How to Stand Up a Fund in 24 Hours: A Practical Guide from JustFund Inspired by The Haven Fund

In times of urgent need, each of us must determine how we respond. There are many complementary options: volunteer, call your legislators, take to the streets, or move your resources to movements. 

For those of us who want to move money, a pooled fund is a smart and easy way to do it.

Traditional grantmaking processes are often too slow to deliver timely support. A pooled fund offers a powerful alternative: it quickly aggregates resources from multiple donors into a single, shared pot, enabling rapid, coordinated action. This model maximizes impact by streamlining administration, fostering shared decision-making, and building a collective response to critical community needs. It turns collective intention into immediate, rigorous, and trusting action.

The benefits of a pooled fund extend beyond speed and scale. By consolidating resources, pooled funds reduce the administrative burden for both donors and recipient organizations. Instead of managing dozens of individual grants with varied reporting requirements, a single centralized process frees up valuable time and resources for mission-critical work.

Pooled funds also cultivate a culture of shared risk and shared success. Donors can leverage the expertise of the fund's administrators and partners, gaining access to a more diverse and vetted pipeline of high-impact initiatives than they might find individually. This collaborative approach enhances due diligence, strengthens the collective knowledge base, and drives greater philanthropic effectiveness and deeper community trust.

The true superpower of a pooled fund lies in its capacity to build solidarity and shift philanthropic power dynamics. By centralizing funding decisions and establishing a clear, collective mandate, pooled funds can prioritize the voices and needs of those most directly impacted by a crisis or issue. This model moves beyond transactional grantmaking to build trusting, relational partnerships with communities, ensuring that resources are deployed with both speed and wisdom. It reflects a fundamental commitment to equity and collective action, proving that philanthropy is most effective when it trusts community partners and works together towards a shared vision of impact.

This practical guide is designed for moments when waiting is not an option.

When community needs are urgent, systems are slow, and you want to move money now, without sacrificing trust, rigor, or shared decision-making.

The Haven Fund shows what’s possible:

• Launched in days, not months

• Nearly $250K raised in 30 days from more than 100 donors

• Minimal staff, volunteer leadership, shared governance

• Moved funds quickly: Money in, money out

• Built on existing infrastructure instead of reinventing the wheel

This is how to do it.

Core Principle: Speed comes from clarity + trust + infrastructure.

You are not building a new institution. You are creating a pop-up fund designed to meet a specific moment.

Step 1: Name the Moment and the Purpose (1–2 hours)

Before anything else, get brutally clear on three things:

1. What is happening right now?
   (e.g., NYC housing instability, migrant arrivals, threats to safety)

2. Who is closest to the impact?
   (Grassroots groups, frontline organizers, mutual aid networks)

3. What kind of fund is needed?

   • Rapid response

   • Short-term (3–12 months)

   • Money-in, money-out

⭐ The Haven Fund is specific, time-bound, and rooted in real community need, not an abstract strategy.

Write a one-paragraph purpose statement. This becomes your north star. Ask trusted allies and partners to review and respond. 

Step 2: Sign a Simple Fund Agreement (Same Day)

You do not need to incorporate a new entity. Instead:

• Partner with JustFund

• Sign a fund agreement that covers:

  • A dedicated Wallet account

  • Ability to raise money into your new Fund via JustFund’s donation platform

  • Access to grantmaking software including application management, review and reporting for your advisory committee

  • Ability for your applicants to find funding opportunities on JustFund  forever, for free as well as access trainings and support

  • Compliance, reporting, and payments

This step is what turns intention into action.

Step 3: Open Your JustFund Wallet and Donation Tool (Same Day)

Once the agreement is signed, your JustFund Wallet is live and you can:

• Accept donations immediately

• Pool funds from individuals, families, institutions

• Use the a donation tool to take in contributions

Key mindset shift: You are not “fundraising” in the traditional sense, you are inviting people into collective action.

⭐ Haven Fund insight: People gave because it was easy to give, transparent, and relational. Many small contributions became real power. 

How to ask: 

• Articulate the clearest and most compelling reason people should join this work

• Email, social media, in-person conversations, talk about it everywhere you go

• Invite donors to become fund raisers / ambassadors for the Fund

Remember: You’re giving people something they are seeking out: a meaningful way to respond to something urgent and help create the world they want to live in.

Who to ask: Old and new colleagues, friends, family, neighbors, fellow activists, congregants, club members, admired professionals, students.

When to ask: Connect to events in the news (a sense of urgency is helpful) and ask more than once.

Step 4: Identify an Advisory Committee (2–4 hours)

You need an advisory committee to make decisions about grant recommendations.

Identify 5–9 trusted people who:

• Are close to the issue

• Represent impacted communities

• Bring lived experience, not just credentials

• Can move quickly

This committee will:

• Review applicants

• Score and recommend grants

• Share power and responsibility

Moving money equitably and efficiently is not about no structure, it’s about shared structure. You do not have to become an expert, you can trust people who already know.

Step 5: Find Applicants to Consider (Day 1–7)

Use multiple pathways:

• Direct outreach to known frontline groups

• Peer recommendations

• Existing JustFund applicants (over 24,000)

• Open application (short + simple) using JustFund

With JustFund, you can:

• Issue your RFP

• Collect applications directly on the platform using the JustFund Common Grant Application and up to 3 specific questions and up to 3 attachments

• Avoid duplicative paperwork

Design for speed:

• Short common application

• Clear eligibility guidelines

• Rolling review process and grant disbursement process

Step 6: Run the Advisory Review Process (Monthly)

Inside JustFund, your advisory committee can:

• Review applicants

• Score and comment

• Make funding recommendations together

Best practices:

• Use clear criteria (alignment, urgency, trust, reach)

• Center lived experience

• Aim for consensus, not perfection

⭐ Haven Fund insight: Alignment formed faster than expected when people trusted the process and each other.

Step 7: Make Grants + Check In with Groups (Ongoing)

Once recommendations are approved:

• Grants are issued directly from the JustFund Wallet

• Funds move quickly to organizations after compliance and due diligence is completed by JustFund

After grants go out:

• You can set up light-touch check-ins, prioritizing relationships over reporting

• Ask: What’s changing? What’s needed now?

This keeps the fund responsive and grounded.

Step 8: Run Data Reports + Dockets (Anytime)

JustFund provides:

• Money-in / money-out tracking

• Data and analysis of applicants and grantee partners across all filters in the JustFund Common Application

This allows you to stay transparent, keep donors informed, and make the case for continued or expanded support.

Good data builds trust without slowing you down.

What Makes This Work

The Haven Fund succeeded because they:

• Refused to wait for perfect conditions

• Shared decision-making power

• Used existing infrastructure at JustFund

• Treated the fund as a pop-up, not a forever institution

• Centered urgency, trust, and collective action

Final Advice

You don’t need a board, five-year plan, a new foundation, or perfect information to get started. You need a clear purpose with trusted partners, infrastructure that works and the courage to move. That’s how you stand up a fund in 24 hours.