Beautiful Trouble: Get Up Rise Up (GURU) Direct Action Fund

Overview

The purpose of the Get Up, Rise Up (GURU) direct action fund is to support activists globally to shift power through strategic nonviolent direct actions to create a more socially and ecologically just, healthy, and equitable world for all. While doing so the fund also seeks to advance the theories, principles, methods and tactics of strategic nonviolent direct action, building from lessons at the frontlines and add these to our collective world of social movement wisdom.

June 2025 Call for Applications: 

• Ending violence & apartheid in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel

Right now, as we know, the situation in Gaza is one of utter chaos and abject horror. Beyond the urgent need for a ceasefire, a safe return of Israeli hostages and release of the over 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners detained in Israeli prisons, we need sustained action for an end to the blockade of Gaza, US (and other foreign) military aid to Israel, and the Israeli colonial and apartheid system.

• Addressing Fossil Fuel Industry + Infrastructure

The climate crisis is escalating and so is the global movement for climate justice. On every continent, people are coming together to fight back against the fossil fuel industry and its enablers. They recognize global opposition to the proposed East African Crude Oil Pipeline as a key element of the current fossil fuel infrastructure resistance, and encourage those working on EACOP or similar projects to submit applications. 

Ordinary people everywhere have a beautiful role to play in holding governments and corporations accountable. They recognize the transformative role arts and culture can play in shifting narratives that build people power toward collective liberation and a more just and healthy world.  

They will be awarding small grants to creative, beautiful actions targeting the fossil fuel industry and its infrastructure.

Who

This fund is open for established groups (formal or informal), and in some cases individuals, who have been working on a specific issue or cause and are seeking funding for a direct action or a direct action tool (explained below) as part of an ongoing campaign. 

The fund has a clear focus on under-served, under resourced populations and communities.  

They actively seek to support informal movements and understand that it can often be difficult for such groups to have formal and/or legal structures, thus we do not require groups to be formally registered.

They are particularly looking to support grassroots mobilizations that disrupt binary framing, use compelling visuals, create many points of entry, consider your audience, have smart action logic, and address meaningful targets. Get inspired by principles, tactics, and stories in our toolbox and by the long legacy of Palestinian creative nonviolent resistance to occupation they detailed HERE!

Funding Level & Notes

For the upcoming round of GURU Fund applications, they will select 1- 3 actions. Proposals must meet the GURU Fund requirements. Grants will be awarded up to $1000. 

Grants range from $250 - $1000. In very exceptional circumstances, they may consider grants above $1000.

Request for funding must be for either:
• Direct action: At its core, direct action is about power. Smart direct action assesses power dynamics and finds a way to shift them. Read more about direct action here https://beautifultrouble.org/tool/direct-action . Preference will be given to actions that are creative. 
• Direct action tool: a physical (i.e. equipment), digital (i.e. software), or skill-based (i.e. training) tool that is a prerequisite for enabling a successful direct action. Such tools must be unambiguously related to a direct action that will take place within a reasonable timeline from the date of access to such tools.

Applicant Notes

• You must have a campaign strategy.

The action or the action tool for which you are seeking funds should be linked to a broader campaign strategy. Applicants should explain their strategic objective, how they envision to achieve this objective, and how the action/tool serves that objective. If you’d like to know more about campaign strategy, feel free to visit the methodology section of the Beautiful Trouble toolkit. Random or ad-hoc actions that are unrelated to a larger strategy will not be given consideration. 

• Your action must contribute to the Beautiful Trouble toolkit.

They do not require a traditional reporting process. However, they do expect applicants to contribute the lessons, insights, or experiences they acquire from their action/campaign to benefit the broader activist community. Contributions will be added to the Beautiful Trouble toolkit, which seeks to document, analyze, and share social movements’ best practices. It is a platform made for and by activists and social movements from all around the world.

• Core values:

Applicants should be committed to core values, which include strategic nonviolent action, respect and dignity for all life, and promotion of justice, equality, and freedom to all. Read core values here: https://beautifultrouble.org/values

• Geographic location: 

Grants are open for any and all geographic locations where access to resources are limited and where there are opportunities for specific lessons for the broader movement or activist community.

The Get Up, Rise Up - direct action fund partners and team claims no responsibility for the victories achieved, the defeats suffered, nor any unintended consequences that may arise from receiving funds from the Get Up, Rise Up - direct action fund. Take risks, but take care!