Redistribution Strategy

At Linke Fligl, being in deep relationship with place went beyond praying, cultivating and being present on the land we tended. It also meant building out a fundraising strategy that embodied our ethic of redistribution and repair.

As a Jewish land project based in the northeastern United States, we collectively had greater access to resources than many historically displaced peoples, due to some of our ancestors assimilating into whiteness over the past few generations. We sought to be accountable to this history, while also honoring the wide diversity of racial and class experiences in our community, including many whose families do not share this trajectory.

We put this intention into practice through the strategies shared below. Read on for more information, as well as excerpts from our 2022 donation page. Go deeper into the cultural work and thinking behind our fundraising model by watching our short film!

Match gifts

We asked everyone who “joined the flock” by making a donation to LF to also make a matching gift to a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) land project in their area, or to our land partner WILDSEED. We encouraged folks to factor in their matching gift when deciding how much to give to Linke Fligl. Across 3 years of utilizing this strategy, our community redistributed over $150,000 to BIPOC-led projects across the country.

Native Land Tax

We paid a 5 to 10% land tax to Schaghticoke First Nations on all sales, program contributions and donations to honor that we were settlers on this land, with a hope to contribute to the healing and cultural reclamation work of one of our local Indigenous communities.

MONEY TRANSPARENCY

We share this strategy with humility and transparency. As a niche project with an intersectional vision trying to function beyond the restrictions of capitalism and the non-profit industrial complex, it was challenging to create a financially sustainable model during our short lifespan. From 2016 through 2019, a generous donation of ~ $45k per year ($180k total) from one of our co-founders funded much of our operating budget and enabled Linke Fligl to experiment and grow without engaging in the fundraising world. From 2020 to 2022, we launched our “Join the Flock” fundraiser and became a community funded project, relying on grants, large individual donations, and dedicated monthly sustainers.

It was also difficult to equitably value the worth of our work as young, queer Jewish cultural organizers. When LF began we were all in our 20s, bringing a lot of youthful, idealistic energy and many hours of volunteer labor to this passion project. As time went on, the cost of living dramatically increased and the affordable housing crisis deepened, spurred by rural gentrification during the pandemic . This complex reality, combined with class disparity amongst our core staff, meant that our modest level of staff compensation was not ultimately sustainable.

Given all of this complexity, we see this redistribution-based fundraising strategy as a powerful model and don’t think this is the reason that we struggled financially. We are excited to see the way other projects have and will continue to incorporate elements of this work.

Below you’ll find excerpts from our culminating year’s fundraising page.
May it serve as a resource for other projects seeking to implement a redistribution-based fundraising model!

Before you give

We ask everyone who Joins the Flock to make a matching gift to a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) land project in your area*, or to our neighbor project WILDSEED. It is important to factor in your matching gift when deciding how much to give to Linke Fligl! To learn more about why we are including reparations giving in this campaign, read more below.
Want some guidance on how much to give? See below for our giving guide!

Why match gifts:

We believe that Black and Indigenous liberation on land is required for collective freedom. LF wants to resource this work as a community for lots of reasons, including: 

• the American Jewish community as a whole has benefited off of land and labor stolen from Black and Brown folks

• Black, Brown and Indigenous Jews deserve to be invested in 

• reparations are necessary for all of our collective healing!

We all have a stake in shifting resources more equitably.

Stepping into resourcing this work individually and as an LF community is one step toward that repair. Joining the Flock means partnering with us in this vision by sharing financial resources and building a circle of community support around this project.

WHAT YOUR FUNDING MAKES POSSIBLE in our culminating year!

Integrating LF’s Transition

by ceasing food production starting this fall, transitioning our infrastructure and belongings to new homes, and holding rituals of celebration and release.

Gleaning the Learnings

in the hopes that they can serve others building toward liberatory and land-based Jewish futures. Some examples of this include creating infographics and educational tools to share LF’s theory of change, as well as releasing a short film on land connection and land reparations.

Seeding New Futures

by passing on the Fligl Flock to new stewards, helping to seed new backyard flocks with our chickens, and supporting emerging queer Jewish land projects.

Thank you to our amazing fiscal sponsor Allied Media Project!