About the Northern California Environmental Grassroots Fund
From the farthest fringes of the state to its most populated urban areas, small grassroots organizations are taking on a wide breadth of environmental issues including toxic pollution, environmental health and justice, sustainable agriculture, habitat preservation, land management and urban sprawl. Tactics and strategies are as diverse as the state's population and include community organizing, policy development, citizen enforcement, hands-on stewardship and environmental education. Constituencies served and mobilized are similarly broad, ranging from core activists to people who have traditionally not engaged on environmental issues, but are energized around a key local concern.
Although
many funders have a long tradition of supporting California's national,
statewide and regional environmental organizations, support for
grassroots work conducted by small groups and 'kitchen table' activists
is often outside of many grantmakers's reach. Yet, grassroots activism
is a crucial part of marshaling the 'people power' necessary to address
today's critical environmental issues. Communities at the forefront of
the environmental movement need more effective ways to connect with
funders and be in a position to ask for their support. And, funders
who support support grassroots environmental activism report that the
benefits "trickle up" to their larger regional and statewide grantees.
To
meet this need, Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA)-West asked
the Compton Foundation, the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund, and Rose
Foundation to investigate various existing grassroots grants funds in
other areas and develop a framework for a quick response, low-overhead
pooled fund to serve community environmental needs in Northern
California. The Grassroots Fund is a result of this effort. Since its
launch in 2003, more than 20 other foundations have joined the
collaborative effort, and the Grassroots Fund is approaching the
milestone of awarding over $1 million dollars to the community --
$5,000 at a time.
Grassroots Fund Goals
- Provide funders with an effective and efficient way to build the grassroots base of the environmental movement throughout greater Northern California.
- Open new lines of communication amongst funders and grassroots activists to enrich perspectives about effective environmental strategies and spark creative dialogue around community and environmental issues.
- Provide qualified organizations that lack 501(c)(3) status or pre-existing fiscal sponsorship with a means to receive funds.
