The Collective Power Fund

What’s the Collective Power Fund again?  

NNAF used to administer an internal abortion fund, the Tiller Fund.

A major outcome of our 2016 Strategic Plan was to redesign the Tiller Fund in order to regrant direct abortion funding dollars directly to member abortion funds. To do so, in 2018, we talked to callers, abortion funds, clinics, and other key stakeholders to learn what worked well and what could be better about how NNAF supported direct abortion funding.

The Collective Power Fund is in direct response to what we learned. We heard that funds, clinics, and callers shared a desire for a streamlined system for accessing extra money to cover the cost of an abortion in their state. We learned that people seeking support from abortion funds often cite calling their local fund as the best part of their abortion experience! Most of all, we heard the immense need for more money on the ground to pay for abortion.

The Collective Power Fund distributes abortion funding to 29 member organizations across more than 20 states. Funding is concentrated on the South and Midwest, where it’s often hardest to get an abortion and an explicit priority we heard through the stakeholder process.

The Collective Power Fund supports direct abortion funding, as well as practical support such as transportation or childcare.

How did NNAF choose the grantees?

Transparency around decision making is a key goal of the Collective Power Fund program. The criteria for choosing grantees were developed in partnership with abortion funds via the stakeholder process. The criteria are:

• Member standing: Anyone who is an NNAF abortion fund member
• Medicaid: If your fund is in a state with no Medicaid funding for abortion
• Priority regions: If your fund is in the South or Midwest (although a fund in any region can apply).
• Unmet need: If your fund is experiencing an influx of callers traveling to your coverage area.
• Organizational Development (OD) & infrastructure needs: If your fund is in need of supplemental abortion funding dollars to be able to shift non-restricted dollars toward organizational infrastructure needs.
• Collaborative stance & network building: If your fund is excited about NNAF’s 4 core values of intersectionality, autonomy, compassion, and collective power.

To assess for these criteria, we used data from the Member Enrollment Survey, alongside regional and national data about trigger law status and other access barriers. After eliminating funds located in states with Medicaid funding, we reviewed the remaining applicants to seek the 6 applicants with high unmet caller need, high organizational development and infrastructure needs relative to other applicants, and a commitment to collaboration and network building.

Do you have questions about the Collective Power Fund application & decision making process? Don’t hesitate to reach out!

The Collective Power Fund is a means of redistributing wealth, power, and access to local abortion funds and the people who call them. We are so excited to partner with the 29 member funds in this radical investment in community care and to build a future where all people have what they need to thrive.