Observations from North American foundations

Overwhelmingly, people were generous in sharing their time and knowledge. Their interest in our work in Australia was high, regardless of whether their foundations fund here. They were especially interested in our unique ecosystems and biodiversity, and in our Indigenous land and sea management experience.

A key lesson from my meetings with foundations was environmental funder collaboratives are thriving and impactful! Here are five great examples:

BC Water Funders Collaborative

The Water Funders Collaborative, with 24 member bodies, facilitates the strategic use of collective resources to advance freshwater protection in British Colombia, Canada. It provides a forum for exchange of information and peer learning between funders and water leaders (from NGOs, academia, First Nations, the water industry and government) by strengthening relationships, knowledge and networks.

The Collaborative started out a bit like the AEGN, acting as a conduit between funders and a bridge connecting funders to water sector leaders. However, the Collaborative increasingly acts to seed and develop projects which are jointly funded by its members and provide support and advice to NFP water leaders.

It is inclusive of everyone in the watershed (catchment), and now has government/quasi-government funders as members too, as it is well regarded as a trusted expert and a valued neutral player.

BC Fresh Water Legacy Initiative is a project run by the BC Water Funders Collaborative. This is an initiative that makes seed grants and leverages funds. It is tasked with:

• supporting pilots to show successes. These pilots are pitched ideas about implementing the new BC Water Sustainability Act.
• creating the roadmap for freshwater:  place-based and co-created; focused on regions with champions in place and where partnerships can be forged.

Resources Legacy Fund (RLF) is an unusual intermediary player, working between philanthropy and frontline players. It is a charity which helps philanthropists set goals, design and deliver initiatives, build coalitions, administer grants/initiatives, and leverage further funds from philanthropy, government and mass-market donors for conservation of land and water resources and climate change resilience.

RLF has been going for 17 years and was originally started by the Packard Foundation coming together with legal specialists to provide legal support for environmental projects. RLF, therefore, began life as an environmental law firm and grant/initiative-administering foundation.

RLF focuses on driving policy change, creating new funding sources, constituency building and creating more (racial) diversity in the field. They do not fund conservation or climate science, as there is already public and university funding for this.

Their understanding of the law and legal obligations to meet environmental requirements and standards is seen as a valuable tool as in the US it is the very real threat of litigation that often drives collaboration and action. This work requires a high level of expertise – legal, facilitation, policy, strategy – beyond that of individual Foundations. Therefore, environmental funders prefer to outsource initiatives to RLF to design and deliver.

Water Solutions Network was funded by S.D. Bechtel Jr Foundation, and has a strong focus on engaging other funders in water to marshal philanthropic efforts. To achieve a clearer view of what was needed in the water space, Bechtel engaged consultants to unpack opportunities for impact in freshwater. In doing so, they learnt that water professionals had tools and authority, but no networks. It became clear that the skills needed were in developing empathy, making connections and collaboration.

Therefore, Bechtel went down the path of supporting shared learning experiences and have supported the Water Solutions Network, which currently supports around 70 people. The participant profile is mid-career professional people working in water or related sectors (non-profit, agencies, agriculture, First Nations etc.). The aim of the network is not to create alumni but career-long engagement across these sectors. 

Oceans5 is a collaborative effort to focus philanthropic effort on – and maximise impact for – the world’s oceans. It is a sponsored project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. Another Oceans5 member, The David & Lucile Packard Foundation, also co-funded Fundingtheocean, a Foundation Center tool that allows anyone to see who is funding what and where in the marine space.

Environmental Grantmakers Association 2018 Fall Retreat

Rather unusually for those of us based outside the US, the central theme of this philanthropy conference was the intersection between social justice and environmental justice: the ‘global south’, power and politics. The issues were framed as a critical trifecta of inter-related challenges: climate change, economic inequality and institutionalised racism.

Presentations from funders, community leaders/organisers, non-profit organisations and academics all emphasised that environmental change and sustainability cannot occur until people are politically empowered, environmentally aware, and leading from the grassroots up. Consequently, there was a strong thread of discussion throughout the four days about community organising and mobilising.

The nexus between climate change and social justice is the new cutting edge. At this conference, the emphasis was placed squarely on ground-up work, on funders stepping down from the driver’s seat and trusting those most impacted to take the reins, and on listening to and supporting communities to take the lead on their preferred strategies. The theme was securing their environment from threats (industrial expansion, corporate monopolies, polluted water, logged forests), but the focus was on community power and self-determination, for example, ‘food sovereignty, not food security’. This was acknowledged to be an uncomfortable space for many funders, but critical to long-term and sustainable success.