horizontal rule

Defined and driven by donor participation, Tides Initiatives are comprehensive campaigns in support of progressive social change.  Donors who take part in Tides Initiatives join with like-minded people to make strategic funding decisions and increase the impact of their charitable giving to critical and cutting-edge issues that tend to receive little foundation support. 

All our Initiatives include opportunities to pool resources in, and make strategic grants from, a Fund.  But, they are not only collective grantmaking vehicles.  They also build bridges between donors and activists, provide learning opportunities for donors who want to become more directly involved with specific issue-based campaigns, and provide direction and focus to Tides’ leadership in the progressive philanthropic community. The level of participation – from peer-group program committees to site visits to simple grant recommendations – is up to each donor.

With committed donors and staff and well-crafted implementation plans, Tides Initiatives provide the building blocks for a stronger and more effective progressive philanthropic community.  Our current Initiatives are:

In selecting and designing our approach to each of these Initiatives, we are guided by key strategic principles – values and priorities that Tides applies across the broad spectrum of our grantmaking.