Design Justice Network Finances

Membership contributions, financial planning, and budgeting are new to the DJN Steering Committee and staff, and we are working with our fiscal sponsor Allied Media Projects (AMP) to improve our financial reporting and transparency to our members. Our next steps will be exploring models of collective budgeting and financial planning, which will include the involvement and input of DJN members!

• The Design Justice Network receives funding from four main sources:

  • Membership Fees

  • Sales of DJN Merchandise & Publications (Oracle Card Deck, Zines, Posters, T-Shirts)

  • Workshops and Talks (Honoraria, Speaker, Performance Fees (most, by the DJN Steering Committee);

  • Individual Contributions (One-time Donations)

  • Grants (grants that we apply for and are successful)

• Our funding is primarily spent on the management and sustainability of the network, including:

  • Network Coordination (Part-Time Contracts). Our International Network Coordinators, and other support consultants, eg. for support in developing our Mission, Vision, and Organizational Development.

  • AMP Sponsored Project Fees. A percentage of our funding goes to AMP for fiscal sponsorship, meaning they manage DJN funds and budget for the network.

  • Travel Expenses. These include Steering Committee retreats and conference invitations.

  • Credit Card Processing Fees (Memberships and online donations).

  • Accessibility (ASL interpretation, CART, etc.).

  • Systems & Technology (Eg. Zoom account for member’s use).

  • Member Project support or Member/Node and Working Group mini-grants.

For DJN Members, if you’d like to request funds for a DJN project or working group, or node, please email us directly to coordinate. It would be ideal to submit an official email proposal with the funds you’d be requesting, what they are for and how they will be used (Eg. artist fees, printing costs, speaker fees, etc). We don’t have a formal process for funds requests yet - so hoping this informal process is a good starting point! (We’d really like to redistribute some of the funds and are passionate about hearing your ideas!)

2023 & 2024 Grant Funding Announcements

May 30 2023 Press Release Link. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Pioneering Ideas: Exploring the Future to Build a Culture of Health program funds a two-year focus on designing and dreaming liberatory cultures of care with DJN’s Care Pod team, led by Denise Shanté Brown, Corina Fadel and Jody Chan. A total of $500K over two years supports deepening and expanding DJN’s commitment to care, health equity, and healing justice work.

May 30 2023 Press Release Link. OneProject.org funding strengthens DJN member and organizational support and asks us to explore how we might navigate just transitions to a post-capitalist world through community-led design. As a hybrid program and project grant, a total of $250K over two years helps fuel ongoing general operating costs of core activities and continued development in addition to activating a new post-capitalist design inquiry within DJN.