Search Through Climate Change Grants in Massachusetts in the U.S.

Climate Program

Bold action on climate change is necessary to create a just and healthy future.

Advancing equitable solutions for clean energy, mobility, and resilient communities.

To leave future generations a better world than the one we inherited, we must address climate change with solutions that acknowledge the unequal burdens that have been placed on communities of color and those who have been underserved and divested.

Climate change is a global challenge. Yet cities, states, and regions are vital agents of change. That’s why Barr’s Climate Program focuses on advancing equitable solutions and leadership at the local level.

Our Climate Strategies

To address climate change we pursue three strategies:

• Accelerating the shift to clean energy
• Transforming our transportation system
• Creating climate resilient communities

Underlying these strategies is our belief that we will be more effective at addressing the climate crisis if we build a multi-racial and inclusive environmental movement. This is why we will prioritize communities that have suffered the most from the fossil fuel economy and climate organizations whose work is centered in equity. Read more on our strategies below.

Clean Energy

Accelerate the expansion of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

To meet our ambitious climate goals, we must accelerate the shift to a low-carbon energy infrastructure.

The U.S. Northeast is at an energy crossroads. Successful efforts to phase out the dirtiest fuels, promote energy efficiency, and regulate carbon have put this region at the forefront of a global response to climate change. However, to achieve the necessary emissions reductions —80% by 2050—will require a concerted push to deploy cleaner energy sources and achieve deeper efficiencies.

Priorities:

• Build a diverse constituency for clean energy.
• Mobilize key stakeholders to advocate for equitable state and regional clean energy policies and programs.
• Promote a narrative connecting the benefits of clean energy to public health and resilience.
• Support research, analysis, and demonstration projects that can enhance policy decisions.

Mobility

Advance equity- centered low carbon mobility solutions.

In Massachusetts, transportation is the leading cause of climate change. Over 40% of the state's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions come from how much we drive and move, which is impacted by how we build our communities.

Priorities:

• Community-driven solutions that lower greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and land-use
• Capacity building and leadership of state and municipal government bodies engaged in transportation, land use, and planning
• Cross-sector partnerships with a wide range of stakeholders working on transportation, land use, community planning, and related issues

Climate Resilience

Support communities  to prepare and adapt to climate change.

Priorities:

• Build awareness and mobilize a diverse constituency for action on climate risks, impacts, and resilience strategies.
• Mobilize key stakeholders to advance equitable policies and resilience plans.
• Catalyze momentum through demonstration projects that integrate resilience into the fabric of cities.

Climate Program Inquiries

The Barr Foundation’s Climate Program is actively working to expand its grantmaking to include more partners who are committed to centering racial equity in the climate movement.

Our work is grounded in the belief that a diverse, inclusive, and equity-centered movement is essential to achieving our ambitious climate goals.

• We will prioritize communities that have suffered the most from the fossil fuel economy and climate organizations whose work is centered in equity.
• While we most typically fund non-profit organizations, we are open to supporting other types of groups or organizations who are doing work that aligns with our strategies and goals.
• We are especially interested in supporting people of color (POC)-led equity-centered organizations.
  • We define equity-centered organizations as organizations that are building power in the communities they serve to address environmental racism.

Who We Are

The Creag Foundation is a private grant making foundation established in 2009 in Woodinville, Washington.

The founders of the Creag Foundation believe that meaningful change can only be achieved through hard work, creativity and passion. They also understand the practical mechanisms that allow charitable organizations to succeed and grow. As a group, Creag Foundation principals are dedicated to helping today’s most innovative programs improve the human condition in a wide variety of ways.

Our Focus

The broad purpose of the Foundation is to support the efforts of nonprofit organizations who are innovators in the field of human services. Our particular focus is on smaller organizations that are starting out or established organizations that are looking for funding to take their organization in a new direction.

What We Fund

/ What We Fund

The Creag Foundation is focused on innovation in the industry. We will consider proposals from 501(c)(3) organizations that are finding new ways to address societal issues facing the nonprofit community. Applicants must have held 501(c)(3) status for one year before submitting. If your organization has held 501(c)(3) status for over a year, and your believe that your organization has a new approach to an existing social problem or is addressing a previously unaddressed social issue, you are welcome to contact us and request that we consider your organization for a funding opportunity.

Mission

The DanPaul Foundation will use its resources to help train teachers and parents in early childhood development, protect children from abuse and neglect, stimulate children's personal social responsibilities, and offer them opportunities for enrichment and growth.

The Foundation will also encourage children to be concerned and informed about the environment and the underprivileged, particularly with regard to clean air and water, and adequate housing and nutrition for all.

Beliefs

The DanPaul Foundation believes that children should have ample opportunities for enrichment in their lives, and thus strives to provide many different ways to enrich and expand children's minds through direct programs and monetary support to organizations doing similar work.

We have provided or currently provide grants related to the following program areas:

• Workshops, Conferences, + Seminars: We strive to offer educational workshops, conferences, and seminars for parents and teachers on topics related to early childhood development.
• Student Scholarships: We aim to help students attending post-secondary education institutions by providing need-based and academic scholarships.
• Scientific Endeavors: We desire to advance scientific endeavors which seek to improve the quality of life for everyone in the world.
• Clean Air + Water: We hope to pass on knowledge and practical life skills to youth regarding their personal responsibility to the environment, teaching them about issues surrounding clean air and water.
• Child Advocacy: We believe in protecting children from abuse and neglect and particularly love to support programs that provide education and assistance to children as well as organizations advocating or caring for vulnerable children.
• Homelessness: We want to encourage young people to take a personal interest in seeing that adequate housing and proper nutrition, especially for the underprivileged and homeless, are available.
• Poverty + Neglect: We seek to help those in poverty as well as educate youth about their responsibility to consider the underprivileged and take care of those most in need of life's basic essentials like adequate housing and proper nutrition.
• Refugee Enrichment: We wish to help refugee youth by supporting programs that provide them enrichment and help them transition to life in a new country.

The DanPaul Foundation provides grants to 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit organizations as defined by the IRS. The Foundation is interested in providing funding to programs that directly serve the health, education, development, and welfare of the world's youth.

Grants range from a few hundred dollars up to $15,000 per calendar year.

The Labcorp Charitable Foundation

We believe every person deserves equitable care and education.

In 2020 Labcorp established a private charitable 501(c)(3) foundation to advance our desire to bring quality healthcare access to all by supporting education and our local communities. 

Common grant opportunities include:

• Supporting food pantries and meal programs
• Providing healthcare and patient services for underserved populations
• Encouraging STEM programming
• Advocating for healthy lifestyles through ongoing medical research and screening

OSI partners with conservation organizations in the Northeast to assemble networks of protected lands most likely to preserve plant and animal diversity in a changing climate. The Fund supports projects in four focus areas in New England, the mid-Atlantic, and the Central Appalachians offering the greatest opportunity to conserve missing links for resiliency in the overall landscape.

Grant Opportunities

The Fund provides capital grants and loans to qualified non-profits for the acquisition of land or conservation easements on climate-resilient lands, capitalized with a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. Through an in-depth review process, we selected four focus areas in order to target funds most effectively. A fact brochure with maps for each focus area can be downloaded:

Potomac Headwaters – West Virginia & Virginia

Highlands and Kittatinny Ridge – New Jersey & Pennsylvania

Middle Connecticut River – Vermont & Massachusetts

Southern New Hampshire & Maine Forests 

We have strong partnerships with nonprofit organizations across the country that are working to advance economic mobility and social progress in low- and moderate-income communities. Our focus areas include basic needs like food and housing, workforce development and education, and community development. In addition to our philanthropic investments, we also encourage our employees to make a difference by offering robust employee giving and volunteering programs, including the opportunity to direct funds to organizations they support through volunteer efforts, and a matching gifts program that doubles their individual giving to causes they care about. Last year, we invested $350 million in the communities we serve, and employees contributed more than 1 million volunteer hours and directed $65 million through individual giving and matching gifts to support nonprofits.Through our regional U.S. sponsorships, we support the economic, social and cultural life of the places we live and work. We provide an extensive program of arts and sports sponsorships to help maintain vibrant, healthy communities.Sponsorships supporting communitiesBank of America welcomes your sponsorship proposal for opportunities that make our communities a better place to live and work. We are particularly interested in providing support to address needs vital to the health of our communities through a focus on:

• preserving neighborhoods;
• educating the workforce for 21st century jobs;
• addressing critical needs such as hunger and emergency shelter;
• arts and culture;
• the environment; and
• diversity and inclusion programs.

Grants are made at the Foundation’s discretion based on our current funding strategies focused on housing, jobs and hunger. 

Wells Fargo and the Wells Fargo Foundation collaborate with a wide range of nonprofit organizations that align with our strategic funding priorities. We prioritize our funding to activities and programs that have a broad reach and support the needs of underserved communities. We aspire to have a positive impact on the communities we serve by using our financial and volunteer resources and business expertise in collaboration with community organizations to help solve complex societal problems.

• Financial health
• Housing affordability
• Small business growth
• Sustainability

We may also support other local needs in eligible communities such as disaster relief, arts and culture, civic engagement, education, human and social services, and workforce development. However, opportunities are limited as our intent is to direct the majority of our giving within our major focus areas.

Centene Charitable Foundation

Successful corporate citizenship happens when companies invest in the local organizations that know their communities best. The Centene Foundation works with our local partners on initiatives that focus on inclusion, the whole person and community development.

Vision

Centene’s purpose is transforming the health of the community, one person at a time. The Centene Foundation is an essential part of how we pursue this purpose. We achieve measurable impact for the communities we serve through partnerships and philanthropy efforts that invest in initiatives with holistic approaches to dismantling barriers to health.

Areas of Focus

Reflecting Centene’s commitment to the needs of those who rely on government-sponsored health care and to addressing social determinants of health and health equity, preference will be given to initiatives in three distinct areas of focus.

• Healthcare Access
• Social Services
• Education

Our Mission

Our mission is to continue and further the philanthropic legacy of Gardner Cowles, Jr. and the Cowles family, which includes promotion of education, social justice, health, and the arts.

The Founder

The Cowles Charitable Trust was first established in 1948 by Gardner “Mike” Cowles, Jr. (1903-1985). Born into the Cowles publishing family of Des Moines, Iowa, Mike was the youngest of Gardner Cowles and Florence Call Cowles’ six children. A newspaper editor and publisher by trade, he was committed to his family’s traditions of responsible, public-spirited, and innovative journalism as well as philanthropy. 

The Cowles Charitable Trust supports the arts, education, the advancement of ethical journalism, medical and climate research.

The Foundation supports projects in coastal areas of Maine, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island and selected international locations.

For the last two decades, the Foundation has focused a significant portion of its financial resources on Southeastern Massachusetts, where its office is located. Here the Board seeks to understand how communities grow sustainably and equitably, how to increase educational opportunities, how rural and urban economies are intertwined, and how to best protect working landscapes and the people who rely upon these areas for their livelihoods. In funding in a few specific areas, the Board believes it will have the most impact.   

Environment

In Southeastern Massachusetts, Maine, and Rhode Island, the Island Foundation promotes the conservation of marine and coastal resources. For many years, the Foundation has given priority to North Atlantic right whale research, protection of coastal waterbird habitat, and preservation of coastal lands.

More recently, the Board has been interested in new initiatives that:

• link climate change, renewable energy, and regional planning and support those most impacted by climate change;
• support working landscapes (sustainable agriculture and community-based fisheries) and the people who rely on them for their livelihoods;
• help local conservation organizations strengthen their own capacity;
• connect community health, quality of life, and environmental conservation; and
• promote environmental justice and seek to include the voices of those most affected by environmental harms.

Background

With funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Section 320 of the Clean Water Act, MassBays provides small grants to nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, and municipalities for projects that advance progress toward the goals of our Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan. We seek proposals that will fill in gaps in knowledge about our assessment areas, demonstrate new approaches to monitoring or protecting near-shore habitats, or lay the groundwork for future restoration.

Through the Healthy Estuaries Grant Program, MassBays will provide funding and technical support to those working in near-shore waters and coastal communities from Salisbury to Provincetown to:

• Characterize estuary, rocky intertidal, and beach habitats and biological communities.
• Document the impacts of human and natural stressors on those systems.
• Evaluate effectiveness of habitat restoration efforts already implemented.
• Design and scope larger restoration projects for subsequent state or federal funding, especially in underserved communities.

MASSBAYS SHORT-TERM PRIORITIES

Support policy and planning

• Prioritize, plan, or implement coastal infrastructure projects that result in habitat or water quality improvements.
• Conduct regional/watershed-based coastal restoration prioritization.
• Collect habitat and water quality data to inform state & local condition assessments.

Address research & data gaps

Climate change

• Influence on pollution and water quality
• Considerations for restoration of submerged aquatic vegetation and salt marsh
• Coastal acidification characterization and impacts
• Sentinel species assessments and/or documentation of population shifts
• Examine changing sediment budgets to forecast restoration needs

Water quality

• Determine water quality thresholds that optimize health of coastal habitats
• Investigate connections between water quality and habitat loss
• Expand existing freshwater monitoring programs to include estuarine systems
• Conduct marine benthic community assessments
• Assess emerging contaminants (PFAS, PPCPs)

Habitat condition

• Investigate the cause(s) of habitat deterioration and possible actions to improve conditions
• Investigate impacts of habitat loss on key ecosystem services
• Expand video-enabled diadromous fish run monitoring
• Conduct habitat restoration-related monitoring to inform future restoration efforts

Data products & analysis

• Digitize and conduct QA/QC assessments on historic data and upload to EPA’s Water Quality Portal
• Analyze crowdsourced data (e.g., MassWrack, iNaturalist observations) to characterize conditions in MassBays
• Pilot innovative technologies and approaches to collecting, managing, and sharing monitoring and restoration data.

Evaluate impact

• Effectiveness of restoration, education, and outreach, and other actions that garner support from communities and stakeholders
• Qualitative and quantitative benefits of CCMP-related (including Healthy Estuaries Grant-funded) programs and projects

The Arbor Day Foundation

We plant trees because people need trees. Our health and the health of our planet are interconnected, and the simple act of planting trees benefits both. The Arbor Day Foundation works to connect opportunities, people, and organizations to plant trees and forests to help solve some of the most critical issues facing our planet.

Tree Campus Higher Education Program

No matter where you’re from, trees and green space are an integral part of the college experience. They make campuses more livable, healthy, and beautiful, benefiting students and the environment as a whole.

Tree Campus Higher Education was founded to foster that tradition of excellence. The program provides a simple framework for colleges and universities to grow their community forests, achieve national recognition, and create a campus their students and staff are proud of.

Why should my school participate?

• A commitment to trees can significantly reduce the amount of energy your campus, and community, needs to generate.
• Planting and maintaining trees absorbs carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, mitigating the effects of climate change.
• Green space provides important mental health benefits to students, faculty, and staff, as well as encourages physical activity.
• Involving students in tree-related service-learning projects helps educate the next generation about the importance of caring for the environment.

Recognition also builds pride among your campus and the wider community. We make it easy for you to share your designation, sending flags, press releases, logos and graphics, and other materials after your acceptance.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant (WHOI Sea Grant) requests proposals for two-year projects from investigators at academic, research and educational institutions throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Funded projects will fill information gaps or provide innovative solutions to pressing coastal issues in Massachusetts.Proposals should be designed to help address important local management problems and must include a plan for how audiences beyond the academic research community can use anticipated results.

Program and Focus Area Priorities

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) Sea Grant’s mission is to enhance the practical use and conservation of coastal and marine resources by developing and sharing sciencebased knowledge to create a sustainable economy and environment for the diverse communities of Massachusetts. WHOI Sea Grant is part of the National Sea Grant College Program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, a network of 34 individual programs located in each of the coastal and Great Lakes states. For the 2024-2025 research competition, WHOI Sea Grant solicits proposals that directly address one or more of the focus areas and program goals described in WHOI Sea Grant’s 2024- 2027 Strategic Plan.

Specifically, WHOI Sea Grant seeks proposals focusing on the research theme areas of:

• Healthy coastal ecosystems
• Sustainable Fisheries and Aquaculture
• Environmental Literacy and Workforce Development
• Resilient Communities and Economies

 In addition, advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Accessibility (DEIJA) in the marine sciences, climate change impacts on coastal ecosystems and landforms, and environmental literacy and workforce development are considered as cross cutting themes.

Anticipated funding

Depending on availability of funds, approximately $1 million will be available to support 4-6 research projects during the two-year funding period. Sea Grant proposals require a match of $1 of non-federal funds for every $2 of federal funds requested.

The Foundation is dedicated to providing financial assistance to organizations committed to improving our world. Solutions to the problems of today's world still lie in the values of innovation, practicality, hard work, and compassion.

The Foundation considers applications for grants in the following areas:

• Education
• Social Service
• Health care
• Civic and cultural
• Environmental

The categories above are not intended to limit the interest of the Foundation from considering other worthwhile projects. In general, the Foundation guidelines are broad to give us flexibility in providing grants.

The majority of our grants are made in the U.S. However, like Dr. Scholl, we recognize the need for a global outlook. Non-U.S. grants are given to organizations where directors have knowledge of the grantee.

The Nature Conservancy

The Nature Conservancy is a global environmental nonprofit working to create a world where people and nature can thrive.

Our Mission

To conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends.

Connectivity, Climate, Communities Fund

To make the highest possible impact on the climate and biodiversity crises, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is committed to advancing solutions and supporting partners throughout the Appalachians to connect and conserve vital wildlife habitat, build resilience to the impacts of climate change, and generate new job and recreation opportunities for communities.

Approximately one-third of the U.S. population lives in or within 100 miles of the Appalachians, including an estimated 36 million people that rely on the region for sources of drinking water. The landscape contains the world's largest remaining expanses of temperate broadleaf mixed forest and provides habitat to a wide diversity of plants of animals, many of which are listed as rare, threatened, or endangered. Conserving this landscape is critical for nature and for the people that live and work there.

However as climate change drives ecosystem instability, plants and animals are shifting their ranges northward, and people are having to find ways to adapt to complex and intertwined challenges. TNC and many others have been working to conserve vital Appalachian habitats for decades. Now we must ramp up our efforts and coordinate with partners across the Appalachians for maximum impact.

To succeed in these efforts, TNC’s Connectivity, Climate, Communities Fund offers two grant programs for conservation and community organizations, municipalities, Federally Recognized Tribal Nations, and local and state agencies in the Appalachians who are working to protect and conserve this region:

• The Resilient and Connected Appalachians Grant Program
• The New York Climate Resilience Grant Program

Resilient and Connected Appalachians Grant Program

The Resilient and Connected Appalachians Grant Program provides grants of up to $100,000 for fee and easement acquisition projects throughout the Appalachians.

Equitable Conservation and Community Benefits

Conservation organizations are increasingly acknowledging the importance of incorporating social equity in their missions, partnerships, and projects and evolving how they work to have better outcomes for people and nature.

TNC defines community benefits as the positive outcomes that directly result from or are included within conservation projects as experienced by local communities and people. This is particularly important for historically marginalized communities, communities with limited access to nature, communities experiencing heightened impacts of climate change due to systemic underinvestment and poor infrastructure, and Indigenous communities. 

RCA program funding will support projects that demonstrate meaningful community engagement, work with those historically excluded from conservation, and lead to a fairer distribution of benefits for people and communities.

Some examples of community benefits include improved and greater access to nature, protection of drinking water sources, recreational and resource-based economic opportunities, flood mitigation, engagement in cross-cultural initiatives, or protection of lands that will meet community-defined conservation needs. We encourage projects with meaningful community benefits that are integrated with the land protection goals.

Project Evaluation

Projects will be evaluated  according to their capacity to deliver land protection outcomes aligned with the program goals, including:

• Location:
  • the project is located within TNC’s Appalachians Program boundary and is in or near a mapped focal area.  Projects outside of focal areas will also be considered.
• Resilience:
  • the percentage of the total project area that is part of the Resilient and Connected Network.
• Connectivity:
  • adjacency to protected lands or other attributes that will lead to landscape connectivity over time (e.g., the project is a necessary acquisition for advancing a local or regional plan that aims to protect a critical conservation corridor).
• Collaboration:
  • evidence of engagement with other organizations, community groups, or local governments (including, but not limited to, shared funding).
• Community:
  • project elements that directly engage and or benefit people, especially vulnerable or marginalized communities.
• Timeline:
  • the project will close within 12 months from the start of the grant agreement term.
• Feasibility:
  • likelihood that the project will close and the costs seem reasonable.

Environmental Preservation & Animal Welfare

This endowed fund focuses on preserving, enhancing, and providing access to the natural beauty of North Central Massachusetts, as well as enhancing the welfare of domestic animals.

Objective

Preserve, restore and provide public access to the natural environment of the region and promote the humane treatment of animals through education, advocacy, and services.

Examples include:

• Animal rescue, protection, and placement
• Animal welfare education
• Land/water preservation
• Habitat restoration
• Improving public access to natural places
• Environmental/outdoor education
• Local action to address climate change mitigation and adaptation

About the Foundation

Jesse W. Couch lived a life of zeal, honor, and dedication to the betterment of his community. The Couch family now humbly stewards the foundation he created to carry on his legacy of service for future generations. We believe that impact is best accomplished through partnerships with local organizations that know the people and communities they serve. We invest in and support efforts to protect the environment, further conservation and preservation initiatives, and save historical architecture that preserves community heritage. We also support initiatives that promote wellness and mental health and organizations seeking to provide and further education for all communities.

Annual Grant Focus

Each year, we seek to partner with and support non-profit organizations making an impact in the focus areas listed here.  The focus areas for 2025 are:

• Animal Wellbeing: We are dedicated to helping nonprofit organizations that nurture compassion and respect for all living animals. We must have animal-focused organizations that advocate for animal rights and provide humane treatment across all spectrums.
• Early Childhood Education: We are looking for schools that are providing young children with a creative and balanced approach to education. Things we love in early childhood curriculums:
  • Life Skills
  • Collaboration With Their Peers and Teachers   
  • Having Fun   
  • Montessori Teachings   
  • Project Based Teachings   
  • Diversity   
  • More Time Outside   
  • Less Screen Time
• Teachers: Teachers are essential to providing children with the best possible education. We must invest in their future and are always looking for teams that help them succeed in educating future generations.
• Get Outside: Being outside can improve memory, fight depression, lower blood pressure, and more! We support organizations that facilitate and encourage more outdoor activities that help create healthier communities. 

Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation Grant

The Foundation will consider requests to support museums, cultural and performing arts programs; schools and hospitals; educational, skills-training and other programs for youth, seniors, and persons with disabilities; environmental and wildlife protection activities; and other community-based organizations and programs.

Overview:

The City of Boston, through the Environment Department’s Air Pollution Control Commission (APCC) is seeking proposals from nonprofit organizations for community-based projects that reduce air pollution in the City of Boston. This grant program aims to improve public and environmental health while addressing local impacts of climate change.

About the Air Pollution Control Commission (APCC):

The APCC is responsible for developing and implementing clean air policies and programs within the City of Boston. This grant is funded by the Pollution Abatement Fund, established in 1984 to support pollution abatement programs through fees collected from environmental permits and fines. The Fund has primarily received permit fees from the parking freezes and has been used to support air quality initiatives under 310 CMR 7.33 and the Federal Clean Air Act.

Air Pollution in Boston:

Air pollution disproportionately affects historically marginalized communities in Boston, particularly those near highways and major transportation infrastructure. Exposure to pollutants such as particulate matter (PM), ozone, and greenhouse gases contributes to higher rates of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases.

Additionally, greenhouse gases like methane, ozone, and carbon dioxide contribute to climate change, leading to more severe flooding, storms, and heat waves. These climate impacts will disproportionately affect socially vulnerable populations, including black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), low-income residents, older adults, and individuals with limited English proficiency.

To explore where climate risks are most significant, applicants may refer to the Massachusetts 2020 Environmental Justice Populations Map, which identifies environmental justice (EJ) block groups based on state-defined demographic criteria. 

What is the Urban Agriculture Program?

The purpose of the MDAR Urban Agriculture Program is to advance Commonwealth goals and objectives, leverage collective resources, and support commercial projects designed to increase the production, processing, and marketing of produce grown and sold in urban centers across the Commonwealth. Expenditures will promote strategies to address food insecurity and to increase access of fresh, local produce in urban neighborhoods with a high concentration of low-moderate income residents.

Urban agriculture encompasses a wide variety of activities related to the growing of plants and the raising of animals for food including but not limited to: production techniques such as land-based outdoor and greenhouse cultivation, rooftop open air and greenhouse production, hydroponics, aquaculture, aquaponics, beekeeping and egg-producing poultry. Each project proposal must represent long-term, capital investments such as infrastructure improvements, building upgrades, purchase of computer software and systems, land procurement, and purchase of farm equipment. Projects will also foster youth development, small business development, and job training directly related to commercial urban farming.

This program does not fund backyard produce or livestock raised for personal consumption.

MDAR’s Urban Agriculture Program seeks proposals that demonstrate strategies for municipalities to increase access to affordable, fresh food for urban residents address the challenges of small scale farming in densely populated centers, and create direct markets in low-moderate income neighborhoods.

Examples of Project Priorities:

• Soil Management: Initiatives that address the issues of soil quality in urban environments with particular emphasis on improving soil fertility in blighted areas;
• Land: Proposals for acquisition of land for food production in urban settings;
• Equipment: Mobile market vehicles, small farm equipment or hand tools;
• Green Infrastructure: Demonstrations of greenhouse, hoop house, cold frame and other technologies to help urban farmers scale up the volume, quality and enable year round production or to manage energy and water usage, or allow for more intensive and efficient food production in urban environments;
• Climate Change Infrastructure: Compost tumblers and water conservation methods such as drip irrigation or rainwater recovery systems.
• Community Urban Farming Projects: Capital infrastructure to support non-commercial urban food production, via partnership with municipality or non-profit organizations for community benefit and distribution; must have a minimum of 0.5 acres in food production.
• Innovative Growing Technology: Demonstrate practical/economically viable approaches to urban aquaculture/aquaponics and vertical farming and other innovative growing methods to make available local sourced food and products to low-moderate income communities;
• Marketing, Distribution, Transportation: Improve the transportation and distribution of locally grown products from farm to customer such as food hubs sourced from local urban farms or other innovative technologies designed to aid/improve cost-effective distribution of food produced on urban farms to urban residents;

Massachusetts coastal communities face significant risks from coastal storms, flooding, erosion, and sea level rise—challenges that are exacerbated by climate change. To help address these issues, CZM administers the Coastal Resilience Grant Program to provide financial and technical support for local and regional efforts to increase community understanding of coastal storm and climate impacts, evaluate vulnerabilities, conduct adaptation planning, redesign and retrofit vulnerable public facilities and infrastructure, and restore shorelines to enhance natural resources and provide storm damage protection. Managed through CZM’s StormSmart Coasts program, grants are available for a range of coastal resilience approaches—from planning, public outreach, feasibility assessment, and analysis of shoreline vulnerability to design, permitting, construction, and monitoring.

Who is eligible and what types of projects are funded?

The Coastal Resilience Grant Program is open to the 78 municipalities located within the Massachusetts coastal zone. Certified 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations hat own vulnerable coastal property that is open and accessible to the public, and federally recognized and state acknowledged Massachusetts Tribes.

Eligible projects must fall under one (or more) of the following five categories:

Detailed Vulnerability and Risk Assessment

Projects that evaluate vulnerable public facilities and infrastructure using best available techniques, data, and climate projections (e.g. sea level rise and precipitation). Vulnerability assessments should build on Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program and other assessments and set the stage for implementation of actions.

Public Outreach

Projects that increase community understanding of coastal storm and climate impacts and build effective partnerships to develop support for implementation of proactive climate adaptation actions. Outreach projects that promote engagement in local adaptation efforts are most competitive. Creative outreach and communication products that are accessible to all residents are encouraged.

Proactive Planning

Projects to develop, amend, and implement community-based resilience plans, local ordinances, bylaws, standards, zoning, and other planning tools or management measures to reduce the exposure of existing and future development and infrastructure to coastal storm damages and climate impacts. Projects that facilitate retreat of vulnerable development and infrastructure and reduce future development in hazardous areas are highly encouraged. Projects that result in formal local adoption are most competitive.

Redesigns and Retrofits

Engineering and construction projects that upgrade or adapt vulnerable public facilities and infrastructure (e.g., seawalls, port and harbor infrastructure, wastewater treatment plants, pump stations, and critical municipal roadways/evacuation routes) to withstand flooding and erosion over the design life given higher tides, greater storm surges, and more intense precipitation. Projects that relocate public facilities and infrastructure outside of hazardous areas, where feasible, are strongly encouraged.

Shoreline Restoration

Projects that evaluate suitability, design, permit, construct, and/or monitor non-structural approaches that restore or enhance natural systems to provide erosion and flood protection services provided by public beaches, dunes, coastal banks, salt marshes, shellfish, and other habitat types. Projects must specifically address current erosion and flooding impacts of public facilities and infrastructure and be able to adapt as sea level rises (e.g., build up or shift landward).

Community Partnership Award

The Mutual of America Foundation Community Partnership Award recognizes outstanding nonprofit organizations in the United States that have shown exemplary leadership by facilitating partnerships with public, private or social sector leaders who are working together as equal partners, not as donors and recipients, to build a cohesive community that serves as a model for collaborating with others for the greater good.

Each year, the Mutual of America Foundation sponsors a national competition in which hundreds of organizations demonstrate the value of their partnership to the communities they serve, their ability to be replicated by others and their capacity to stimulate new approaches to addressing significant social issues.

Six organizations are selected by an independent committee to receive the Community Partnership Award.

• The Thomas J. Moran Award is given to the national award-winning program and includes $100,000 and a documentary video about the program.
• The Frances R. Hesselbein Award is given to a partnership that is addressing social challenges in more than one community, or which demonstrates the potential to be replicated in other communities. This recipient receives $75,000.
• Four other organizations are named Honorable Mention recipients for their programs, and each receives $50,000.

Since its inception in 1996, the Community Partnership Award has recognized 262 partnerships from cities and towns across America. Like so many of our clients working in the nonprofit community, Mutual of America is dedicated to having a direct, positive impact on society.

Background

The Somerville Health Foundation, Inc. (SHF) was established on June 26, 1996 in the Affiliation Agreement executed by Somerville Hospital and the Cambridge Hospital when those hospitals merged. Under the terms of the Agreement, Somerville Hospital incorporated a new nonprofit corporation known as the Somerville Health Foundation, Inc.

The SHF has two main purposes.

• Promote and support the provision of primary care and preventive health services accessible to the residents of the City of Somerville, Massachusetts
• Promote and support educational, research and outreach programs that will improve the delivery and accessibility of primary care and preventive health services to the residents of the City of Somerville, Massachusetts.

SHF Priority Areas for 2025-2026 Funding

The current priorities for funding support are programs/projects with a prime emphasis on the three equity principles that emerged from the CHA 2022 Regional Wellbeing Report. These principles are language justice, inclusion of underrepresented voices in leadership and decision making, and system improvements that encourage spaces for collective care.

Proposals that also address the following preventative health priorities will receive extra consideration.

Housing

This priority area can include, but is not limited to, addressing concerns such as housing affordability, stability and anti-displacement, safety, accessibility (e.g. for older adults and persons with disabilities), as well as homelessness and transitions to stable housing.

Equitable economies

This priority area can include, but is not limited to, addressing concerns related to sustainable food systems, local jobs with living wages and benefits, healthy working conditions, and caregiving systems.

Equity in access to healthcare, services and information

This priority area can include, but is not limited to, addressing elements such as costs, cultural and linguistic barriers, navigation of systems, referral systems, adequate staffing, transportation, digital access, quality, disability, and other aspects of accessibility of systems. Systems of note include healthcare (including mental healthcare) and other essential services and information, such as education, economic development opportunities, financial support, legal services and advocacy.

Climate health and justice: air, water, preparedness

This priority area can include, but is not limited to, addressing concerns related to air quality, water quality, and climate change preparedness in recognition that the health impacts of climate change and exposure to environmental hazards are disproportionately shouldered by low-income communities and communities of color

Adelard A. and Valeda Lea Roy Foundation Grant

The AV Roy Foundation has historically supported a broad range of organizations working in the areas of arts and culture, churches, education, environmental education, food access, health, land trusts, museums, and social services. The Trustees prioritize grants serving greater Boston and underserved rural and urban communities in Massachusetts, with some additional grantmaking in other areas of Northern New England.

In an effort to ensure that applications to the Foundation closely match current giving priorities, the Trustees will give priority to Massachusetts and Northern New England applicants focused on the following:

• Environment: requests focused on land conservation, in particular projects close to completion and projects resulting in easements held by accredited land trusts; environmental education; and climate change
• Health and Welfare: basic human needs (with priority given to food security and housing); hospice and home health care
• Arts and Culture: in particular, arts access and education for disadvantaged, elderly, or youth populations, and historic preservation
• Education: schools serving youth from low income backgrounds, including independent schools
• Churches providing basic needs support and other social services programming, as well as capital needs for facilities or historic preservation

Funding

Grants typically range from $2,500 to $10,000. In 2023, the average grant was $3,800. The Trustees anticipate a slightly higher average grant size this year, and fewer grants in total.

Corporate Contributions

Community involvement and corporate citizenship are an example of Insperity’s mission in action. We are committed to helping the communities where we live and work because together, we know we can make great things happen.

Grants

Philanthropic grants are a strong part of our community outreach and aid institutions needing financial support to meet important service goals.

Event Sponsorship

Fundraising events are an important part of nonprofit support. Insperity provides event sponsorships to approved charities to assist them in meeting their financial and community goals.

MassWildlife Habitat Management Grant Program

The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) is responsible for the conservation—including restoration, protection, and management—of fish, wildlife, and their habitats in Massachusetts. Although MassWildlife and other conservation organizations have made unprecedented investments in land acquisition in Massachusetts, land protection alone is not enough to guarantee the persistence of the Commonwealth’s diverse wildlife. Investment in habitat restoration and management is urgently needed on public and private lands across the state. To address this need, MassWildlife and the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs have substantially increased their investment in habitat management on state wildlife lands and are committed to working with partners to promote these efforts on other conserved lands across the state. The MHMGP program encourages landowners to engage in active habitat management on their properties to benefit wildlife. 

MHMGP Objectives

• Improve habitat(s) for game species (those species that can be legally hunted, fished, and trapped in MA).
• Manage habitat(s) for Species of Greatest Conservation Need as identified in the Massachusetts State Wildlife Action Plan (SWAP) – special emphasis on State-Endangered and State-Threatened Species.
• Enhance ecological communities disproportionally susceptible to climate change (fire adapted communities, riparian buffers along coldwater fisheries resources, etc.).
• Promote public recreational opportunities for hunting, fishing, trapping, and other wildlife associated recreation on conserved lands.

Types of Habitat Projects

Examples of Habitat Types supported by the MassWildlife Habitat Management Grant Program

• Upland:
• Warm season grassland (e.g., native little bluestem)
• Cool season grassland (e.g., native meadow)
• Barrens
• Sandplain Grasslands and Heathlands
• Oak Forests and Woodlands
• Wetland:
• Calcareous Wetlands
• Coastal Plain Ponshores
• Riparian Floodplains
• Acidic Peatlands
• Marshes and Wet Meadows
• Aquatic:
• Ponds
• Rivers
• Streams

Examples of Habitat Restoration & Management Practices supported by the MassWildlife Habitat Management Grant Program (with applicable permitting)

• Upland:
• Mowing
• Prescribed Burning
• Invasive Control
• Harrowing
• Seeding
• Tree Clearing & Stumping
• Wetland:
• Prescribed Burning
• Invasive Control
• Aquatic:
• Invasive Control
• Woody Debris Addition
• Riverbank Stabilization
• Small Dam Removal
• Culvert Removal / Replacement
• Stream Crossing Improvements

Funding

Applicants are eligible to receive between $5,000 and $75,000 per grant towards their approved habitat management project.

Georgia-Pacific Foundation

Established in 1958, the Georgia-Pacific Foundation sets aside resources to improve life in the communities where we operate. We’ve worked with thousands of outstanding community-based programs, service projects and disaster relief efforts, focusing our investment in four areas we believe make the most impact:

• education
• entrepreneurship
• enrichment of community
• environment

Investment Priorities

• Aligns with GP’s mission and values
• Aligns with GP’s Four Focus Areas of giving: Education, Environment, Enrichment of Community and Entrepreneurship
• Serves communities where GP has manufacturing facilities
• Creates value by contributing to and positively impacting long term well-being and sustainability of GP communities