The Raising Child Care Fund (RCCF) is an active philanthropic partner with the growing national movement to raise equity in our child care system. We leverage national foundation dollars paired with those of state and local funders to grow the network of effective, well-resourced community organizers focused on child care. Currently, we support organizations working in 19 states and Washington, DC.
The child care system in the United States is fundamentally inequitable. Parents struggle to find affordable, quality child care, while child care providers earn wages so low they can’t afford care for their own children. Despite these populations experiencing the strongest impacts, their voices are rarely at the table to craft solutions. Women, especially women of color, disproportionately bear the burden of this broken system. Child care sits at the nexus of racial, gender, and economic injustice. Prior to RCCF, few organizers had access to foundation resources they could use to build their capacity to organize parents, providers, and allies to increase equity in child care.
- Lift Voices: Lift parent, early educator, caregiver, and ally voices and increase their participation in crafting equitable policy solutions in states and/or communities.
- Build Power: Build individual, collective and community-wide power and agency of those most proximate and impacted (grantees, community groups, parents, childcare teachers, home based child care providers, caregivers, and allies).
- Expand Equity: Expand financial resources to secure increased and equitable access to quality child care, including through intentional strategies to reach and prioritize children and families most affected by injustice and inequity.
Grantees receive general operating grants, for two year periods. RCCF makes every effort to fundraise to sustain support for our partners on an ongoing basis. Depending on the level of activity a grantee proposes, applicants may apply for Developing level ($100,000 a year) or Strategic Expansion($ 150,000 a year) level grant awards.
Potential grantee partners should be committed to racial, gender, and language justice as well as rooted in and practiced at grassroots organizing. They should center the voices of those most impacted by policy in setting priorities and developing solutions. RCCF encourages applications that seek to foster coordination or work in coalition with allies at the intersection of child care, paid family leave and economic justice. The RCCF gives special consideration to groups that represent and have leadership of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Applicants must be 501(c)(3) organizations that are public charities. No RCCF funding may be earmarked for lobbying as defined by section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC), and IRC 501(h) and 4911.
No, RCCF seeks out new grantees when funding levels allow us to continue our commitment to our current partners and add new ones. Our due diligence process takes some time and includes contacting philanthropic, grassroots, and advocacy leaders in a potential state/region. We are interested in learning about potential new grantee partners, and we seek opportunities to make new connections with funders, advocates and organizers across the country. If you would like to connect and learn more about opportunities to align with and get involved in our work, contact raisingchildcare@ecfunders.org
RCCF partners define their own success and goals. RCCF staff are available for and encourage informal conversation throughout the grant period to understand the grantee partners’ perspectives. RCCF has partnerships with other national organizations and foundations who work in the states in which our grantees are located, and we also collect informal input from them. During annual interviews, RCCF uses the goals set by the grantee as a springboard for conversation. RCCF staff take notes and develop an annual report for approval and editing by the grantee partner. The final product is considered to satisfy annual reporting.
RCCF offers voluntary peer-led conversations on topics of interest based on suggestions of grantee partners each year. For example, if a grantee partner has experienced a win or a setback, others are invited to join a call and learn and brainstorm together with that peer.
No. RCCF is a philanthropic partner to our state-based partners and the national child care movement. Our long-term goal is for partners and the movement to be sustained by robust private foundation support so that they may continue to center the experiences of families, early educators, and caregivers in creating and implementing an equitable child care system. That remains a challenge for most of our partners, therefore, RCCF is continuing to raise funding to support this endeavor.
RCCF, as a project of ECFC, seeks diverse ways to partner with foundations and donors. RCCF can: a) provide consultation and share information with aligned foundations which are interested in directly resourcing organizing or in developing a funder collaborative in their state or community; b) act as an intermediary for foundation to identify and strengthen organizing in their state or community; c) leverage a foundation or donor’s investment in the pooled fund well beyond the face value of that commitment to lift voices, build power, and expand equity in child care across the country.
