Collective 365 is transforming community funding models for Black and brown communities

When Fatima Smith launched Collective 365 on Juneteenth 2020, she wasn’t just creating another giving circle. She was challenging the entire philanthropic ecosystem that has historically placed unnecessary barriers between community needs and funding solutions.

“We need to just trust that the people that are working in these communities and the people that are in the communities that we’re working with know what they need money for,” Smith explains. “They know what will achieve a good life and recognizing that a good life is defined by the individual, not by systems.”

This philosophy forms the foundation of Collective 365, a community-driven philanthropic organization that provides unrestricted grants to individuals, groups, businesses, and nonprofits serving Black and Brown communities across D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV). What makes their approach revolutionary isn’t just who they fund, but how they fund them.

The Power of Unrestricted Funding in Community Development

Traditional philanthropy often comes with strings attached. Grants typically specify exactly how funds can be used, require extensive reporting, and demand rigid compliance with donor priorities. This approach, according to Smith, fundamentally misunderstands community needs.

“When you are doing restricted funds, now you’re dictating what the priority should be. And it makes the grant recipient less responsive to the need that they’re actually trying to address,” Smith points out.

Drawing from her experience working alongside grant managers at nonprofits, Smith witnessed firsthand the “red tape and requirements just to get a little bit of change.” This inspired Collective 365’s commitment to unrestricted funding that positions recipients as thought leaders rather than just beneficiaries.

The impact of this approach extends beyond the financial. When one grant cycle closed, Smith received responses from applicants expressing gratitude simply for the opportunity to apply without “jumping through hoops.” In a funding landscape that often treats Black and Brown communities with skepticism, Collective 365’s approach sends a powerful message: you matter, and we trust you.

Supporting Small Organizations with Big Impact

The typical Collective 365 grantee isn’t a large, established nonprofit with development departments and fundraising teams. They’re small, community-embedded organizations where “the CEO is also the project manager, the grant writer, the custodian… the CPA.”

These small but mighty organizations face disproportionate barriers in traditional philanthropy, where extensive application processes, quarterly reporting requirements, and compliance burdens create insurmountable obstacles. By streamlining the application to just 26 questions (with only six requiring written answers), Collective 365 makes funding accessible to those doing the actual work in communities.

Their grant portfolio reflects this commitment to diversity and relevance: scholarships for children of incarcerated parents, support for Black and Brown LGBTQ+ organizations, funding for Black doulas addressing maternal health disparities, and many other community-centered initiatives that might fall through the cracks of mainstream funding.

Democratizing Philanthropy: It’s Not Just for the Wealthy

Perhaps the most radical aspect of Collective 365’s approach is their rejection of the notion that philanthropy belongs exclusively to the wealthy.

“When we think of giving, we think of [Jeff] Bezos writing a big check, but giving is also when you go to church and you have that fish fry for little Jojo who’s going to college next month,” Smith says. “Philanthropy isn’t always just a ginormous check. It’s time, talent, treasure, and testimony.”

This democratized view of giving has deep historical roots that Smith is passionate about reclaiming. “Giving circles actually originated on the continent of Africa as susu. It was pulling money together within families or tribes and redistributing it,” she explains, pushing back against the common misconception that giving circles are a creation of “white wealthy women sitting at home.”

By making membership free and setting voting privileges at just a $50 donation, Collective 365 has created an accessible model that has still attracted individual donations as large as $5,000. This approach challenges what Smith describes as “principles of white supremacy and us not really trusting our collective power because of internalized racism and other systemic conditions.”

The “For Us, By Us” Model of Community Funding

While many organizations have distanced themselves from explicitly supporting Black and Brown communities amid political pushback, Collective 365 remains “loud and proud that it is for us by us.”

This commitment extends to their grant review process, where committee members often recognize applicants from their own communities: “People on the committee were like, ‘I’ve used this’ or ‘my cousin knows about this person,'” Smith notes. This stands in stark contrast to “other giving circles where you have predominantly white folks who don’t live in the community that they’re receiving the applications from, but yet they’re making decisions about it.”

The organization’s transparency extends to its financial model as well. Unlike most giving circles that take 5-10% for operational costs, Collective 365 ensures 100% of donations go directly to grants, with board members funding operations separately.

Innovation in Action: The Rest & Joy Fund

After reviewing over 300 applications in 2023, Smith recognized their volunteer-driven model needed adjustment. Rather than burning out their team, they paused the Community Change Fund in 2024 to regroup and launched a groundbreaking new initiative: the Rest & Joy Fund.

This innovative program, possibly the first of its kind nationally, awarded $1,000 grants to 19 individuals to support their rest and joy—whether visiting family abroad, attending a silent retreat, or contributing to a home down payment. The only requirement was being Black or brown and over 18 years old.

The fund represents Smith’s commitment to universal income principles, challenging the double standard applied to marginalized communities: “What happens when the CEO of a corporation misuses the funds? You still shop at Target… but when it’s Black and brown people, we’re so much more critical.”

Beyond Financial Transactions: Building Sustainable Community Capacity

Collective 365 extends its impact beyond grant dollars through intentional capacity building. Members with expertise in areas like strategic planning, HR, grant writing, and photography are matched with grantees based on their needs and availability.

This approach transforms what could be merely transactional into something truly transformational. As Smith explains, “If I connect with you, now you’re forever a part of my network and then my network is your network… You spent that check probably the same day that you got it. But if something else comes up… that is a lifetime resource now.”

The Future of Community-Centered Philanthropy

Looking ahead, Smith envisions Collective 365 expanding nationally, bringing their unique trust-based model to communities across the country. She emphasizes the need to “trust that Black and brown people can do the job,” highlighting research showing people of color are often judged on past performance while white counterparts are evaluated on potential.

“If you rate us based on what I’ve done, our body of work speaks for itself,” Smith asserts. “Our ability to take nothing and make everything. And then if you want to talk about our potential, again, based on what we have done, that lets you know what we can do.”

Join the Movement to Reshape Philanthropy

For those inspired by Collective 365’s mission to transform philanthropy, there are multiple ways to get involved. Visit their website at www.collective365.org or find them on social media at @collective365info on Facebook and Instagram to make a donation—100% of which goes directly to grants.

But Smith emphasizes that financial contributions are just one way to participate: “Your existence matters to this movement because philanthropy is for everyone, because everyone has time, talent, treasure, and testimony in some form or fashion.”

Whether through board membership, volunteering expertise, or simply spreading the word about their innovative approach, everyone has a role to play in reshaping philanthropy to better serve communities of color.

As Smith powerfully reminds us, “The more we normalize that you are enough as you are, I think we can shift what philanthropy is and can be.”