By EFN, 10th September 2024
Where the Green Grants Went 9 (WTGGW9) reveals that environmental giving has never been higher – environmental grants from UK-based foundations have almost tripled since our last report WTGGW8 in 2021. Yet, the report highlights worrying trends in environmental philanthropy that need addressing. Current levels and approaches to funding leave many issue areas, geographies and environmental organisations underfunded and unable to act effectively, rapidly and strategically. Read the full report here.
Key findings
In WTGGW9, we analysed the giving of 235 foundations and 3 lottery sources – that equated to 6,555 grants. We were delighted to see an huge increase in environmental giving by foundations:
- UK-based foundation grants have almost tripled from an average annual level of £204 million in our previous report to £606.5 million in 2021/22.
- We estimate that environmental funding accounts for circa 8.5% of total UK foundation giving, up from 5.8% in our previous report.
- Funding from UK-based lottery grants to environmental causes amounted to £80.6 million.
- A total of £687.2 million in grants were given to environmental causes in 2021/22.
This growth is largely a consequence of the increase in foundation grants specifically focused on climate change, which are now estimated to amount to £3 billion globally. While we welcome and celebrate this growth, we call for more.
£3 billion is estimated to be less than 2% of total philanthropic giving worldwide – a tiny fraction to support action on what amounts to an existential threat to life on Earth.
Other findings show some key patterns in environmental giving that we should consider carefully going forward. Foundation giving levels were heavily skewed, with just ten foundations accounting for nearly 78% of all environmental giving in 2021/22. These ten foundations provide large grants, on average exceeding £1 million, and many of these grants go to specialist regranting organisations that disperse these funds to civil society organisations working in a particular field, geography or issue. By contrast, if you remove these ten foundations, the average grant size drops to just £33,471.
Although we welcome the work of the top ten foundations, they are operating in a different way to the foundations giving smaller grants. Overall, we are seeing a worrying ‘scattershot approach’ to funding by majority of foundations:
- More than 50% of grantees received less than £10,000.
- Grantees secured on average just 1.5 grants in the year.
- 1,258 grants were worth less than £3,600, at which point the cost of applying for a grant may be greater than the value of the grant.
These findings reveal that despite the significant increase in foundation funding for environmental work, surprisingly few organisations are able to attract regular support from diverse trust and foundation sources.
When we look at what is being funded and where, we see a mix of results.
- There was an increase in funding going to seven out of 12 thematic issue categories all of which have seen growth of more than 200%, including consumption & waste, trade & finance and transport, three ‘Cinderella’ issues that have traditionally received small shares of funding.
- There was a decline in funding going to five out of 12 thematic issues, including fresh water and toxics & pollution, two ‘Cinderella’ issues that have received small shares of funding in every single edition of this research.
- We identified foundation grants to 114 countries with the top five countries being: United Kingdom, China, India, United States, and The Netherlands.
- More than 80% of the grants from foundations supported work outside the UK, with just 17% remaining in the UK.
Again we welcome increases to funding in some geographies and thematic issues, but the distribution of funding remains emblematic of a funding landscape that neglects certain key places and issues. Read the full report here.
Effective environmental giving
The scattershot distribution of funding led us to ask whether the sector as a whole is maximising its potential. Looking back at our longitudinal grants data, feedback from civil society organisation leaders, and our knowledge of the environmental philanthropy sector, we are also concerned about other aspects of the ways in which funders are making grants, and whether these are limiting the environmental sector’s effectiveness.
In a new section of WTGGW9, we turned our attention towards questions of effectiveness, laying out ten elements of effective environmental philanthropy, centred on three key questions:
- Do you treat your grantees as peers? Exploring elements: 1) Bureaucratic load, 2) Flexibility of funds, 3) ‘Power over’ or ‘power with’
- How profound is the change you seek? Exploring elements: 4) Political ambition, 5) Attitude to risk, 6) Centring justice, equity, diversity and inclusions (JEDI)
- How does your funding affect the structure of the environmental movement? Exploring elements: 7) Issue expertise/clear focus, 8) Movement ecology, 9) Don’t fund alone, 10) Patience of capital
Importantly, this new section considers foundations working to prevent or reverse action on environmental issues and what we may learn from these approaches. We cite feedback from environmental leaders and fundraisers to illustrate what the sector thinks is needed from funders, using recent and past survey responses. We think it is particularly important for funders to discuss the tensions and trade-offs between the different elements if the environmental philanthropy sector is to become more effective. Read the full report here.
Recommendations: what can funders do next?
While environmental giving from UK foundations has increased very significantly, it is important to bear in mind the scale of what we are up against. Compare £605 million in environmental giving per year from UK trusts and foundations, for example, to the trillions of pounds of fossil fuel subsidies provided each year by governments around the world. We need all hands on deck.
Our concluding thoughts set out a series of recommendations for increasing the impact of environmental philanthropy. These include growing the amounts of funding available, specialising your funding, identifying gaps in funding (like our Cinderella issues), investing in crosscutting institutions and infrastructure, and increasing the transparency of your giving.
WTGGW9 has shown us that philanthropy has supported many ‘wins’ to date – making progress both gradually and in leaps. But there is clearly room for improvement, and the stakes could not be higher. Our call to our members and beyond is to do everything we can to make environmental grantmaking as impactful as possible. Read the full report here.
We welcome your thoughts on how EFN might better support both funders and fundraisers as we continue to work towards our goals of increased and more effective environmental philanthropy. Please let us know your suggestions, and any other feedback on this report – email info@greenfunders.org.
Keywords: effectiveness, joined-up-thinking, research
The planet should always come 1st, nature is our only happiness left on this greedy human planet make sure these wonderful gifts land, sea, and air are loved always protected, every tree plants and animals use the money wisely now right now.