Mutual Aid Networks are grassroots funding communities built on relationships, not transactions. Members pool resources and redistribute them based on need without formal hierarchies or gatekeeping. Rooted in Indigenous, abolitionist, and labor movements, these systems are now being adapted into digital formats — onchain mutual credit systems, trust networks, and solidarity DAOs.
How It Works
Mutual Aid Networks distribute resources through relational trust rather than institutional process.
- Community forms — a group with shared context, values, or geography comes together
- Resources are pooled — members contribute to a shared fund (via multisigs, wallets, or even spreadsheets)
- Needs are surfaced — members share what they need through direct communication
- Resources flow to need — funds are redistributed based on actual need, assessed through relational knowledge rather than formal applications
- Accountability is social — community norms and relationships provide oversight rather than bureaucratic processes
Advantages
- Redistributes resources based on actual need rather than proposal quality
- Builds trust through direct, relational support
- Operates without institutional overhead costs
- Supports undervalued labor — care work, emotional support, survival tasks
Limitations
- Loses intimacy and trust at scale
- Struggles with rapid technical execution
- Incompatible with strict auditing or formal KPI requirements
- Poor fit for top-down institutional grantmaking
Best Used When
- Local, bioregional, or crisis-response coordination
- Communities focused on social infrastructure and basic needs
- Grassroots or under-resourced groups that don't have access to formal grant systems
- DAOs supporting non-monetized labor and care work
Examples and Use Cases
Crisis Response Mutual Aid
Communities coordinate rapid resource redistribution during emergencies — flooding, displacement, economic crisis — through trusted networks rather than formal aid channels.
ReFi Community Support
ReFi communities support contributors through hardship using pooled funds and social accountability, ensuring no one falls through the cracks.
Care Worker Compensation
Mutual aid networks recognize and compensate care labor — emotional support, community maintenance, conflict resolution — that formal systems ignore.