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How we can help you start or grow your environmental giving

We can help you in a variety of ways:

• Bespoke support – we provide bespoke support to navigate the range of environmental issues and make your giving as effective as possible. We can work with you directly or introduce you to one of our partners to help you identify the environmental causes and impacts that are important to you and guide you on next steps. 
• Connecting with peers – we can connect you to experienced environmental philanthropists who are already funding the areas you are interested in and can support you on your giving journey. There’s no need to act alone and we encourage all new funders to speak to other funders operating in the areas you are interested in.
• Events – we curate events and forums for you to engage with a broad range of experts on key environmental and climate issues, understand new approaches and solutions to complex problems and better understand the landscape of environmental funding so you can deploy funds in the most effective way.
• Resources – we publish and curate a wide range of resources to help you think about your giving and learn more about important climate and environmental issues, including inspiration from other philanthropists, research into green grantmaking in the UK, and feedback from those on the frontline of environmental protection.
• Pooled funds & funder collaboration opportunities – we can signpost you to opportunities to collaborate with other funders around the issues you care about. We also facilitate two pooled funds and can direct you to other pooled funds (see below) that allow new funders to easily start giving.

If you’d like support on how to get started, or have an informal conversation about giving, please get in touch with us.

Partner organisations who can help

EFN works closely with many partner organisations who are committed to helping new and established funders with diverse backgrounds and interests give to environmental issues. 

• Active Philanthropy offers a range of resources, guides and services for philanthropists, donor families, philanthropic organisations and social investors to engage in climate action. Their Funding the Future guide is particularly helpful to see where climate change and nature loss affects the causes you may already be passionate about.
• Climate Lead helps philanthropists get started by providing guidance on high-impact climate solutions and connections to peers and experts. 
• Funder Commitment on Climate Change hosted by the Association of Charitable Foundations is open to foundations working across any social issues, not just environmental. The commitment recognises that all foundations are at serious risk from climate change in delivering on their charitable missions and therefore all foundations can play a part in tackling the causes and impacts of climate change. Joining the commitment will give you a clear framework to progress your giving, investments and operations with a climate lens.
• Impatience Earth offers bespoke, pro-bono advisory support to foundations, individuals and corporates that can contribute a minimum of £100,000 annually to climate-related solutions. Impatience Earth’s team of climate and philanthropy experts work with first time climate funders that need help getting started, those who have been grant making in this area already, and organisations that want to incorporate climate into their existing programming.

We work collaboratively with our partners and are very happy to introduce you to any of these organisations.

Getting going: easy ways to give facilitated by EFN

EFN hosts or partners on these initiatives to help you give out funds alongside other members:

• Rapid Response Fund – provides funding to groups trying to seize unexpected opportunities or respond to unanticipated crises across environmental issues.
• Green Match Fund – an annual seven-day online match funding campaign dedicated to helping charities playing a vital role in tackling pressing environmental issues, run in partnership with the Big Give.

Pooled funds: an easy way to start funding environmental issues

Participating in a pooled fund (where multiple funders contribute money and delegate grantmaking authority into a separate entity to advance a particular objective or strategy) is a great way to start supporting environmental causes. You will work alongside other funders and learn from each other. For the majority of pooled funds, experts are involved in helping to choose the projects that receive support.

• Ashden Awards – supporting climate innovation in the UK and Global South
• Conservation Collective – locally-led environment foundations around the world
• Endangered Landscapes Programme – restoring natural ecological processes, species populations and habitats
• European Climate Foundation – major philanthropic initiative working with 700+ partners to catalyse climate action and build a better future
• Giving is Great –  helping donors find highly effective charities that can’t afford to spend millions on marketing
• Global Greengrants Fund – supporting grassroots-led efforts to protect the planet and the rights of people
• Global Returns Project –  helping funders select and fund the world’s highest impact climate mitigation charities at speed and scale
• Iris Project – supporting young people around the world to protect and restore nature
• Synchronicity Earth – supporting international conservation through Congo Basin, Amphibian, and Freshwater and youth pooled funds
• Tythe – platform streamlining donations to environmental causes via high-impact charities
• UK Overseas Territories Fund –John Ellerman Foundation coordinate a fund to support the UK’s most biodiverse areas, the UK Overseas Territories.
• Whitley Awards – supporting conservation leaders across the Global South

This list is a small selection of pooled funds and we strongly encourage all funders to do their due diligence before committing to any giving. Get in touch if you’d like more information on pooled funds, or would like an introduction to any of the above.