Why cross-movement funding is vital to advancing the care we all deserve

Giving and receiving care is deeply personal. It also is foundational for healthy communities and a vibrant economy. It includes paid family and medical leave, early care and education, aging and disability care, and quality care jobs. A powerful movement is transforming how we think about care–and how philanthropy supports it. Over the last five years, care advocates have made major strides uniting these issues often previously addressed in isolation.

As a funder for the last three decades of movements for care policies, I’ve seen firsthand how philanthropy is evolving, too. Inspired by the increasing cross-issue coordination in the field, philanthropy is breaking down its own silos and embracing collaborative power-building strategies. This alignment among movements for various care issues and their funders holds enormous potential for advancing social and economic stability, and it comes at a critical time. The recently passed budget reconciliation package will phase in deep cuts to Medicaid funding for states that will further strain families, care workers, and the systems they rely on—especially in low-income and rural communities.

Recognizing the need for coordinated, cross-issue care solutions

Fortunately, both advocates and funders for care issues are recognizing the need for coordinated, cross-issue solutions.

“In the early days of the care movement, philanthropies often focused on one aspect of care, making it difficult to advance solutions that addressed the holistic need for family care across the lifespan,” explains Ai-jen Poo, co-founder of Caring Across Generations and the National Domestic Workers Alliance. “Funders’ increasing embrace of an intergenerational understanding of care—from child care to paid leave to aging and disability care—has enabled us to build the coalitions necessary to achieve the solutions that work best for American families today.”

Cross-issue coalitions advancing bold care policies at the state level

Some of the most promising cross-issue movement wins today are happening in states. In New Mexico in 2022, a multiracial coalition of parents, early educators, immigrants’ rights groups, and Indigenous advocates won a constitutional amendment guaranteeing universal child care. With local and national support, a coalition led by the OLÉ Education Fund also eliminated co-pays for many families and raised early educator wages.

In Washington State, a broad coalition including nonprofits protected two landmark care policies last year: the Washington Cares long-term care program and a capital gains tax funding child care. Voters upheld both, showing strong support for equitable care solutions across the lifecycle.

Philanthropy as a strategic partner in care movement alliances

Grounded in the belief that meaningful progress requires philanthropy to act as strategic partners in this cross-movement work for change, the Care for All with Respect & Equity (CARE) Fund has developed a grantmaking approach that connects donor partners and grantees across issues through peer learning so they understand how different parts of the care economy intersect, and can plan for the consequential years ahead together. By fostering relationships with grantees where they can share both their successes and setbacks as well as their evolving ideas, we’ve been better able to anticipate challenges and opportunities.

For example, when CARE Fund grantees identified a growing concern about the influence of private equity, we invested in education and field building, supporting research into the issue, dissemination of findings, and a convening to discuss strategies. Building on these efforts, we are now supporting a collaborative effort to identify state-level policy levers and build coalitions to address the risks of unchecked corporate consolidation in care, ensuring the movement remains informed, proactive, and aligned around equitable solutions.

Today, it’s more important than ever for funders to invest in long-term, trust-based relationships with grantees; it not only deepens collaboration but also enables us to anticipate challenges, seize opportunities, and nurture ideas.

Vivian Tseng of the Foundation for Child Development puts it well: “The practice of philanthropy really matters. By prioritizing authentic relationships with grantees, funders can be attuned to the needs of the movement and can trend spot issues that cut across traditional silos in philanthropy.”

A new era of solidarity through collaborative philanthropy

Cross-issue collaboration benefits far more than the care sector. That’s why a diverse range of collaborative funds and philanthropy serving organizations (PSOs) are collaborating to address common threats and unite around common goals.

Understanding the devastating impact of Medicaid cuts on all their constituencies, 10 funds and philanthropy-serving organizations spanning issues beyond care—health, children and youth, aging, health and women’s rights—co-sponsored a webinar to learn how the care movement was defending vital programs. This wasn’t an isolated event; the upcoming Grantmakers in Aging Conference will feature a panel on ways funders can spur and sustain crucial collaborations among aging and disability advocates.                          

Lasting change requires more of this collective learning and collective power building. When we’re divided, it’s harder to achieve meaningful solutions. But when philanthropy sees itself as part of a united, cross-movement effort, we unlock the collective strength needed to win bold, lasting solutions.

Photo credit: Shannon Finney/Getty Images for Caring Across Generations