Why fund Foundation ENAR

Across Europe, the forces of exclusion are gaining ground. Far-right rhetoric normalises racism, civic space shrinks, marginalised communities face mounting hostility, and yet in this darkening landscape, a different story emerges. One of resilience, innovation, and transformative change led by those closest to the struggle.

Foundation ENAR, together with ENAR Network, stands at the intersection of crisis and opportunity, uniquely positioned to channel resources where they matter most: directly into the hands of racialised communities fighting for justice. We are moving away from traditional philanthropy operating from boardrooms. We’re learning and championing community-powered change, rooted in lived experience and designed to dismantle the very systems that perpetuate exclusion.

Rethinking power in philanthropic practice

For too long, racial justice funding has flowed through channels controlled by those removed from the daily realities of racism. Well-intentioned foundations and philanthropists make decisions in isolation, often reinforcing the power imbalances they aim to address. The result often leads to grassroots organisations with the deepest community connections, radical, creative and innovative solutions remaining chronically underfunded. 

Foundation ENAR is learning to operate differently. As Europe's first anti-racist foundation, established by and for the anti-racism movement itself, we embody trust-based philanthropy. We work alongside communities, as partners and not as beneficiaries. Their input allows us to address actual needs rather than perceived ones, respond swiftly during crises, and build long-term resilience through sustained and multifaceted relationships. 

This shift reimagines how we understand impact. "The ER (Empowerment and Resilience Fund) grant made this ambitious project possible. Above and beyond that, the ENAR and Foundation ENAR teams kept a watchful eye on our project throughout, providing a reassuring and welcoming presence", Yasmine Choukairy from AJAR captured one essential part of our work in the form of funding as accompaniment and not just a financial transaction.

Trust-based grantmaking: funding freedom

When communities face existential threats, bureaucratic funding processes become barriers to survival. Foundation ENAR's trust-based philanthropy recognises that those closest to problems are closest to solutions. 

Our Empowerment and Resilience Fund, managed by ENAR and Foundation ENAR together, powers this approach. Rather than dictating specific projects, we provide flexible funding up to €10,000 that organisations can use for operating costs, capacity building, or innovative initiatives. This decolonising approach enables grassroots organisations to focus on structural needs rather than grant compliance.

Since 2022, we've awarded over €500,000 across over 100 grants, supporting everything from legal aid for undocumented migrants to mental health services for African communities. Projects span educational tools combating Islamophobia, research on technology-facilitated gender-based violence affecting Roma women, political engagement initiatives bringing marginalised voices into electoral processes, and so much more.

Catalina Quiroz-Nino from ICA Spain captures the growing impact: "The course enabled a group of women to weave their life wisdom, knowledge and experiences together shaping a new and powerful image of themselves." When Spanish and Muslim women attended an event at the Spanish Congress "for the first time" and engaged in "fruitful dialogue with a Spanish-Saharawi congresswoman," we can witness trust-based funding creating new connections and much needed opportunities.

As one of our community partners recently shared, "For the first time, we can plan beyond the next funding cycle. We can think strategically about long-term change instead of just surviving quarter to quarter."

Emergency response: standing strong when others step back

As Europe's political landscape grows more hostile, many funders retreat. Foundation ENAR tries to fill this gap. Our Emergency Protection and Solidarity Fund provides critical lifelines for organisations under threat and activists facing persecution.

This fund addresses urgent realities - organisations targeted by authorities, groups unable to access public funding due to political pressure, activists facing personal threats. In 2023, we supported grassroots organisations struggling to survive hostile political environments.

The Documentation and Counselling Centre Islamophobia and Anti-Muslim Racism (Dokustelle Austria) exemplifies why emergency funding remains essential in 2025. When politically motivated attacks threatened their work, Foundation ENAR's swift response enabled strategic defence against an unprecedented series of false accusations. From a leaked Austrian Green Party report falsely accusing them of antisemitism to the Austrian Agency for Education withholding project funding, Dokustelle Austria faced coordinated attempts to silence their anti-racism work. Our emergency funding allowed them to engage media experts and lawyers, fight back through legal channels, and continue their vital documentation of anti-Muslim racism despite systematic political pressure. As they noted: "The funding has been essential to start fighting back!"

Our operational principle when others abandon the field is that "in the face of adversity, we must not retreat but redouble our efforts towards equality and inclusion."

Research and thought leadership: evidence for transformation

Change requires evidence, and evidence requires investigation. Our Inclusion Think-Tank Programme wants to drive critical research that reshapes how Europe understands racial justice funding. 

The goal is to inform our future strategic priorities, and challenges other donors to rethink their practices. When we advocate for fairer funding mechanisms, we ground our arguments in rigorous evidence to complement the good intentions.

Decolonising philanthropy: power shift in practice

Foundation ENAR is working to embody the principles of decolonising philanthropy in its grant-making practice. Established by the European Network Against Racism, we aim to be the anti-racism movement's own philanthropic infrastructure, complementary to but distinct from ENAR's advocacy work. 

We embrace intersectional lenses, trust-based relationships, and community-led practices that redistribute power from traditional philanthropic hierarchies to community-led initiatives.

Community-led decision making in practice

We are working to restructure our processes so that funding decisions are increasingly shaped by those with direct experience of injustice. 

• Participatory grantmaking: community members don't just apply for grants, they help design funding priorities and selection criteria. 

• Flexible support and funding models: we provide flexible, responsive or unrestricted support that allows partner grantees to adapt to changing circumstances with minimal bureaucracy. 

• Capacity building: ENAR offers accompaniment that strengthens organisational resilience and internal capacity, recognising that sustainable change requires sustainable organisations.

Measurable impact across Europe

Our impact includes and goes beyond individual grants. We are building movement infrastructure, with some key achievements:

• Over €500,000 distributed across over 100 grants supporting grassroots organisations in crisis and growth phases, in collaboration with ENAR. 

• SPARK Communities connecting 80+ professionals across Europe, creating meaningful networking opportunities. 

• Policy influence through grantee projects like Lithuania's "Vote Human Rights" initiative, reaching over 30,000 platform visits and 250,000 social media users. 

• Research platforms like AJAR Festival creating spaces for 250 participants to address racism in media.

• Emergency support preventing organisation closures during political crises.

The ripple effect of trust-based relationships

When we show trust in community leadership, things change for the better. Organisations stop spending valuable time on elaborate reporting and start focusing on the work itself. Innovation and creativity flourish when people feel empowered to take risks and adapt strategies based on what they're learning. 

Every community member and partner becomes a network node, connecting others and amplifying opportunities. Each emergency or empowerment grant preserves organisations that would otherwise disappear, maintaining essential community infrastructure. Trust-based funding allows innovation and risk-taking that compliance-focused grants cannot support.

The Feminist Collective of Romani Gender Experts shows this multiplication effect through their "Breaking Digital Chains" project. What began as research into technology-facilitated gender-based violence affecting Roma women has evolved into comprehensive influence at EU level. Our grantee’s social media campaign reached over 7,000 viewers, whilst their research revealed that 92% of EU cyberviolence policies fail to address Roma women's needs. By adopting an intersectional lens and empowering Roma women to become leaders of change within their communities, one grant created lasting infrastructure for sustained advocacy that now aims to shape Europe's approach to digital violence and racial justice.

Collective action for systemic change

We recognise that no single funder, no matter how well-intentioned, can address structural racism alone. That is why we actively champion collective philanthropic action through pooled funds and multi-stakeholder collaboration. 

By bringing together diverse funders around shared values and complementary strategies, we can:

• Pool resources for greater impact;

• Coordinate responses to emerging crises;

• Share knowledge about effective approaches;

• Amplify successful models across different contexts in Europe.

Why now? Meeting the moment!

Europe stands at a crossroads - rising authoritarianism, shrinking civic space, and normalised racism create unprecedented challenges for racial justice work. Traditional philanthropy often retreats during controversial periods, abandoning communities when support matters most.

Foundation ENAR's approach becomes more essential as contexts grow more difficult. Our closeness to communities enables understanding and rapid response. Our trust-based practices reduce administrative burdens when organisations face external pressure. Our decolonising values provide alternative frameworks when mainstream institutions compromise their commitments.

Your partnership in systemic transformation

Supporting Foundation ENAR means choosing transformation over charity, partnership over control, and justice over comfort. We invite funders who understand that real change emerges from communities themselves, and not from external interventions designed in isolation.

Your investment supports:

• Immediate crisis response through Emergency Protection and Solidarity Fund; 

• Long-term capacity building via trust-based, unrestricted funding;

• Anti-racism frontline work, community-led, local and national advocacy through the Empowerment and Resilience Fund.

We ask you to trust communities. Foundation ENAR serves as a vehicle, ensuring your resources reach those who understand their challenges most intimately and possess the most innovative solutions.

The future of racial justice depends not on benevolent outsiders but on empowered communities with the resources to implement their visions. Every donation becomes an investment in Europe's systemically inclusive future, one where everyone can thrive regardless of background, where social and economic opportunity flows equitably, where power rests with those building the change they wish to see, and where equity and belonging are at the core of European society.