Search Through Grants for Environmental Conservation in California in the U.S.

Watershed Programs - California

Watersheds impact every community; every town, city, and farm and provide a vital resource for all living things to survive and thrive. All watersheds are interconnected, creating a land-water system that conveys water to its final destination—a larger stream, an inland lake, a wetland, an estuary.

NRCS Watershed Programs provides technical and financial assistance to local government agencies, tribal organizations and other eligible sponsors, to help communities implement conservation practices that address watershed resource concerns.

Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP)

The EWP Program offers technical and financial assistance to help local communities relieve imminent threats to life and property caused by floods, fires, windstorms and other natural disasters that impair a watershed. EWP does not require a disaster declaration by federal or state government officials for program assistance to begin. The NRCS State Conservationist can declare a local watershed emergency and initiate EWP program assistance in cooperation with an eligible sponsor (see the Eligibility section below). NRCS will not provide funding for activities undertaken by a sponsor prior to the signing of a cooperative agreement between NRCS and the sponsor.

NRCS offers financial and technical assistance for various activities under the EWP Program, including:

• Remove debris from stream channels, road culverts and bridges;
• reshape and protect eroded streambanks;
• correct damaged or destroyed drainage facilities;
• establish vegetative cover on critically eroding lands;
• repair levees and structures;
• repair certain conservation practices, and
• purchase of EWP Buyouts. 

Locally-Led Solutions

All EWP projects must have a sponsor and demonstrate that they reduce threats to life and property; be economically, environmentally and socially sound; and must be designed to acceptable engineering standards.

Sponsors can apply for EWP Program assistance directly to NRCS while public and private landowners can apply for this assistance through a local sponsor. Landowners do not need a sponsor to apply for assistance through EWP-floodplain easements.

Recovery Projects

Recovery projects begin with a local sponsor or legal subdivision of state or tribal government. Interested public and private landowners must work through a sponsor.

Floodplain Easement Option

In some situations, landowners can directly apply for assistance through a floodplain easement at the local NRCS office when project funding for floodplain easements becomes available. States will hold a signup period for the impacted communities and the local NRCS offices will publicize that information in the affected communities.

Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Grant Program

The Climate Adaptation and Resiliency Program was created by AB109, which amended the Budget Act of 2017 to provide local assistance through the Wildlife Conservation Board for conservation projects focusing on resilience to projected climate impacts. The initial $20 million in funding through this program was payable from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF).

The intent of this grant program is to fund projects that provide climate adaptation and resilience on California’s natural and working lands. These projects must be consistent with the State’s climate adaptation strategy (Safeguarding California Plan), contribute to the carbon sequestration goals of AB 32, and support WCB’s Strategic Plan. In addition, projects will be consistent with other statewide plans and priorities, including the California Water Action Plan and California State Wildlife Action Plan 2015 Update.

Program funding is directed toward projects that:

• Protect and restore ecosystems on natural and working lands to provide climate change adaptation and resilience for wildlife.
• Assist natural and working lands managers in implementing practices that provide climate adaptation and resilience.
• Increase carbon sequestration in natural and working lands, and provide additional social, economic, and environmental benefits, or "co-benefits".

Coastal Conservancy Grants

Each year, the Coastal Conservancy issues millions of dollars in grants for projects that restore and protect the California coast, expand public access to it, and enhance its resilience to climate change.

The State of California has made an unprecedented investment in the resilience and accessibility of the coast. As a result, the Coastal Conservancy has significant funding available for projects that benefit public access, natural resources, working lands, and climate resiliency at the coast, coastal watersheds, and the San Francisco Bay.

Ongoing Funding Opportunities

Most Conservancy grants are awarded through a rolling pre-application solicitation. This includes Climate Ready, Wildfire Resilience, and all regional grant programs.

The application is a two-step process, though all applicants are encouraged to request a technical assistance consultation with the Regional Manager covering your project area to discuss project eligibility before beginning the application process. The first step in the application process is to submit a pre-application. If a pre-application meets the Conservancy’s Eligibility Criteria (found here) and there is available Conservancy funding for the project, applicants will be invited to submit a full application.

What We Fund

The Coastal Conservancy funds a wide variety of projects along the California coast, San Francisco Bay, and in coastal watersheds to increase availability of beaches, parks and trails for the public, protect and restore natural lands and wildlife habitat, preserve working lands, and increase community resilience to the impacts of climate change.

The Conservancy will fund most stages of a project including: pre-project feasibility studies, property acquisition, project planning including community involvement, design, environmental review, permitting, construction, and project-related monitoring. We do not fund operation and maintenance activities.

Available SF Bay Area Program funding pots are now mainly focused on projects that use nature-based approaches to address sea level rise. We are also coordinating support for Adaptation Projects with fellow state agencies; refer to this guide, and happy to schedule a discussion to find the best fit for your project.

The Conservancy uses Project Selection Criteria to communicate priorities to potential applicants and project partners, to evaluate grant applications, and to select projects for funding. Multi-benefit projects, projects that serve disadvantaged communities, and projects that advance the objectives in our 2023 – 2027 Strategic Plan and regional and statewide plans will receive higher priority for funding.

Grant Amounts

There are no maximum or minimum grant amounts for this funding; however, it is anticipated that most grants will be between $200,000 and $5,000,000.

Community and Economic Enhancement Grant Program – Proposition 68

Promoting communities and economic vitality in the Delta is a core mission of the Delta Conservancy. The California Drought, Water, Parks, Climate, Coastal Protection and Outdoor Access for All Act of 2018 (Proposition 68) makes funding available to the Conservancy that may be used for projects that enhance Delta communities and keeps them economically strong.

Our Community Enhancement Grant Program is designed to fund a breadth of projects that benefit Delta communities in order to sustain the Delta’s heritage and enhance the unique values of the Delta today.

Program priorities include:

• Recreation and tourism
• Historic and cultural preservation
• Environmental education

Additionally, the program focuses on increasing public access to recreational opportunities in order to promote a robust Delta economy.

The mission of The Dorrance Family Foundation is to improve the quality of life in the community by supporting education and natural resource conservation. The Foundation does this through scholarships, grants and volunteer service.

Who We Are and How We Work

The Dorrance Family Foundation supports projects that work to resolve societal, educational and environmental problems strategically and make our communities a better place. We accept grant proposals only for charitable, education, or scientific purposes from tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) organizations in Arizona, California and the Island of Hawai’i.

Local Grantmaking:

The Dorrance Family Foundation supports an array of nonprofit organizations in geographic areas that are personally significant to the Dorrance Family; Southern California, and the Island of Hawaiʻi.

Grantees include but are not limited to programs related to the:

• arts,
• children’s health,
• animal welfare,
• animal therapy,
• sustainable agriculture,
• organizational effectiveness and capacity, and
• natural resource conservation projects.

The Foundation also provides institutional support to organizations with a long-term history of Dorrance family commitment, and core to the foundation’s mission and family’s values.

Brightening Our Communities

Today, Edison International is one of the largest corporate philanthropic contributors in Southern California, we partner with local nonprofits and everyday community heroes to brighten our neighborhoods and build a better tomorrow.

Last year, we contributed $20 million in funding to support programs that help communities in our service area shine bright while tackling tough issues, such as improving air quality and access to clean energy solutions, increasing community resilience and disaster preparedness, advocating for increased diversity, equity & inclusion, and helping kids make a difference in the world by studying science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).

More than 90% of our giving helps underserved residents, including diverse ethnic groups, seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, women, LGBTQ+ populations and low-income families.

Grants to Make a Difference

Our grant funding aims to assist members of our communities that are often underserved, such as diverse ethnic groups, seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, women, low-income and LGBTQ+ populations.

Our Giving Priorities

Education

We believe education has the power to change lives, communities, and the world. Education receives the most funding of our focus areas to support educational programs designed to help keep kids engaged in school while opening doors to higher education.

We look for education programs that emphasize science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) in middle school, high school, and college levels, including tutoring, scholarships, and college-access programs.

The Environment

Our commitment to protecting the environment began decades ago and is deeply rooted in our company culture and focus to be a clean energy leader for our region and state.

We are uniting with nonprofits that have the passion and expertise to help shift environmental issues impacting our state and the world, such as improving Southern California's air quality, conserving green spaces for future generations, preserving and restoring habitats, and creating healthier communities by increasing access to green jobs and clean energy solutions.

Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness

Natural disasters can strike suddenly, anywhere and at any time. Earthquakes pose a real and ongoing threat, while wildfires have become an urgent problem with devastating consequences for all Californians.

Edison is committed to protecting our communities and helping families be prepared for natural and human-caused disasters. We support programs focused on electrical safety, emergency/disaster preparedness, community resiliency and wildfire safety and mitigation for our most vulnerable community members.

Civic Engagement

We believe that the ability to lead the transformation of the electric power industry toward a clean energy future relies on the diversity of our team and a society that enables all people to thrive.

To reflect our values, we partner with organizations that are deeply rooted in community advocacy and engagement while providing services such as workforce development and career pathway programs, professional and civic engagement leadership, youth mentoring, and capacity building for local nonprofits.

About the Foundation

The Johnson Ohana Foundation is a non-profit public charity founded in 2008 by musician Jack Johnson, and his wife Kim, to promote positive and lasting change within communities by supporting organizations that focus on environmental, art, and music education.

Grant Program

The Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation supports organizations with strong community involvement. We are most interested in funding organizations that work creatively toward solution-based approaches to environmental or societal problems, with a commitment to long-term and lasting change. The Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation primarily supports smaller organizations working on issues relevant to their own local communities.

We fund groups that focus on one of three central themes: 

• Environmental Education
• Arts Education for Youth
• Music Education for Youth

The Johnson Ohana Foundation seeks out innovative non-profits that actively engage youth and/or volunteers in projects that provide measurable benefit to the environment and/or the community.

A majority of our grants are awarded for a single year but we do on occasion award multi-year grants for up to a 3-year period. Multi-year grants are usually awarded to non-profits with which we have built a strong relationship and are generally associated with projects focusing on the current funding theme.

Fields of Interest

The Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation regularly supports organizations that work in the following fields of interest and in addition, chooses a specific funding theme that varies periodically:

Environmental Education 

• Oceans/ Rivers/ Watersheds
• Plastic Free Initiatives
• Renewable Energy
• Sustainable Living
• Sustainable Local Food Systems
• Farm to School Programs
• Tree Planting/Restoration
• Conservation Programs (energy, waste, water)

Current Funding Theme

• Sustainable Local Food Systems

Grant Size

The Johnson Ohana Charitable Foundation awards grants ranging from $2500 to $20,000. Grants can be directed to specific programs or to general operating expenses.

Grant Review Process

Environmental Education grants are reviewed in the spring.

The Leighty Foundation (TLF) is a small family foundation incorporated under Iowa law.  Directors and advisors live in Colorado, Alaska, and California.

Mission

To carry on the Leighty family legacy of service and stewardship by leveraging our time and talents, as well as our financial resources, primarily in the areas of Earth Protection, Education, Philanthropy, and Strategic Volunteer Engagement.Focus Areas Earth Protection “Environmental” has become trite, and does not convey the profound, urgent, and necessary changes in the way our species perceives and relates to our fellow species on Earth, and to its wonderful physical systems. The Leighty Foundation is especially interested in accelerating humanity’s transition to a sustainable, equitable, benign, affordable global energy system based entirely upon renewable energy sources — driven by radiant energy from our local star, the Sun, and by geothermal. Our earliest, most rewarding investments will be energy conservation and efficiency, while we invent and invest to “run the world on renewables.” We assist science education, so that we will better understand who and what and where we humans are, and to better understand Earth and our options for cooperation within its context and limits. Thus, we intend to invest wisely in Earth Protection, with both Foundation funds and with our personal involvement. An urgent Grand Challenge is transforming the world’s largest industry from about 80% fossil to nearly 100% renewable, CO2-emission-free energy sources, as quickly as we prudently and profitably can. Prudently: with acceptable social and economic disruption. Profitably: the huge amount of capital needed will flow only to attractive opportunities for returns. Electricity systems may be inadequate or technically and economically suboptimal for this transformation. Therefore, we now need to think beyond electricity, to comprehensively consider alternatives. Hydrogen (H2) and Anhydrous Ammonia (NH3) are attractive, energy carriers, storage media, and fuels – as complete renewable energy systems. The Leighty Foundation Earth Protection program focuses on the Big Three challenges of time-variable renewable generation:

• Gathering and transmission;
• Low-cost, annual-scale, firming storage;
• Distribution, integration, and end-use of energy services.

Strategic Volunteer Engagement Our nation finds itself faced with a perfect storm with shrinking resources and escalating needs. Meeting these needs will require a dramatic increase in the number of people willing to give their time and skills as well as their financial resources. However, the challenge may be less about increasing the number of people who volunteer, and more about building infrastructures which connect people with worthy opportunities, and empower them to make a meaningful difference.There is a growing awareness that even if Americans respond to the myriad of calls for service, many charities are not prepared to effectively engage them. A recent survey found that more than 30% of charities do not currently have the infrastructure to effectively deploy volunteers. Now is the time for us as funders to seize this unique opportunity to financially support nonprofits in building their capacity.

Overview

The Wildlife Conservation Board's agricultural program is formally known as the Ecosystem Restoration on Agricultural Lands (ERAL) program. The intent of the ERAL program is to collaborate with the agricultural community in identifying and implementing projects that provide long-term habitat benefits for wildlife, consistent with landowner objectives, including economic sustainability, and have the potential for replication on a statewide scale.

In California, many wildlife species are dependent on privately owned agricultural lands for habitat. Agricultural lands can provide significant habitat and connectivity with protected wildlife areas.

In many cases agricultural landowners are willing to integrate wildlife habitat benefits into the management and operations of their properties but lack the capital and/or expertise to implement these practices.

ERAL Program project criteria:

• All projects must be located on privately owned, agricultural land where agriculture is a major land-use activity, and there is a willing property owner.
• All projects must provide on-site habitat benefits to wildlife.
• All projects must be durable and include a long-term management plan and agreement that ensures that habitat features will remain on the landscape for a time period commensurate with wildlife population needs (a standard agreement is at least 25 years).

Examples of eligible project activities include, but are not limited to:

• Habitat restoration and enhancement of water corridors, streams, ditches, canals, tail water and return basins and ponds on agricultural lands.
• Vegetated filler strips, hedgerows and other wildlife buffers.
• Development of wetland areas.
• Riparian and floodplain restoration.
• Fencing to protect and enhance native habitats.
• Restoration and enhancement of native grasslands.
• Agricultural habitat management activities that provide significant environmental co-benefits including water quality improvements, carbon sequestration, etc.

Grant Opportunities

Funds are available for restoration and public access projects only. WCB is seeking applications that restore and enhance habitat throughout the state. Projects that increase connectivity and support justice communities are encouraged.

About Us

The Foxwynd Foundation comprises dedicated members of the Bentley family residing across the United States. Across numerous years, the family's philanthropic endeavors have catalyzed significant change on both domestic and international fronts, reflecting their deep-rooted commitment to humanitarian causes. This longstanding legacy of giving underscored the imperative to establish a family foundation.

With a diverse and passionate board of members, interests range from supporting domestic violence shelters and children's aid organizations to advancing renewable energy initiatives and safeguarding endangered species.

Today, the Foxwynd Foundation is dedicated to serving as a beacon of hope for communities in need, enhancing access to essential pillars of human dignity and potential, including healthcare, housing, and sustainable environmental initiatives. While presently focused on domestic causes, the foundation aims to expand its impact and secure international funding opportunities by the conclusion of 2024.

Priorities

• Healthcare
  • We support programs dedicated to assisting domestic violence victims, abuse survivors, and the protection of women's rights.
• Environmental Projects
  • We prioritize funding projects with a clear, measurable impact rather than initiatives with broad or abstract objectives. For example, we are more inclined to support tangible activities such as tree planting over programs like conservation education. Additionally, our focus is on building partnerships with organizations that are nonpartisan and refrain from engaging in lobbying activities.
• Housing
  • We are committed to funding established programs that address critical needs, including supporting shelters, preventing homelessness—particularly among children through initiatives such as orphanages—providing or establishing housing facilities, offering housing assistance to prevent eviction, and creating employment opportunities for individuals in need.

The Foundation embraces the protection of biodiversity as its overarching priority.

Frank Weeden, the Foundation’s founder and original benefactor, established the Weeden Foundation to address the impact of growing human populations and overuse of natural resources on the biological fabric of the planet. Since his death in 1984, the Foundation has helped preserve more than 6 million acres of biologically important habitat worldwide and provided financing for the first debt-for-nature swap in Bolivia in 1992, a strategy that is now widely used by international conservation organizations. Program efforts have supported projects in environmentally sensitive regions of the western United States, Alaska, Russia, Bolivia, Chile, Peru, Columbia, Ecuador, Belize, Namibia, Mexico, and various Caribbean nations.

Focus Areas

On a more general scale the Foundation supports the following focus areas.

Bird Conservation

Our goal in the Bird Conservation program area is to conserve wild birds and their habitats throughout the Americas. In particular we seek to fund grantees that work to prevent bird species extinctions and to prevent declining populations of bird species from becoming endangered. We specifically focus on protecting and restoring public and private bird habitat and we assist in acquiring land for threatened bird species. Finally we support protection of bird migration corridors in North and South America.

Systemic Support program at the U.S. national policy level for wildlife corridors, the Endangered Species Act, and additional wilderness designation.

Our goal in Systemic Support is to improve the effectiveness of environmental efforts through specialized services. Specific objectives include:

• support the Endangered Species Act through litigation, lobbying, grassroots campaigns and public education generally,
• promote organizations providing support for groups engaged in wilderness protection, land conservation, endangered species protection, wildlife corridor issues, and management of public lands, an
• improve federal and state support for environmentally sustainable practices, wilderness designations, and wildlife corridors. 

Global Biodiversity

Our goal in Global Biodiversity is to support campaigns and/or groups in biodiversity hotspots. Specific objectives are to

• protect global temperate rainforests,
• support creation of wildlife corridors,
• land acquisition and protection for endangered species and,
• support projects that involve indigenous peoples in the process and stewardship of conservation projects.

Environmental Education

The Foundation’s Environment Education program area focuses on supporting grantees that will provide future leaders with the tools to effect environmental policies. These policies complement the other grantees of the Foundation including biodiversity and habitat protection. Sustainable environmental policies must include both immediate actions as well as education to anticipate and to prevent future environmental impact.

Marine Wildlife Conservation

The Marine Wildlife Conservation Program Area focuses on helping to protect endangered marine species in the Americas through research, advocacy, policy change, and habitat conservation.

To address the adverse impact of economic and human population growth on biodiversity, the Foundation’s grantmaking includes both Consumption and Population programs.

The Foundation’s Sustainable Consumption program currently focuses on promoting greater use of environmental paper. Grantmaking in this area aims to broaden the market for environmental papers and packaging through markets campaigns, shareholder activism, consumer-targeted education, and dialogue with the corporate sector. This year we have expanded our packaging program to include efforts to reduce plastics in the waste stream, through strategies such as eliminating single use plastic disposables by promoting reusable packaging for grocery stores, take-out, and delivery.

The Foundation’s International Population program area is focused on reducing population growth rates in countries recognized for their rich biodiverse landscapes and that have a total fertility rate exceeding replacement levels. To achieve this goal, the Foundation funds groups that facilitate initiatives related to family planning, women’s education and women’s empowerment in countries with such rich and recognized biodiversity. The Foundation also supports advocacy efforts addressing global population growth in the context of environmental sustainability.

Health and healing for our society and planetThe Audrey Hillman Fisher Foundation is committed to caring for our communities through investment in big ideas that advance the arts, education, human services, and the environment. The Foundation has a targeted focus in Pittsburgh, Pa., Santa Barbara, Calif., and a small number of legacy partnerships in Squam Lakes, N.H.PrioritiesIn Pittsburgh, Pa. and Santa Barbara, Calif., the Audrey Hillman Fisher Foundation emphasizes the arts, education, and human services. The Foundation encourages big ideas and projects from new organizations that fit exclusively into these geographic areas. In the Squam Lakes, N.H. area, the Foundation focuses almost exclusively on conservation, environmental education and access through a small number of legacy partners.

Marisla was established in 1986 as a private, non-operating charitable institution. 

Environmental Program - Marine Resources Conservation The Environment Program concentrates on activities that promote the conservation of biological diversity and advance sustainable ecosystem management. Primary emphasis is on marine and coastal biodiversity conservation with a geographic focus on California, Northwest Mexico, Hawaii, Chile, and the Western Pacific (Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia).

Background

The California State Coastal Conservancy (Conservancy) announces the availability of grants to public agencies, federally-recognized tribes and indigenous communities, and nonprofit organizations for programs that facilitate and enhance the public's opportunities to explore California's spectacular coast and San Francisco Bay shoreline. The ocean, coast, and beaches have long been recognized and used as spaces of joy, relaxation, and healing for many Californians. The ability to experience the coast without fear of physical barriers, feelings of not belonging, or financial challenge is crucial to how individuals cultivate their lifelong connections with the coast. The Explore the Coast grant program seeks to provide enjoyable coastal experiences for people and communities who face challenges or barriers to accessing or enjoying the coast ("ETC Priority Communities").

ETC Priority Communities may include but are not limited to lower-income individuals and households, people with disabilities, people of color, indigenous communities, immigrant communities, foster youth, and other historically excluded communities who face societal challenges or barriers to accessing or enjoying the coast. You can use this mapping tool or other resources you know of to help determine if you are serving low-income communities (please note the tool linked will refer to these as a “disadvantaged” or “severely disadvantaged community”).

Projects should also meet one or more of the following priorities:

• Provide an enjoyable experience at the coast.
• Reduce economic, physical, operational, or societal barriers to accessing or enjoying the coast.
• Inspire ongoing coastal resource stewardship ethic through active learning and interactive activities.

Eligible Projects

Eligible projects include a wide range of programs and activities that help to bring people to the coast and/or enhance their experience at the coast. Other benefits such as ecosystem stewardship and environmental education are secondary benefits and are not necessary for a project to be eligible.

Examples of eligible projects:

• Providing transportation for ETC priority community members to participate in recreational, educational, or stewardship programs at the coast.
• Providing coastal experiences such as kayaking, surfing, or sailing for persons with disabilities.
• Providing beach recreation day trips for participants and their families.
• Facilitating festivals, docent programs, or other outreach events to promote and increase coastal recreational opportunities for ETC priority community members. Applicants should have a clear plan for engaging ETC priority community members in large-scale festivals open to the public.
• Providing overnight coastal experiences for participants.
• Promoting the use of public transit to access the coast.

Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program Introduction and Summary

The Sustainable Agricultural Lands Conservation Program (SALC), a component of the Strategic Growth Council’s Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities (AHSC) Program, supports California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction goals by making strategic investments to protect agricultural lands from conversion to more GHG-intensive uses. It also contributes to implementation of Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-82-20, which calls for the accelerated use of nature-based solutions to address the climate and biodiversity crises. Protecting critical agricultural lands from conversion to urban or rural residential development promotes smart growth within existing jurisdictions, ensures open space remains available, and supports healthy agricultural and tribal food systems, and resulting food security. Healthy and resilient food systems are becoming increasingly important in meeting the challenges occurring and anticipated as a result of climate change.

SALC is part of California Climate Investments, a statewide program that puts billions of Cap-and-Trade dollars to work reducing GHG emissions, strengthening the economy, and improving public health and the environment– particularly in disadvantaged communities. The Cap-and-Trade program also creates a financial incentive for industries to invest in clean technologies and develop innovative ways to reduce pollution. California Climate Investments projects include affordable housing, renewable energy, public transportation, zeroemission vehicles, environmental restoration, more sustainable agriculture, recycling, and much more. At least 35 percent of these investments are located within and benefiting residents of disadvantaged communities, low-income communities, and low-income households across California.

Program Components

These Guidelines cover the following investment types:

• Agricultural Conservation Acquisition Capacity Funding – Grants to develop agricultural conservation easement and fee acquisition projects and/or cover associated costs to help close acquisition projects where the cost of the acquisition is covered by an alternate source of funding.
• Agricultural Conservation Acquisitions – Grants to protect important agricultural lands under threat of conversion to nonagricultural uses through the acquisition of voluntary, permanent agricultural conservation easements (easements) or fee title purchases.
• Agricultural Conservation Planning – Grants to develop and implement plans for the protection of agricultural lands under pressure of being converted to non-agricultural uses.

For the purposes of this program, agricultural land includes both cultivated and non-cultivated lands that support an agricultural use, including gathering and activities that promote healthy trees, shrubs, and perennial forbs for the cultivation of traditional foods, herbal medicine, fibers (such as basketry material), and dyes so long as such activities are led by or conducted in partnership with a a Federally recognized or non-federally recognized California Native American tribe on the contact list maintained by the Native American Heritage Commission, or members thereof. 

The Impact100 Model

The Impact100 model is readily available to all communities who wish to implement it. The model is designed to empower women to see themselves as philanthropists and overcome the barriers women have historically faced in this arena. The model is designed for transformational grant making within local communities, with a minimum grant size of $100,000.

Focus Areas

All nonprofits are asked to apply under one of five focus areas:

• Arts & Culture
  • Cultural programs, participation in the arts, arts education
• Education
  • Educational opportunities for children and/or adults, especially those that address lingering educational disparities affecting our community
• Environment
  • Conservation and preservation of natural resources; environmental justice; parks and recreation; agricultural sustainability; environmental education; climate action, also includes non-domesticated animals.
• Family
  • Strengthening and enhancing the lives of children and families, seniors, also includes domesticated animals.
• Health & Wellness
  • Improvement of people’s mental and/or physical well-being

Anthony Grassroots Prize

The Anthony Grassroots Environmental Prize was established in 1999 by environmental activist Juliette Anthony. Every year, the Prize recognizes an outstanding example of grassroots environmental activism in California with public recognition and a $1,000 cash award.

About Juliette Anthony

The Anthony Grassroots Prize was established in 1999 by environmental activist, Juliette Anthony. Ms. Anthony devoted most of her life to protecting natural habitats and promoting renewable energy – almost always as a volunteer helping to mobilize grassroots community power. She is recognized for helping to prohibit a development in the Santa Monica Mountains which successfully resulted in the acquisition of the 2000 acre Ahmanson Ranch in 2005, and the 440 acre Soka University property (the former Gillette Ranch) in early 2005 for permanent dedicated open space.

Her long and varied professional career included working as a Research Librarian at Harvard College Library, the New York Public Library on 42nd Street, the University of Virginia Library, and the UCLA Theatre Arts Library. She also served as Film & Music Librarian at the Beverly Hills and Santa Monica Libraries. But her true passion in life was the preservation of our fragile planet, and she was a politically active and passionate supporter of environmental causes and social justice. In addition to her long tenure on the Rose Foundation’s Advisory Board, over the course of her lifetime she maintained deep volunteer relationships with Heal the Bay, Coalition for Clean Air and Communities for a Better Environment, and numerous successful movements to preserve open space in California. She was a long-time renewable energy consultant and was an early advocate for solar power. In addition to her environmental work, she volunteered at the Venice Family Clinic, Lieu-Cap Shelter for Women and Children in Venice, CA and CLARE Foundation and most recently, for the REST program in San Rafael, CA.

Juliette’s commitment to the power of grassroots environmental stewardship led her to serve on the Rose Foundation’s pre-launch Advisory Board, helping catalyze the launch of the Rose Foundation in 1993. She endowed the Anthony Grassroots Prize in 1999 and for many years Juliette led the Prize’s annual review of nominations. Juliette passed away in 2022, and the Rose Foundation is proud to continue the Anthony Grassroots Prize as a living testament to Juliette’s activism: caring for other people and fighting for a more just, healthy and compassionate world.

About

The Firedoll Foundation is a private family foundation founded by two unrepentant liberals from the 60's who still believe in the motto, "If you are not part of the solution, you're part of the problem." 

Focus Areas

We fund in five different focus areas: Community Development and Entrepreneurship, Immigrant Issues and Human Rights, Environmental Conservation, the Peace Process in the Middle East, and Survivors of Traumatic Brain Injury.

Community Development and Entrepreneurship

We believe that government has largely abdicated its responsibility in the area of community development. Although non-profit organizations should not be in the position of having to fill the gap, they are. Funders must step forward and provide them with support.

We focus our resources on supporting non-profits that work with vulnerable populations through safety-net services, reentry programs, entrepreneurship, and workforce development in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

Immigrant Issues and Human Rights

Immigration is a continuing source of vitality and rejuvenation of American society. We reject the anti-immigrant hysteria that swept the United States in the 1990's, bringing with it the detention of thousands of immigrants.

We support projects that provide alternatives to detention and advocate on behalf of detained immigrants and asylum seekers. We are especially inclined to support organizations providing legal aid to immigrants in detention, facing deportation, and/or seeking asylum. We make grants to human rights projects on behalf of vulnerable populations whose basic rights are being sacrificed by repressive governmental or religious policies or for the sake of global economic interests.

The geographic focus for the immigration program area is Northern California, with an emphasis on Alameda and Contra Costa counties.

Environmental Conservation

We have a sense of urgency about the state of the planet and the web of life of which we are all a part. As a result, we support a variety of approaches to preserving the environment, including legal action, environmental justice advocacy, scientific inquiry, and direct action.

We are particularly interested in projects involving regional cooperation and those that combine conservation with environmentally sustainable development, giving local people a stake in conservation. In the Western United States we restrict our grantmaking to Northern California. We give grants on a range of issues from protection of old growth forests and rivers and the preservation of endangered species to pesticide reform and community action for clean air and water.

Liberated Paths Grantmaking Program

Building a More Just and Sustainable Outdoor and Environmental Movement Together

Black, Indigenous, and People of Color-led organizations are on the frontlines of the grassroots work being done to build a better planet but our work is chronically overlooked and underfunded. We know that when our voices are left out, our communities suffer, and our planet does too. With the Liberated Paths Program, we envision a way to bridge that gap.

Through this program, we are working to create a more just and sustainable outdoor and environmental movement by shifting resources to and building power with Black, Indigenous, and Communities of Color. The Liberated Paths Program supports outdoor initiatives and organizations that cultivate and celebrate the contributions of Black, Indigenous, and Communities of Color and affirm the many experiences and identities our communities hold, through grantmaking, capacity building, and network building.

Through our Liberated Paths regional grants, we support organizations and initiatives of all sizes located in California, the Pacific Northwest (Oregon and Washington), the Southwest (Arizona and New Mexico), and the Delaware River Watershed that work at the intersection of racial justice, outdoor experiences, and the environment. In 2023, we will also launch grantmaking in North and South Carolina. Our Liberated Paths: Youth Access to Nature Fund supports efforts in the San Francisco Bay Area that increase safe and equitable access to the outdoors for Young People of Color.

We work with leaders and organizations who are rooted within their communities with the lived experiences to understand how to best advance justice and center the needs of the community. We support Leaders of Color to design and lead the types of joyful outdoor experiences and environmental efforts that are most meaningful to them and their communities. 

Liberated Paths support looks like:

• Relationship-driven and trust-based support
• Multi-year grants of $1,000 to $20,000 per year when possible
• Long-term, deep engagement in financial, operational, and fundraising capacity building
• Network building with a cohort of grantees to facilitate shared learning and systems-level changes
• Eligibility that is not hinged on organization size, ability to do impact reporting, or 501(c)(3) status
• Support for organizations and initiatives of all sizes and in all stages of their development
• Prioritized funding for organizations and initiatives led by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color
• Capacity building trainings and workshops for grantee partners

Capacity Building

Our model offers financial grants, as well as consistent coaching and mentorship. We want to connect our grantee partners with the tools and resources they need to sustain their vital work. To that end, in addition to trainings and workshops for all grantee partners, we work with each partner to identify areas where they want to grow and tailor our support to their needs. These areas could include: board recruitment, financial sustainability, staffing and hiring considerations, executive leadership coaching, budget planning, program design, insurance and liability considerations, safety, guidance on applications for additional grants, and more.

Network Building

Through Liberated Paths, we seek to bring together organizations and leaders working at the intersection of environment and racial justice. We do this through virtual get-togethers and information sessions. We facilitate network building within each cohort of grantees to facilitate shared learning and systems-level changes.

We also bring together funders and partners through a webinar series to connect, share information about the Liberated Paths Grantmaking Program and to also hold critical conversations regarding topics such as the explicit role of race in Liberated Paths, the racial funding gap, and racial bias and its impact in philanthropy.

Our Vision

Sustainability involves economic viability, environmental sensitivity, and social responsiveness, with emphasis on working with and preserving nature. Innovation involves creativity and new ideas that make this world a better place to live.

The foundation seeks to foster environmental restoration, preservation and education with emphasis on seed moneys that lead to establishing demonstration projects that link rural and urban settings. Projects could orient toward use of resources in sustainable ways, integration of food production, technology, economics, and community development in harmonious ways with the natural world, preservation of wildlife habitat as well as the diversity of wild and domestic plants and animals, and conservation of wilderness and open space. Of interest might be projects designed to restore and maintain biological diversity of flora and fauna or establishment of seed banks, sustainable land use, or appropriate technology for alternative energy resources. Efforts to find space in tight urban areas, bring the countryside to the city in the form of gardens, landscaping, and space are encouraged. Likewise, efforts to provide space and alternative living to urban people in a rural area are welcome.

A particular concern is with sustaining agriculture through organic, biodynamic, permacultural and other processes, training young people to be farmers, and linking farms to communities through community supported agriculture. Another area of need would be support for small alternative presses and periodicals that focus on issues and problems and their resolution and desire to impact broadly on society with their creativity and new ideas.

The foundation sponsors Laguna Wilderness Press that publishes books featuring the work of concerned artists, photographers, and environmentalists. Its books move in two directions: (1) to depict nature and pristine wilderness areas through photography and essay; (2) to focus on changing landscape and the impact of urban growth, technology, and development on natural beauty and resources.

With its interest in LWP and its home base in southern California, the foundation desires to direct attention to environmental groups and concerns in Laguna Beach, especially preservation and restoration of areas under conservation in the open space known as the Laguna Greenbelt or Wilderness and including the Laguna Bluebelt; projects that expand open space in the inner greenbelt, promote community gardening, including in its schools, restore wherever possible the canyon creeks to their natural setting, and help to establish the legacy of a unique place and its traditions of village diverse planning and vision, plein air painting, and historic homes and sites.

Project Types

Projects could orient toward use of resources in sustainable ways, preservation of wildlife habitats, conservation of wilderness, integration of food production, technology, economics, and community development in harmonious ways with the natural world. Also, another area of interest is support for small alternative presses and periodicals that show creativity and new ideas, and focus on issues and problems.

Justice Outside

Justice Outside advances racial justice and equity in the outdoor and environmental movement. We shift resources to, build power with, and center the voices and leadership of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color because the health of current and future generations demands it. We envision a just world where Black, Indigenous, and Communities of Color experience safety, health, and abundant joy through meaningful relationships with one another and the outdoors. We are thrilled to invite applications to help us achieve this mission and vision through the Youth Access to Nature Fund.

Established in 2016, the Youth Access to Nature Fund works to ensure youth of color in the San Francisco Bay Area have access to meaningful experiences in nature to support their growth as leaders and students, and to improve their mental and physical health. To that end, the Youth Access the Nature Fund is committed to the young people of the Bay Area, by centering the strength, joy, and leadership of their communities. By offering flexible funds and capacity-building the Liberated Paths Grantmaking Program: Youth Access to Nature Fund seeks to embody grantmaking that is built on trust, relationships, and support. 

Funding

The total grant amount requested for a period of one year should be no more than $25,000

Pacific Power Foundation

The Pacific Power Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Pacific Power. Its mission, through charitable investments, is to support the growth and vitality of local communities.

Together with our foundation and employees, we've given $13 million to local communities since 2019 to lend a helping hand and spur economic development.

Grant Focus

The foundation manages its grants in four cycles. This helps the foundation carefully review similar requests to ensure maximum benefit.

Community Enhancement

Affordable housing, community resilience, community and recreation centers, economic development, libraries, monuments, memorials and science centers.

Environmental Respect

Animal and wildlife biodiversity; carbon and methane emissions; conservation of natural resources; environmental management systems; parks, trails and gardens; resource stewardship; waste management reduction, and water usage management.

Background

Funded by employee donations, Community Grants are awarded to nonprofits in our California service areas. A diverse advisory board, made up of Cox employees, reviews and evaluates applications to ensure that our giving is meeting the needs of our local communities.

Cox Charities funds organizations with programs that focus on the following:

• Digital Equity: All Markets
  • Creating opportunities which allow technology access for all.
• Conservation & Sustainability: All Markets
  • Championing positive environmental change in our community and beyond.
• K-12 STEAM Education: All Markets
  • STEAM opportunities for K-12 students beyond the classroom.
• Military & Veterans: OC/PV/SD
  • Supporting programs that enrich the lives of military and veteran populations.
• Affordable Housing and Food Insecurity: SB
  • Connecting families to programs that provide quality food and shelter.

Philosophy

John and Nancy Schwemm, lived outwardly their core beliefs that compassion and personal integrity should serve as the guiding principles of life’s endeavors, and that our lives are more meaningful if we participate in bettering our communities.

Based on those principals, the Schwemm Family Foundation seeks to promote programs and initiatives that connect people to the past, help improve the way we live in the present, and identify and promote healthy land stewardship far into the future.

Goals

Enhancing natural environments

The Foundation seeks to promote programs and initiatives that strengthen communities through the enhancement of natural environments.  

The Foundation will consider grant requests that sustain and protect resilient, local ecosystems and related biodiversity by focusing on proactive conservation, and/or comprehensive restoration.

Funded Projects Will:

• Target environmental protection/enhancement efforts at local scales that contribute to ecosystem resiliency
• Have clear, measurable goals with long-term ecological benefits
• Be based on scientific principles of ecology and/or ecosystem restoration

Preserving local history and culture

The Foundation seeks to promote programs and initiatives that help instill a sense of connection and belonging to one’s community through the preservation of local history and culture. The Foundation will consider grant requests that better communities by preserving and sharing history and cultural heritage through literature, digital archiving, and/or other interpretive means.

Funded Projects Will:

• Document or interpret some portion of pre-1935 community history or culture
• Focus on a specific local community
• Speak to a wide audience
• Provide an enduring component accessible to the general population

Promoting healthy communities for all

The Foundation seeks to foster thriving communities by supporting projects that build healthier and more equitable communities.

Funded Projects Will:

• Promote local communities in the planning and implementation of environmentally focused land use decisions and/or support parks, green spaces, urban trail corridors, community gardens, and urban farms.
• Integrate with ongoing community efforts aimed at enhancing equitable access of resources to individuals in underserved communities.

This program, as provided by California Streets and Highways Code Section 164.56 (Article XIX, Section 1, of the State Constitution), authorizes the legislature to allocate up to $6.7 million each fiscal year from the Highway Users Tax Account (Motor Vehicle Revenues, Section 2100). EEM projects must contribute to mitigation of the environmental effects of transportation facilities. The California Natural Resources Agency (Agency) prescribes procedures and criteria to evaluate grant project proposals and submits a list of projects recommended for funding to the California Transportation Commission (CTC). The CTC awards grants to projects from Agency’s list. 

Eligible Projects

Eligible EEM projects must fit one of the following categories:

Urban Forestry

Projects designed to offset vehicular emissions of carbon dioxide. Urban Forestry projects plant trees and other suitable plants to offset or mitigate the vehicular emissions of carbon dioxide created by the RTF. Projects where plantings, once established, will thrive without the need for supplemental irrigation will be more competitive in this category (however, habitat and climate will be taken into consideration)

Resource Lands

Projects for the acquisition or enhancement of resource lands to mitigate the loss of, or the detriment to, resource lands lying within the right-of-way acquired for transportation improvements.

Cumulatively, Resource Lands projects address state-wide conservation issues, including climate change, availability of water for fish and wildlife, preservation of California’s rich biodiversity and protection of rare species, control of invasive species, protection of large landscape-level land holdings from conversion and fragmentation, preservation of wildlife movement and migration corridors and expanded public access to outdoor wildlife/nature oriented recreation compatible with conservation goals.

Resource Lands may include, but are not limited to, natural areas such as inland wetlands, forests, oak woodlands, mountain meadows, creeks, and streams with riparian or riverine fish or wildlife habitat, wildlife corridors and fish passages, coastal estuaries, grazing land and grasslands, among others. Additionally, Resource Lands may contain features of archaeological or historical value.

Mitigation Projects Beyond the Scope of the Lead Agency

Projects to mitigate the impact of proposed Transportation Facilities or to enhance the environment, where the ability to effectuate the mitigation or enhancement measures is beyond the scope of the lead agency responsible for assessing the environmental impact of the proposed transportation improvement.

Mission

Established in 2003, the Harry C. & Deborah L. Elliott Family Foundation is the philanthropic arm of builder and developer Elliott Homes. The Foundation’s mission is to enhance the quality of human life in the communities it serves. To that end, we help patients gain access to life-saving emergency care at hospitals, women and children rebuild their lives with safe shelter, and college students reach their goals through multi-year scholarships, among other projects. The Foundation is governed by a Board of Directors that meets on a monthly basis.

Interests

Funding has traditionally gone to community health care projects, scholarships for higher education, housing the homeless, environmental preservation and conservation, and services for disadvantaged seniors. Areas in which the Board members have special knowledge or interest are also considered.

About the Innovation Prize

The J.M.K. Innovation Prize seeks out innovators who are spearheading transformative early-stage projects in the fields of the environment, heritage conservation, and social justice.

The J.M.K. Innovation Prize is open to non-profit and mission-driven for-profit organizations that are tackling America’s most pressing challenges through social innovation. In 2019, we will award up to ten Prizes, each including a cash award of $150,000 over three years, plus $25,000 for project expenses, for a total award of $175,000. Awardees also receive guidance through the Fund and its resource network, providing tools and training for ascendant change agents.

For more than three generations, The J.M. Kaplan Fund has provided catalytic funding for projects in their early stages of development. Whether a pilot project, a new organization, or a nascent initiative, work supported by the Fund has involved a certain measured risk that ultimately led to large-scale, transformative results. We launched the J.M.K. Innovation Prize in 2015 to leverage this legacy of catalytic grant-making in the field of social innovation. Currently on a biennial schedule, the Prize has to date funded twenty wildly creative solutions to social and environmental challenges, ranging from high-tech efforts to restore imperiled coral reefs, to the nation’s first farm labor trust. Each awardee takes a visionary approach to a societal need, working within one or more of the Fund’s three program areas:

• The Environment: Protecting natural resources and reducing the impacts of climate change.
• Heritage Conservation: Conserving the places that communities care about most.
• Social Justice: Supporting just alternatives and reforms to the criminal justice and immigration systems.

Tailored for Early-Stage Social Entrepreneurs

We know there is a scarcity of funding for untested ideas being piloted in the social innovation field. The Prize is designed to fill this gap in innovation philanthropy, supporting ideas that other funders may deem too risky or too small. We also know that early-stage innovators need the freedom to seize opportunities when and where they arise. The Prize’s unrestricted funding offers this flexibility, letting awardees deploy resources where they are most needed, whether investing in core projects, hiring staff, or just keeping the lights on.

We know each organization must follow its own path to achieving a change-making vision. With its three-year period, the Prize gives awardees room to evolve at their own pace, with an infrastructure of support tailored to their specific needs as early-stage innovators.

An Innovation Community

Beyond the cash award, the Innovation Prize provides tools to help turn ideas into action. Over the three-year Prize term, we bring awardees together for two convenings each year. Each of these meetings, spotlighting a different awardee’s organization, offers opportunities for peer learning and mentoring from experts in organizational development, board cultivation, media coaching, leadership training, and more. From West Virginia coal country to Monterey, California, our awardees have shared powerful learning moments, embedded in one another’s work and reflecting on their role as change agents.