The deadline for the 2026 granting cycle is 5 pm, Friday, February 20, 2026.
The maximum grant award is $5,000.
Apply here: PLF 2026 Grant Application Form
Reminder: Don’t forget to use the PLF Grant Report Form to report on any previous PLF grant you may have received before applying.
History – At once time there were over 50 alternative funds operating in the U.S. to serve as repositories for money which is not paid in taxes to the federal government. Today, there are still several around the country that are still active. A portion of the money in each fund is given away each year by its members for a broad range of positive, life-affirming purposes.
In 1971, war tax resisters in the San Francisco Bay Area formed the People’s Life Fund (PLF). Every year PLF members put out a call for proposals and select local projects that are doing the work we wish our taxes were supporting. Grants are made to groups whose work falls within one of the priority areas described below.
The People’s Life Fund’s granting priorities are (in order of priority):
1. (Highest Priority) Provision of essential day-to day human services which the government is not adequately furnishing, together with educational or other work that identifies and seeks to change the root causes of the problem.
2. (Second Priority) Provision of essential day-to day human services, but not necessarily providing an explicit analysis of the problem.
3. (Third Priority) Education or action, in the spirit of nonviolence, aimed at social, economic or political change.
Please check to make sure you meet the following funding guidelines before you apply.
• You are providing essential day-to-day human services which the government is not adequately furnishing, and/or addressing the root causes of a problem by engaging in education or action, in the spirit of nonviolence, aimed at social, economic or political change.
• Your group’s work is based in Northern California. The PLF only funds projects being run by a group. We do not fund individuals. That said, groups do not need to have 501(c)3 status, official bank accounts or fiscal sponsors.
• Your annual organizational budget is under $250,000. If your project is associated with a larger organization, but is significantly independent and not funded in their larger budget, we will consider waiving the $250,000 annual limit for the sponsoring organization.
• Your organization has not received a PLF grant in the last year.
• You have submitted a report for any previous PLF grant(s) PLF Grant Report Form HERE.
• If funded, at least one representative of your organization will participate in a public granting ceremony in April.
• If funded, you agree to list the PLF among your funders as: “Resisted War Taxes Redirected by People’s Life Fund.”
• If funded, you agree to report on what you accomplished with the grant before the end of the calendar year.
Preference will be given to groups that challenge privilege and injustice and are led by the same constituencies that are being served. We prioritize groups that include or are led by youth, elders, communities of color and people with special needs. Our funding goal is the work of economic and racial justice, environmental sustainability and resistance to all forms of US militarism.
The PLF does not fund the same organization two years in a row. We request a simple report by the end of the year that a grant is received. If you have received a grant and haven’t already sent in a report, please submit a PLF Grant Report Form for your most recently received grant before reapplying.
Grants are given in a public awards ceremony on, or around, Tax Day, and recipients are expected to be present to receive their grant so that they can tell the community about the work they are doing.
People’s Life Fund applications are screened and grants are made by any members of the PLF who choose to attend meetings in February and March of each year. Any person who, in the past two years, has made a contribution to Category C or has had a positive balance in Category B is a member of the PLF. In addition, one may become a member of the Fund by volunteering time or resources to the work of the Fund. Granting decisions are made by consensus of the members involved.
Loans
Loans are made on a limited basis from the People’s Life Fund to organizations whose overall purpose is to provide human services or aid to low-income persons, to promote nonviolent action or education, and/or to promote alternative economic projects and relationships. Please contact us if you want more info. on applying for a loan.