In 2022, Community Food Funders (CFF) will be announcing the sixth recipient of the annual CFF Champions Award. We made some changes this year, to better align the award with its intended purpose and with our values as a network. The CFF Steering Committee made these changes after a series of racial equity training workshops we participated in together last year with members of the Just Consulting Collective: Simran Noor, Noor Consulting; Javier Lopez, Real Time Response; and Luz Rodriguez, Visionary Allies. These changes are part of ongoing conversations about equity within our network.
The award amount has doubled to $10,000
CFF is not a grantmaking entity, and yet we are made up of grantmakers who communicate with their grantees about needs and challenges. Put simply, all groups need more support, especially the smaller ones who have typically been the recipients of this award, and we have the resources to do so.
We have changed the make-up of our selection committee
In year’s past, the people selecting the Champions awardee were all funders in the CFF network, plus the previous year’s winner. This year, we have invited all past winners to participate in selection, with compensation for their time. These groups, should they accept the offer, will then have the choice to include funders (or not) in their decision making process.
We make this change in the spirit of participatory grantmaking advocated for by the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project and practiced by North Star Fund.
Who is better to determine which organization should be honored than peers and colleagues in the field?
Redesigned nominating form with emphasis on racial justice
Past nominators needed only to submit a couple paragraphs (~500 words) describing how the nominee had demonstrated a commitment to a food system that is equitable, ecologically sound, and economically robust.
The new online submission form breaks this information into three separate questions, asking nominees to describe specifically how their work contributes to each category. An added criteria requires that the organization show evidence of incorporating a racial justice analysis into their work, and have leadership reflective of the community being served.
Nominators will also be able to upload an existing document that captures the work of their nominee (ie: existing grant proposal, organizational 1-pager, etc), as an alternative to filling out the CFF form, or in addition to it.
Groups may nominate themselves
In the past, all nominations had to come from a funding entity. We did this to ease the burden on nonprofit organizations, but we realized it worsened a power imbalance that gave privilege to groups who had existing institutional support and strong relationships with funders.
Now, funders may still nominate groups if they choose, but nonprofits are also able to nominate themselves. In an effort to limit the extra burden this may create, we are striving for a simpler and streamlined nomination process and increased clarity.
The award is only open to organizations
In the past, we accepted nominations for organizations and individuals. We’ve learned over the years that it is extremely challenging to compare the work and impact of a person to that of an organization, and our selection teams have always favored the organization. Therefore, it seems only fair to limit the eligibility for the Award to those entities that actually stand a chance to win it.