About the Northern California Environmental Grassroots Fund

The Grassroots Fund supports small grassroots groups throughout greater northern California that are tackling tough environmental problems including toxic pollution, urban sprawl, sustainable agriculture, climate change, environmental degradation of our rivers and wild places, as well as, of our communities and our health.

Maximum grant size is $5,000. There are four applications deadlines each year, and grants are awarded approximately 7 weeks after the deadline.

While groups that have $100,000 or less in annual expenses are eligible, most of our Grassroots grantees tend to be very small groups - 60% have annual expenses of less than $25,000, and 80% have expenses of under $50,000.

The Grassroots Fund supports numerous strategies such as community organizing, policy development, citizen enforcement (litigation), hands-on stewardship, environmental education as well as general support and organizational development.

Constituencies served and mobilized are similarly broad, ranging from monolingual farmworkers, native communities, urban and rural youth, recent immigrants, seniors, business owners, and more.

Groups don't have to be a 501c3, nor do they need a fiscal sponsor to receive a grant.

We work with grantees to increase their capacity and efficiency through our training and travel scholarship program, by providing grantees with fundraising resources, and by convening grantees once a year for training and collaboration. We also work one-on-one with groups to help them develop a competitive application.

Since the Grassroots Fund started in 2003, we have given away more than 2 million dollars, one small grant at a time.

The Grassroots Fund is a pooled-fund supported by more than 20 foundations.

Grant decisions are guided by a volunteer funding board that is composed of 3 foundation representatives and 4 community activists.

If you are a funder who would like more information about the Grassroots Fund, please visit the "Programs" section of our website, or click here. If you are an individual who would like to make a donation to support the Grassroots Fund, click here.

Grassroots Fund Objectives

• Strengthen and diversify the capacity of the grassroots base of California's environmental movement.

• Provide grantees with training opportunities, as well as scholarship funds, to develop skills in budgeting, communications, strategic planning, computer software, working with volunteers and more.

• Enable communities that often fall through the cracks of traditional funding processes to gain crucial recognition and support.

• Offer fiscal sponsorship to allow groups that lack 501(c)3 status to receive grant funds.