The funding community for the planet.
Environmental Funders Network works to transform environmental philanthropy in the UK: increasing funding levels, improving effectiveness and supporting people and organisations helping to create a thriving planet.
Who We Support
New Givers
New to green giving? We’ll help you get started. Whether you want to start funding environmental initiatives or want to develop your existing giving, we can provide support, make connections and share knowledge and resources on effective approaches to tackling environmental issues.
Funders
We help environmental funders make sure their giving is as effective as possible. Through events, research and networking, you will learn about key issues, approaches and best practices, connect with other funders and better understand the landscape of environmental funding.
Advisors
More and more wealth-holders want to use their resources to take environmental action and be part of solving the environmental crisis. We can help support you and your clients to get started with funding environmental initiatives or develop their existing giving.
Fundraisers
We support fundraisers and environmental groups to be as effective as possible. Through our Green Fundraisers Forum, learning programmes and research, we help those in the environmental sector bring in more funds, strengthen their communications and improve their resilience and wellbeing.
Announcing our new report: Where the Green Grants Went 9
Where the Green Grants Went 9 reveals that environmental grants from UK-based foundations have almost tripled since our last report in 2021 Yet, the report highlights worrying trends in environmental philanthropy that need addressing for the sector as a whole to maximise its potential.
Latest Posts
Watch | Innovation in environmental funding in the UK Overseas Territories
Watch the third event in the UKOTs Learning Series run in partnership with the John Ellerman Foundation.
Funding the UK’s most biodiverse regions – what’s working and what isn’t?
The UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are at the forefront of the world’s biodiversity and climate crises. Yet many UK environmental funders are not aware of the UK’s responsibility for them, or that they host 94% of the nation’s biodiversity.
Announcing our new report: Where the Green Grants Went 9
Where the Green Grants Went 9 reveals that environmental grants from UK-based foundations have almost tripled since our last report in 2021 Yet, the report highlights worrying trends in environmental philanthropy that need addressing for the sector as a whole to maximise its potential.
Watch | Funding the UK’s most biodiverse regions: what’s working and what isn’t?
Watch the second event in the UKOTs learning series in partnership with the John Ellerman Foundation.
Lessons and reflections from 15 years in the climate community
Tom Brookes updates his ‘Ten – reflections on a decade in the climate community’ from June 2019, which shared key lessons on joining the climate movement. Now five years further on, Tom looks back on what he wrote and presents us with a revised and powerful: 14 reflections on 15 years in the climate community.
Supporting the UK’s most biodiverse regions – what’s at stake?
Inspired by our new UKOTs learning series, this piece explores some of the UK’s most biodiverse regions, why we need to protect them, and how funders can get involved.
How funders and EFN can support youth-led organisations catalysing youth-led nature recovery
Jack Durant, the Co-Founder & Co-Director of Youngwilders, shares how funders and EFN stepped up to help their youth-led organisation in its early days by providing much more than financial support and helping them grow more effectively.
Watch | The incredible nature of the UK Overseas Territories
Watch the first event in the UKOTs Learning Series run in partnership with the John Ellerman Foundation.
Demystifying impact investing: an interview with impact investor, Shishir Malhotra
Shishir Malhotra, the Impact Investment Director for Treebeard Trust, joins us to demystify impact investing. He shares his personal story of how he got into investing, explains why it can work alongside philanthropy, offers some tips for beginners and explains why the free Environmental Impact Investing Group (EIIG) can help.
Clamping down on illicit finance: new opportunities to protect nature and accelerate the climate transition
Alex Jacobs, Executive Director of the Joffe Trust, reveals the truth about illicit finance, how it funds anti-environment forces and why funders can both help stop dirty money and accelerate a just climate transition around the world.
Planning to save the planet
Kat Jones from Action to Protect Rural Scotland raises awareness of Scotland’s new planning system, National Planning Framework 4, and how it could better address the environmental and nature crises.
How gender-based violence affects environmental action | #IWD2024
This #InternationalWomensDay, we wanted to spotlight this incredibly important intersection: how gender-based violence affects environmental action.
Can we talk about organisations and not just projects?
CEO of Pilotlight, Ed Mayo, shares findings from their new research, ‘The organisational needs of charities and social enterprises in the UK working on climate and sustainability’. In this survey of 298 organisations, Pilotlight shows the huge range of professional development and support needed with Ed proposing that funding organisations rather than projects is key to fill in this gap.
Moving our finances out of fossil fuels
Following a decision by staff and trustees, in late 2023, we closed our business bank account with HSBC after reporting showed that they are still heavily financing fossil fuels. This blog shares our decision, the full letter and further resources for those interested in greening their finances as well.
Where’s the funding for council and community climate action?
Climate Emergency UK have recently published the first-ever UK-wide assessment of local government climate action: the Council Climate Action Scorecards. The results? Not good – the average council scored 32% on the actions they have taken towards net zero. Annie Pickering from Climate Emergency UK shares the barriers to local climate action and why funders can spark real progress on local government’s journey to net zero.
The challenge of light pollution
Climate change and the destruction of entire ecosystems attract most of our attention. But we face another environmental threat – one which is insidious and fast-growing: light pollution.
Inspiring People: Supporting the emerging Scottish seaweed industry
In this episode, Grace Yu (Aurora Trust) speaks to Alison Baker (EcoCascade CIC), Jemima Cooper (EcoCascade CIC) and Dr Kyla Orr (KelpCrofters Ltd) about seaweed.
Why aren’t we putting our money where our mouth is?
What if we saw the opportunity before us and decided to make it our number one priority to invest in food growing in urban areas? In this blog, Marie-Amélie Viatte discusses the need for a food revolution and how deliberate investment into regenerative urban food growing can be the catalyst for change we’ve been looking for.
How to be a good environmental fundraiser
Being a good environmental fundraiser goes beyond simply securing funds. In this blog, Natasha Ratter, explores core qualities of being a good environmental fundraiser and illustrates the importance of finding your voice, understanding your role in the bigger picture, prioritising relationships and wellbeing, and joining a supportive community.
It’s time we stopped ignoring the ‘Cinderella issue’ of consumption
Why is it that campaign groups and funders are neglecting consumption, a fundamental driver of environmental harm? In this blog, Libby Peake, explores why this is, the significant impact overconsumption has on greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss and why we must turn our attention to what we need to do to win on this issue in the long run.