Grants for Farmers

NOTE: Grant applications are by invite only. Grants will be awarded on a case by case basis after internal review. Does your organization sound like a match for our grant program? Complete our grant inquiry form to get in touch. 

About

Chipotle Mexican Grill established the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation in 2011 to extend its commitment to making real food accessible for all. Since its inception, the foundation has contributed more than $5 million to like-minded organizations committed to cultivating a better world through food.

We also provide resources and mentorship to growth stage ventures that share in our mission through a yearly accelerator program. It's how we share our learnings and illuminate the innovation happening in the industry.

How We Work

Each year we focus on one area of impact that furthers our mission and pair an accelerator program with a series of grants. This year, our grants will be awarded to organizations that are supporting the next generation of farmers.

Our grant program focuses on supporting organizations that share our mission of making real food accessible for all

About

Welcome to the Clif Family Foundation, an organization we started in 2006 to support small-to-midsize grassroots groups led by people whose vision and commitment we deeply admire. We have been proud to support hundreds of organizations that are working tirelessly to strengthen our food system, advance equitable community health outcomes, and protect the places we play by being stewards of our environment and natural resources. Our desire has been to leave the world a better place for our children. Now that we’re grandparents, the urgency to build a healthier, just, and sustainable world is even more personal. We look forward to expanding the reach and impact of the foundation in the years to come. This includes working with more organizations to make their innovative ideas a reality and supporting a new generation of leaders. We believe we can all do more good in the world. Together. Our grants are awarded annually for general operational support as well as for specific projects.

Foundation Priorities

• Strengthen Our Food System
• Grow organic farming and other climate-friendly agriculture
• Safeguard agricultural seeds and biodiversity 
• Democratize access to fresh and nutrient-dense foods
• Connect families with local food outlets and farmers
• Create viable opportunities for the next generation of farmers
• Enhance Equitable Community Health Outcomes
• Promote clean water access
• Curtail exposure to toxic materials
• Increase access to nature and outdoor activities
• Expand pedestrian and bicycling opportunities
• Improve farmworkers’ standard of living, wages, and working conditions
• Safeguard Our Environment and Natural Resources
• Accelerate action on climate change
• Advance renewable energy and support green jobs
• Break the resource waste cycle
• Preserve watersheds, open spaces, and wild places
• Conserve water supplies for fair, long-term access

Priority is given to applicants that:

• Address two or more of our funding priorities at the same time:
• Strengthen our food system
• Enhance equitable community health outcomes
• Safeguard our environment and natural resources
• Demonstrate strong community ties.
• Operate within viable and clearly defined plans for positive change.

About the Native American Agricultural Fund 

The Native American Agriculture Fund (NAAF) is a private, charitable trust serving Native farmers and ranchers through strategic grantmaking in the areas of business assistance, agricultural education, technical support and advocacy services. NAAF was created from the historic Keepseagle v. Vilsack litigation settlement (see ‘History’).

NAAF grantmaking activities are governed by the Trust Agreement and final award decisions are made by our Board of Trustees.

For 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organizations

General Focus: Business Assistance, Agricultural Education, Technical Support and/or Advocacy Services

Special Focus: Inflation Assistance & Supply Chain Relief; Tribal Departments of Agriculture, and/or Market Access

America the Beautiful Challenge

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), through anticipated cooperative agreements from the Department of the Interior (DOI), Department of Defense (DoD), and the Department of Agriculture’s U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), is pleased to announce the launch of the America the Beautiful Challenge (ATBC) 2022 Request for Proposals (RFP). The ATBC vision is to streamline grant funding opportunities for new voluntary conservation and restoration projects around the United States. This Request for Proposals is a first step toward consolidating funding from multiple federal agencies and the private sector to enable applicants to conceive and develop large-scale, locally led projects that address shared funder priorities spanning public and private lands.

In year one of the ATBC approximately $85 million will be awarded in nationwide funding to advance the America the Beautiful Initiative and its goals to connect and restore the lands, waters, and wildlife upon which we all depend. In the first year, ATBC will seek to fund projects across the following themes:

• Conserving and restoring rivers, coasts, wetlands and watersheds 
• Conserving and restoring forests, grasslands and other important ecosystems that serve as carbon sinks 
• Connecting and reconnecting wildlife corridors, large landscapes, watersheds and seascapes 
• Improving ecosystem and community resilience to flooding, drought and other climate-related threats
• Expanding access to the outdoors, particularly in underserved communities

Collectively, these themes allow applicants to develop landscape-level ATBC proposals that address conservation and public access needs that showcase cumulative benefits to fish and wildlife, carbon sequestration and storage benefits, engage with and benefit underserved communities, support community access to nature, and help safeguard ecosystems through conservation, resilience-focused and nature-based solutions. 

Program Priorities

ATBC will prioritize proposals that implement voluntary large-scale, on-the-ground conservation activities or otherwise lead to on-the-ground implementation through capacity building, community engagement, planning and project design. The overarching goal is to advance existing landscape conservation plans and/or propose to knit together a diverse stakeholder partnership that develops and/or implements new conservation plans. As part of this, projects should address priority species and/or habitat conservation actions identified in existing plans or other species recovery or conservation plans. Projects that are informed by Indigenous Traditional Knowledge (ITK) and promote Tribal co-stewardship are also encouraged. 

Competitive proposals will increase interagency and intergovernmental collaboration and address more than one of the program priorities below. 

Benefit At-Risk Fish, Wildlife and Plant Species

Conserve and restore habitat to improve ecosystem function and biological diversity, as identified by conservation plans, ITK, or emerging information for priority fish, wildlife and/or plant resources, such as threatened and endangered species, species of greatest conservation need (including game species). 

Expand Habitat Connectivity

Conserve and restore priority habitat and stopover areas along key migratory routes; conserve, restore or improve fish passage; conserve or restore lands and/or waters that are critical to habitat connectivity; or expand and enhance wildlife corridors that contribute to larger-scale conservation efforts (e.g., removing and right-sizing culverts, removing encroaching trees from grassland and sagebrush ecosystems, rehabilitating areas damaged by fire, treating exotic/invasive vegetation to improve habitat values, or voluntary conservation easements to strengthen habitat connectivity).

Provide a Range of Ecosystem Services

Demonstrate and quantify a range of ecosystem services restored (e.g., improving stream flow for aquatic resources, watershed health, carbon sequestration, restoration of Tribal subsistence resources).

Strengthen Ecosystem and Community Resilience

Conserve and restore natural systems that help ecosystems and/or communities respond to, mediate and recover from disturbances such as floods, wildfire, drought (e.g., enhancing a wetland to improve coastal resilience, invasive species prevention or removal to reduce wildfire risk, restoring fire resilient stand structure and species composition in fire prone forests, water conservation to address drought, expansion of wetlands to protect from flooding, grassland restoration to promote natural prairie ecosystems).

Expand Public and Community Access to Nature

Create, improve or expand opportunities for public access and recreation, in particular for underserved communities that lack access to the outdoors, in a manner consistent with the ecological needs of fish and wildlife habitat. Projects should be conducive to high-quality recreational experiences, such as biking, birding, boating, fishing, hiking, outdoor education, cultural activities, hunting and wildlife viewing. Projects should be predominantly nature-based in application. Hard infrastructure, such as parking lots and visitor center amenities, are not eligible under this funding opportunity.

Engage Local Communities

Applicants are encouraged to develop projects that incorporate outreach to communities, particularly underserved communities in accordance with the Administration’s Justice40 initiative, foster community engagement, and pursue collaboration with farmers, ranchers, Tribal Nations, states or other land managers to produce measurable conservation benefits. When possible, projects should be developed through community input and co-design processes, and incorporating ITK when possible. Additionally, projects should engage community-level partners (e.g., municipalities, NGOs, community organizations), as appropriate, to help design, implement, and maintain projects to secure maximum benefits for communities, maintenance, and sustainability post-grant award. 

Support Tribally Led Conservation and Restoration Priorities

Consistent with the Administration’s commitment to honoring Tribal sovereignty and advancing equity for Indigenous people, applicants are encouraged to prioritize projects that uplift Tribal and Indigenous-led efforts. These efforts may include but are not limited to Tribal co-stewardship of federal or other lands, restoration of Tribal homelands, access to and/or restoration of sacred sites, and elevation of ITK.  

Contribute to Local or Tribal Economies

Implement conservation projects that, as a co-benefit, directly contribute to local economies and underserved communities. For example, projects could help expand tourism or recreational economies, promote regenerative agriculture, or contribute to working lands and/or community or Tribal forestry. Applicants are encouraged to estimate the economic benefits that are expected because of the project (e.g., number of jobs sustained or created). 

Contribute to Workforce Development

Develop the next generation of conservation professionals, including through support for national service, youth and conservation corps engaged in conservation and climate-related work. Projects that develop the restoration workforce, in particular with AmeriCorps and 21st Century Conservation Service Corps programs, are encouraged.

Grant Categories

• Implementation Grants: Grants to implement projects that address program priorities on public, Tribal, and/or private lands; partnerships with NGOs and others through subawards are encouraged.
• Planning Grants: Grants that enhance local capacity to implement future on-the-ground actions that address program priorities through community-based assessments, partnership building, planning, project design, and other technical assistance activities. Projects in this category should include multiple partners, be at a significant scale for the landscape/watershed/seascape, and clearly demonstrate how efforts will lead to implementation projects.
• Sentinel Landscape Grants: Grants will be funded through the Readiness and Environmental Protection Integration (REPI) Program and will be prioritized to Sentinel Landscapes or areas that preserve or enhance military readiness. Projects in this category should include multiple partners and clearly contribute to outcomes identified in a Sentinel Landscape implementation plan or other applicable conservation or restoration implementation plan, by enhancing local capacity to implement future on-the-ground actions or by directly contributing to on-the-ground outcomes. Projects in this category must demonstrate benefit to DOD facilities and be in the vicinity of or ecologically linked to a DOD installation or range. DOD funds may not be used for work directly on military lands.
• National Forest Grants: Grants will support projects on National Forest System lands to achieve the restoration of a forest ecosystem through the removal of vegetation, the use of prescribed fire, or the decommissioning of an unauthorized, temporary, or system road. Projects should target outcomes identified in a conservation or restoration implementation plan Projects completing vegetation management should be connected to a watershed protection plan.
• Private Forests, Rangeland and Farmland Grants: Grants will support outreach and engagement with private landowners for voluntary conservation efforts on working lands to advance NRCS Working Lands for Wildlife Framework and Initiatives (e.g. sagebrush, grasslands, bobwhite quail, northeast turtles, golden-winged warbler). 

Got Organic?

Farmers Advocating for Organic (FAFO) began with the 2002 Farm Bill, which included an exemption for organic farmers from contributing to national promotion programs like “Got Milk?” In response, Organic Valley devised a way for farmers to pool their exemptions into an organic-focused granting fund as a way to promote and advance organic farming.

Our name says it all: Farmers Advocating for Organic. FAFO is a grant program funded entirely by annual, voluntary contributions from Organic Valley farmers. It's the largest farmer-funded grant program in the U.S. and one of the few focused solely on organic. 

The fund provides a way for Organic Valley farmers to address the long-term needs of the organic marketplace and the future of organic agriculture by supporting the development of long-term solutions. Through combining resources, Organic Valley farmers are able to invest in projects that affect the livelihoods of organic farmers across the country. 

Simply said, FAFO is organic farmers helping organic farmers.

FAFO funds projects that make a difference

Grants are awarded to research, education and advocacy projects that advance FAFO’s mission: to protect and promote the organic industry and the livelihood of organic farmers.

Within this context, FAFO is currently prioritizing projects that focus on:

• Projects that benefit family farmers who produce organic dairy, eggs, meat, produce, and grain/forage 
• Projects that focus on organic soil health and biology
• Projects that strengthen CROPP Cooperative (internal)

NOTE: Submissions are reviewed on a quarterly basis.

About Us

The Agency Fund is a multi-donor partnership focused on innovations and organizations that support people in the navigation of difficult lives. Our open window calls for research and innovation concepts within the general scope of our approach, without further thematic or geographic restrictions.

Background for our Open Window

Recent advances in experimental social science show that even people who live in extremely difficult conditions, and who appear to have very limited options, can derive major benefits from insights that engage their consciousness, affirm their dignity, and support them in charting a path forward. Remarkable impacts can follow on subjective indicators like self-efficacy and life satisfaction, as well as with objective development outcomes like income, health status, and educational attainment.

The expansion of mobile technology, along with the falling cost of data in low-income settings, makes it possible to bring evidence-based guidance to people in poverty as well. A number of organizations are already pioneering this approach.

For example:

• Non-profit Precision Development provides smallholder farmers in India and Africa with agricultural advisory services that are tailored to local agronomic conditions.
• Non-profit ConsiliumBots helps Latin American students and their families navigate the public education options that are available to them.
• Shujaaz, a social venture, builds digital tools that help East African micro-entrepreneurs seek and share advice on informal street hustles.

We are interested in these and similar ideas that give people access to localized, actionable insights that may prove useful to them in the navigation of their difficult economic prospects.

What and How We Plan to Fund

We seek to make grants to time-limited research and innovation projects that pilot, design, and test concrete solutions. The strongest applications will score well on the following:

• Relevance to Human Agency:
  • Is this approach aligned with ours? Does it engage people's consciousness and embrace their dignity? Does it unearth situationally relevant insights about people’s options, capabilities, or future? Does the context realistically afford people alternative choices?
• Leverage & Synergy:
  • Does the idea elegantly leverage technology to engage people in a customized, interactive, and scalable manner? Alternatively, does it build on an existing user base, case worker network, or policy mechanism? Is there potential for cross-fertilization with other approaches that the Agency Fund is involved with?
• Data & Learning:
  • Is this approach idea grounded in scientific evidence (e.g., from development economics or social psychology?) Does the applicant organization use data to for precision and rapid adaptation? Is there a path to exceptional cost- effectiveness?
• Team & Management:
  • Does the team come with ample local context as well as a track record of rigorous and open research? Are the timelines ambitious?

NOTE: Growing Justice encourages grantseekers to take the Eligibility Quiz by March 1 (pre-proposal date) to ensure ample time to be invited to apply and to complete the application.

About

Growing Justice is a pooled fund co-designed by funders, farmers, advocates, food suppliers, purchasers and community partners from Native and non-Native communities across the country to transform food systems through equitable good food procurement.

Fund Values

• Health and Equity & Racial Justice will be achieved when all people can participate and prosper in a just, fair and inclusive society and race is no longer a factor that determines who has the opportunity to reach their full potential for mental, physical and social wellbeing
• Economic Equity & Worker Justice will be achieved when all people and communities can access opportunities for safe, dignified work; participate in business ownership; and build the economic stability necessary to achieve and sustain wealth and prosperity
• Environmental & Food Justice will be achieved when all people and communities can access, shape and benefit from good food and food systems that address environmental racism, promote food worker rights, utilize regenerative agriculture practices and advance food sovereignty
• Collective Action & Partnership are the building blocks essential for transformation, since we go farther together than alone, and make better and more equitable changes when we listen to and leverage the wisdom of the collective

Fund Vision

Growing Justice envisions a future in which Tribal, Indigenous, Black, Latinx, Asian and immigrant people engaged in food markets as suppliers, producers, distributors, workers, & eaters at community-serving institutions are economically and physically thriving thanks in part to efforts by large community institutions to prioritize equitable good food procurement.

Call for Applications

Awards of $50,000 to $250,000 are available to support community-led efforts to advance the vision and values of Growing Justice.

Growing Justice aims to invest in efforts to solidify the leadership, dignity and power of Tribal, Indigenous, Black, Latinx, Asian and immigrant people to identify and drive solutions that expand the market for good food from locally or regionally owned, and environmentally and economically sustainable farms, ranches, fisheries and food businesses.

Supported Activities

Growing Justice aims to support a wide range of activities to address community-defined priorities. This may include efforts that:

• Strengthen the effectiveness of racially diverse food suppliers, food producers, food distributors, and food hubs in local, regional or Tribal food value chains
  • For example, efforts that provide technical support to emerging farmers of color to adopt more eco-friendly or regenerative practices, or efforts to provide fiscal sponsorship to social enterprises that aim to expand operations to obtain institutional contracts
• Forge partnerships within regions and/or Tribal Nations to help small suppliers and distributors of color win contracts from large institutions
  • For example: alliances that increase access to processing facilities or equipment to aggregate foods for sale to institutions
• Incentivize large institutions to expand markets or break down barriers for local suppliers or producers of color
  • For example: efforts to shift institutional insurance requirements that can prevent small businesses from qualifying for institutional contracts
• Develop, implement and share effective policies, practices and partnerships across regions
  • For example: models of partnerships that help to shift costs or create greater transparency in data along the food value chain
• Build agendas to advance worker dignity and rights
  • For example: worker coalition organizing across jurisdiction

Who We Are

The Food and Farm Communications Fund is a multi-funder collaborative and pooled grant program organized around a shared belief in the role of strategic communications and narrative to build power and embolden transformative change in our food and farm systems. We believe that working together, with the long view in mind, will help us to invest our time and resources strategically. We find strength in our networks, yet know we have much to learn. To that end, we maintain an open application process and take cues from those closest to the problems we seek to address.

Core Grants Program

The Core Grants Program is the central offering of the Food and Farm Communications Fund, awarding targeted communications support to community-based nonprofit organizations and grassroots networks working to advance systemic and cultural change across our food and farm systems. We’ve set our sights on building power and shifting narratives, and are looking to support organizations vested in the long view, with equity and resilience as central pillars of their vision.

Core Grants are intended to:

Bolster communications capacity and strategy

This includes:

• establishing or upgrading communications tools, platforms, or systems, to strengthen your organization’s ability to understand, target, and reach diverse audiences;
• developing content, collateral, or creative media initiatives to convey your organization’s work in a more impactful way;
• comprehensive, integrated communications planning and strategy-setting;
• professional development and training, to improve the communications capacity of staff and leadership;
• as well as short-term communications staffing solutions (including partnerships with outside consultants) that demonstrate sustained benefit to the organization.

Shift public narrative

This includes:

• narrative development work that serves to amplify a grassroots food and farm narrative and/or debunk misleading dominant narratives;
• message framing and integration;
• as well as development of content, collateral, or creative media initiatives that convey the story of your constituents in a more impactful way.

Build connections and community engagement

This includes:

• campaigns, events, or experiences that utilize communications tools and activities to foster constituent and public engagement around food and farm systems issues;
• multicultural, equity, and justice-based approaches to communications;
• as well as communications projects that bring people together across divides (geographic, racial, economic), to foster empathy and solidarity, and to build collective power.

Range and Term of Core Grants

Core Grants are expected to range from $15,000 to 40,000 over a 12-month term, with $25,000 being the typical funding amount. Grant amounts are contingent on demonstrated need, alignment with the Fund’s purpose and criteria, as well as the Fund’s giving capacity in any given year. Upon successful completion of a Core Grant, grantees may be invited to apply for a mini-grant in the second year to further boost the organization’s communications work. Renewals of Core Grant awards are rare and by invitation only; they should not be counted on for project success. Core Grantees may be invited to participate in optional communications capacity-building, training, and peer-networking opportunities during the term of their grant.

Purpose of the FoundationThe purpose of Ekhagastiftelsen is to promote human health by supporting the development of better food, natural medicines and healing practices, and to support research for a healthier way of life, which in itself may have a disease preventive effect.A central idea is to focus more on preventive active care than reactive care to combat symptoms. The same applies to the agricultural and food areas where the focus should be to find methods that can prevent various problems instead of focusing on their manifestations.The focus should not be on tackling problems, but rather finding ways to prevent their occurrence.Prioritized Research AreasIn accordance with Gösta Videgårds wishes and interests the foundation supports certain specific research areas.Better and Healthier FoodFor Gösta Videgård an important goal was the improvement in quality of agricultural products through agriculture without toxins and artificial substances. The foundation therefore supports research and development based on the principles of organic and biodynamic food production or other methods and orientations that promote this goal. Research should be in line with IFOAMs (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements) principles of organic production.Examples of research that can be supported is how such crops that currently require pesticides can be grown organically in a qualitative and efficient way to produce better and healthier food.Research on improved preparation and storage of food, as well as the analysis of food quality can receive support.Nutrition and Way of LIfeGösta Videgård was very interested in significance of the diet for humans. The Foundation therefore supports research into the role of the diet in the treatment of diseases and strengthening the body's resistance.Examples of funding can be research into which type diet and food the body needs, the impact of different food choices on bodily functions and related nutritional issues.Healthier lifestyles, a cleaner environment and a more active outdoor lifestyle was also important to Gösta Videgård and he wished that the foundation should work to promote such development. Ekhagastiftelsen can therefore support scientific research in this area.Complementary Medicine and Natural MedicinesGösta Videgårds had a keen interest in complementary medicine and its goal of curing diseases by using the body's own innate healing abilities and utilize natural healing powers. He appreciated and also practiced the basic idea of avoiding artificial chemicals as far as possible.Ekhagastiftelsen recognizes that today support for this area of research can be extended to include also other medical research where the mindset is to utilize natural methods and medicines, and for example, can go under the names integrative, biological or alternative medicine.There are mental and psychological aspects in complementary medicine, and research in this direction can also be supported. However, our view is that research on the physical impact and bodily functions have higher priority than research on mental health and psychology.Which Applications Can Receive Grants?The main focus should be on scientific research and primarily applied research. Basic research in areas such as for example molecular biology and genetic research can be supported if it clarifies causal relationships that can be considered to be of direct value for further research related to foundation's purpose.In addition to funding scientific research, the foundation can, to a lesser extent, grant funding for projects designed to have research findings put into practice, for example, training activities, documentation projects, book projects or conferences. Such applications must contribute to a development in line with the foundation's purpose.The foundation also welcomes applications for planning grants. These can be for organizing seminars / workshops on the issue that the applicant wants to study, in order to get a better basis for a definite application (which can also be directed to other funding bodies) and as part of a dialogue between scientists and the scientific advisory council.Ekhagastiftelsen wishes primarily to support strategic and innovative projects of a pilot nature, as well as research that is highly newsworthy and that not just confirms previous findings. The foundation also supports participatory research projects, in which, for example, farmers and scientists work together to identify research questions and methods, and jointly evaluate the results.