Grants for Land Conservation in South Carolina

NOTE: Statewide non-profits with grant requests greater than $20,000 should email a brief project synopsis and amount of funding request to Duke Energy's contact person.

Local Impact Grants

The Duke Energy Foundation is focused on strengthening and uplifting communities throughout South Carolina with grant funding. We accept grant applications for $20,000 and less throughout the year on a rolling basis for the focus areas describe below.

Vibrant Economies

• Workforce development training for jobs vital to the energy economy, with a focus on underrepresented populations
• Community revitalization and local economic development efforts
• Economic recovery for customers and communities facing unprecedented challenges
• Energy and engineering education for K-12 students and teachers

Climate Resiliency

• Environmental projects supporting land conservation; clean water; and biodiversity of plant and animal species
• Environmental resiliency projects that prepare communities for and mitigate against the effects of climate change
• Natural disaster preparedness and response

Justice, Equity and Inclusion

• Thriving natural environments, including access to green space, in historically underserved and environmental justice communities
• Programs supporting the “just transition” for communities transitioning to cleaner energy generation
• Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives supporting upward mobility

Hearst Foundations' Mission

The Hearst Foundations identify and fund outstanding nonprofits to ensure that people of all backgrounds in the United States have the opportunity to build healthy, productive and inspiring lives.

Hearst Foundations' Goals

The Foundations seek to achieve their mission by funding approaches that result in:

• Improved health and quality of life
• Access to high quality educational options to promote increased academic achievement
• Arts and sciences serving as a cornerstone of society
• Sustainable employment and productive career paths for adults
• Stabilizing and supporting families

Funding Priorities

The Hearst Foundations support well-established nonprofit organizations that address significant issues within their major areas of interests – culture, education, health and social service – and that primarily serve large demographic and/or geographic constituencies. In each area of funding, the Foundations seek to identify those organizations achieving truly differentiated results relative to other organizations making similar efforts for similar populations. The Foundations also look for evidence of sustainability beyond their support.

Culture

The Hearst Foundations fund cultural institutions that offer meaningful programs in the arts and sciences, prioritizing those which enable engagement by young people and create a lasting and measurable impact. The Foundations also fund select programs nurturing and developing artistic talent.

Types of Support: Program, capital and, on a limited basis, general and endowment support

Education

The Hearst Foundations fund educational institutions demonstrating uncommon success in preparing students to thrive in a global society. The Foundations’ focus is largely on higher education, but they also fund innovative models of early childhood and K-12 education, as well as professional development.

Types of Support: Program, scholarship, capital and, on a limited basis, general and endowment support

Health

The Hearst Foundations assist leading regional hospitals, medical centers and specialized medical institutions providing access to high-quality healthcare for low-income populations. In response to the shortage of healthcare professionals necessary to meet the country’s evolving needs, the Foundations also fund programs designed to enhance skills and increase the number of practitioners and educators across roles in healthcare. Because the Foundations seek to use their funds to create a broad and enduring impact on the nation’s health, support for medical research and the development of young investigators is also considered.

Types of Support: Program, capital and, on a limited basis, endowment support

Social Service

The Hearst Foundations fund direct-service organizations that tackle the roots of chronic poverty by applying effective solutions to the most challenging social and economic problems. The Foundations prioritize supporting programs that have proven successful in facilitating economic independence and in strengthening families. Preference is also given to programs with the potential to scale productive practices in order to reach more people in need.

Types of Support: Program, capital and general support

Pete Smith was born in 1908, and Sally Smith was born in 1906. They both were originally from Michigan. Each completed undergraduate studies at Michigan State University, Pete with a degree in liberal arts and Sally with a degree in math. Pete went on to earn an MBA from Harvard University.The majority of the couple’s working lives were spent in Tennessee in the area of Rhea County, where they operated the Watts Bar Resort for many years. The resort was located on property leased from the TVA. There were cabins on the property which had been renovated by the Smiths, and the resort operated from spring through fall. The Smiths also traveled extensively, and there was a game room at the resort featuring Pete’s safari trophies. The resort offered horseback riding, boating on the lake, fishing, and swimming, as well as an on-site restaurant. Landscaping was maintained at a high level, and bird feeders were provided. The Smiths were also car aficionados.The Smiths spent their later years in Seneca, SC (Oconee County) where they were closer to some of Sally’s family, one of whom suffered from Alzheimer’s. Pete Smith died in 1979 of kidney disease, and Sally Smith died in 1992.

Mission

To support charitable causes in the areas of education, environment, and medical research/disease management in Rhea County, Tennessee and Oconee County, South Carolina.

Program areas

• Education
• Environment, animals
• Health

The Merck Family Fund was established in 1954 by George W. Merck, President of Merck & Co., Inc.  He created the fund for two principal reasons: to do good with the resources acquired through the company’s success, and to create an opportunity to regularly bring family members together.

Goals

• Restore and protect the natural environment and ensure a healthy planet for generations to come.

• Strengthen the social fabric and the physical landscape of the urban community.

Conserving Ecologically Valuable Land

Urban sprawl, resource extraction, and poorly enforced environmental regulations place enormous pressures on natural resources. A healthy world needs a combination of outright protections, sustainable use policies to ensure clean air, clean water, and healthy land. 

Specifically, the Fund welcomes proposals that:

• Advocate for and secure public financial resources and commitments to land protection.
• Demonstrate community engagement and certified sustainable management of land particularly concerning forestry and farming.
• Provide leadership to existing and emerging coalitions that build a multi-stakeholder voice.

Walmart’s more than 2 million associates are residents, neighbors, friends and family in thousands of communities around the globe. Walmart works to strengthen these communities through both retail business and community giving, and we support and invest in communities through local giving. The following programs have open application processes with specific deadlines for eligibility and consideration.

Local Community Grants

Each year, our U.S. stores and clubs award local cash grants ranging from $250 to $5,000. These local grants are designed to address the unique needs of the communities where we operate. They include a variety of organizations, such as animal shelters, elder services and community clean-up projects.

Areas of Funding

• There are eight (8) areas of funding for which an organization can apply. Please review the areas listed below to ensure your organization’s goals fall within one of these areas.
• Community and Economic Development: Improving local communities for the benefit of low-income individuals and families in the local service area
• Diversity and Inclusion: Fostering the building of relationships and understanding among diverse groups in the local service area
• Education: Providing afterschool enrichment, tutoring or vocational training for low-income individuals and families in the local service area
• Environmental Sustainability: Preventing waste, increasing recycling, or supporting other programs that work to improve the environment in the local service area
• Health and Human Service: Providing medical screening, treatment, social services, or shelters for low-income individuals and families in the local service area
• Hunger Relief and Healthy Eating: Providing Federal or charitable meals/snacks for low-income individuals and families in the local service area
• Public Safety: Supporting public safety programs through training programs or equipment in the local service area
• Quality of Life: Improving access to recreation, arts or cultural experiences for low-income individuals and families in the local service area

NOTE: In the first half of 2023, Cedar Tree plans to focus on the current grantees and no new grantees will be added to the cohort this spring. Please check back in September 2023 for updates about future grant cycles.

Rooted in Justice

The Cedar Tree Foundation is excited to announce a new round of grantmaking for “Rooted in Justice” a funding program designed to help amplify youth voices and actions in the environmental and food justice movements by supporting community-based organizations and groups that specifically manage youth-led urban greening programs.  

Rooted in Justice is built on the recognition of the importance and undeniable right of every young person to have the ability to develop their own relationship with the environment, be it through growing food, spending time with nature, creating community green spaces, or becoming environmental stewards. Rooted in Justice also honors the power and possibilities that can arise when young people collectively work to be change-makers in their communities and environments.  

Rooted in Justice will support organizations, groups, collectives, and programs that work with young people between the ages of 12 to 20 in youth-led programming for communities or cultures which have historically and/or presently experience:

• A lack of access to land or nature;
• Agricultural oppression and/or neglect;
• Food apartheid; and/or
• Other forms of injustice based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics and disability.

Definitions

For the purpose of this grant this is how we are defining the following terms. These definitions are a guide. Please review them to decide whether your program is a good fit. However, since Rooted in Justice is a new grant program, and we continue our work towards questioning and dismantling some of our preconceived notions and understandings, we recognize that these are not finite definitions, and encourage prospective applicants who still feel their work may be a good fit to describe in their proposals why this is the case. 

Social Justice-Based Programs

Programs dedicated to creating equitable outcomes for communities directly affected by different aspects of injustice by:

• Sharing and redistributing power and resources;
• Amplifying voices and leadership;
• Tackling root problems through ongoing engagement and collaboration to find solutions, organize against oppression of all kinds and create mechanisms for change; and
• Developing a critical analysis with youth and community members.

Youth-Led

Young people are a core part of the planning and decision-making process for their program. Young people participate in programming but also have access and help shape the internal workings of the organization through structured or unstructured methods. Examples include participants: 

• Managing a portion of their programming budget;
• Co-facilitating program activities, meetings and gatherings;
• Being included in the shaping of a program and/or organizational strategic planning; 
• Being provided opportunities for professional growth within the program and organization; and
• Participating in ample opportunities for self-reflection and expression through a diversity of means.

Urban Greening

For the purpose of this grant we are defining “urban greening” as any activity that creates a mutually beneficial relationship between city dwellers, their environments and/or local wildlife. Project settings can include, but are not limited to: urban farms; greenhouses; hydro and aquaponic farms; community gardens; community green spaces; composting sites; rain gardens; rooftop gardens; land conservation efforts; school gardens (when in partnership with an outside organizational partner); urban forests; and river or other water restoration, etc.   

Lynches River Conservation

The Lynches River Conservation Board will fund land acquisition/conservation projects in the South Carolina region of the Lynches River watershed. Supported projects will be those that improve the water quality and ecological integrity of the Lynches River watershed.

The Lynches River Conservation Board consists of an elected official and representatives from Conservation Voters of South Carolina, South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, Winyah Rivers Foundation, South Carolina Wildlife Federation, National Wildlife Federation and Haile Corporation.

Awards

Grants will be awarded on an annual basis and determined by the Lynches River Conservation Board. This grant is intended to fund up to the full amount of land acquisition costs; however, preference will be given to organizations with multiple sources of funding. Total amount available for granting over four years (2018-2021) is $4,000,000, with $1,000,000 available annually. Applicants may propose projects larger than $1,000,000, with project funding disbursed in annual installments depending on the progress of the land acquisition.

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.

Healthy Harbors Fund 

Charleston Waterkeeper and the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League have partnered with Coastal Community Foundation to launch the Healthy Harbors Fund to support organizations and projects in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties focused on improving water quality in the Charleston Harbor and the surrounding environment.

Earlier this year, Charleston Waterkeeper and the Coastal Conservation League received a $1 million settlement from a lawsuit filed against Frontier Logistics involving plastic pellets that washed up on Sullivan’s Island in 2019. With the settlement, which will be paid out over the next four years, the two environmental organizations established the Healthy Harbors Fund at CCF.

Grants awarded from the fund will support nonprofit organizations that primarily focus on water quality related to pollution and environmental changes in the greater Charleston area. This focus may include pollution action, academic research, data collection, education, litigation, and/or narrative creation involving:

• Plastics
• Bacteria
• Emerging contaminants
• Pesticides, herbicides
• Marsh and land erosion
• Climate change and climate resilience
• Coastal flooding and its implications on public health

“We know that pollution and environmental changes have a drastic effect on water quality in the Charleston area,” said Edie Blakeslee, Vice President of Grantmaking and Community Leadership at Coastal Community Foundation. “The work we aim to support with the Healthy Harbors Fund will provide much-needed data, education and advocacy around environmental concerns in the Lowcountry. We are grateful that both Charleston Waterkeeper and the Coastal Conservation League committed the resources to make this happen.”

“When it comes to water quality, what we don’t know can hurt us,” said Andrew Wunderley, Executive Director at Charleston Waterkeeper. “This investment in clean water will help identify and prevent the sources of pollution that threaten our health and the health of our waterways.”

“We are honored to help establish the Healthy Harbors Fund, which will enable local organizations to work together to find creative solutions that support a healthy Charleston Harbor by addressing some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time,” said Laura Cantral, Executive Director of the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League.