldwide. It supports innovative organizing efforts, often offering seed funding that provides a crucial boost to bold, emerging ideas.

Mission Statement: The Foundation supports grassroots nonviolent radical activism for the liberation of all.

The Foundation’s efforts are primarily focused through three core programs that offer significant support to grassroots activist organizations engaged in nonviolent social justice action:

Organizing Grants

The Foundation’s main grantmaking program funds grassroots activist projects both in the U.S. and internationally. It prioritizes organizations with smaller budgets and limited access to mainstream funding sources. A rotating council of current and past board members, along with volunteers from the Foundation’s grantee community, reviews applications. This council brings diverse political perspectives and a broad range of organizing experience to the evaluation process.

Fiscal Sponsorships

By acting as a fiscal sponsor, the Foundation enables organizations to receive tax-deductible contributions for the educational aspect of their work. This service is particularly valuable for groups that lack the time, staff, or resources to obtain and maintain tax-exempt status.

Publications

The Foundation also publishes a series of pamphlets that include both historical and contemporary essays on issues related to social change. Topics addressed in these pamphlets range from nonviolent resistance and national defense to liberation struggles, racism, sexism, and labor organizing. These materials are distributed to activist groups, schools, colleges, and individuals committed to social justice work.