Interest in Climate Is Growing, but More Funds Are Needed, Say Philanthropy Professionals

Firefighters battle California wildfires in August. StratosBril/shutterstock

Climate change is not only attracting more attention from funders and more grant dollars, there is growing awareness of the issue’s intersectional role in the challenges foundations care about, according to answers from those working on the issue collected in a national survey by Inside Philanthropy. 

The recognition of climate change as a critical, overarching issue extended well beyond those working to address the challenge, echoing throughout the 1,276 responses the survey received. That number includes 167 survey takers who identified themselves as working mostly on climate and energy issues.

We conducted the survey of professionals working in philanthropy last month in conjunction with a much narrower survey of foundation program staff, which we reported on in a recent series of articles looking at grantmakers’ views on such issues as impact investing, participatory grantmaking and racial justice. The larger survey reached out to IP’s subscribers and a separate list of fundraisers working across the United States. Almost 60% of responses came from development professionals, 15% from foundation personnel, and the remainder a mix of donors, consultants and other related roles.  

Predictably, COVID-19 and racial justice were the dominant themes in the survey, overall. But one question asked respondents to write in the top three trends they see in the field, and among all survey takers, climate change was among the most cited topics. Similarly, when queried about what funding strategies merit increased attention and commitment from philanthropy, climate change was one of the top five responses, with a quarter of all respondents choosing it (each could choose up to three answers).

Among those working primarily on climate change, almost half (46%) believe funder interest and support for the issue is gaining momentum, with another quarter (23%) indicating it has remained stable. One respondent said they’d seen “increased interest in climate from non-climate philanthropists who have professionally staffed foundations/teams,” as well as from new philanthropists interested in entering the climate field.

Other data backs up this perception. Foundations gave at least $1.6 billion to climate in 2019, doubling the amount spent in 2015, according to the ClimateWorks Foundation, which closely tracks grantmaking on the issue. 

Asked about new sources of funding, respondents pointed to both funder collaboratives and individual foundations and wealthy donors. Many cited the Wellspring Climate Initiative, a multi-geography fund focused on building coalitions to push forward major policy changes on emissions. Another frequently mentioned group was Climate Imperative, a project of Energy Innovation, a research and policy organization run by Hal Harvey, who was the founding CEO of ClimateWorks foundation. 

Unsurprisingly given its size, several brought up the $10 billion Bezos Earth Fund, which Amazon founder Jeff Bezos announced this February in an Instagram post. The U.K.-based Quadrature Climate Foundation and MacKenzie Scott also earned some attention.

The mentions of Bezos and Scott track with one of the other survey findings: Wealthy donors are exerting influence over climate change and energy issues. Nearly twice as many respondents (43%) agreed with that assessment versus those who did not (25%), with the remainder indicating they are not sure.  

Deep-pocketed philanthropists’ responses seem to back up that conclusion. Among those who identified themselves as major donors, “climate change and energy” tied for first place as the most popular area of interest, though those results are based on a very small sample size, with only 27 such respondents.

While many say funding has increased, not everyone in the climate space is experiencing boom times. Nearly a third of survey respondents (~31%) indicated that they see climate change losing traction with funders. Some attributed this to increased funding for COVID and racial justice, while a smaller portion say there’s been a gradual downward trend in interest over the past several years.

Even some positive comments reflected a similar zero-sum outlook. “There are many foundations that have crossed over from the social justice sector to focus on climate change. This is a welcome change!” wrote one respondent. 

But a larger number emphasized the importance of an intersectional approach to grantmaking on climate. “Climate crisis funding should not be primarily offered through siloed environment and conservation grant programs,” wrote one respondent. Another argued: “The responsibility lies on both sides”—those new to climate funding and the established community—“to work collaboratively and catalyze/leverage existing efforts while fully integrating issues of social and racial justice, public health and economic justice.”

Several respondents recognized a broader shift in awareness underway. “Funders are finally seeing that climate change intersects with all the issues they care about—poverty, health, racial justice, etc.,” wrote one.

Like the overall survey, the climate-focused respondents represented a cross-section of people in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors. More than half (56%) were fundraisers and nearly a fifth (19%) held some other nonprofit support role. About a quarter were in philanthropy, including major donors (4%), philanthropy supporting organization staff (6%), and foundation professionals, corporate giving executives and others in similar roles (16%). 

While many offered hopeful notes about growing attention to climate change, and optimism over the influx of resources to address the issue, more pessimistic reflections on the pace and implications of the crisis were also common.

One criticized the “lack of understanding of how urgently we need to address the climate crisis, the biodiversity crisis and the pending water security challenges to adapt to climate impacts… And by not addressing this most important issue, the notion of helping people for a short-term emergency will become moot, since the window to address irreversible impacts to a habitable planet will become too short.”

Asked about long-term trends that would impact nonprofit financing, many respondents went beyond the suggested categories to flag the climate catastrophes the world will face in the years ahead. 

“The world is on the brink of a major energy and climate breakdown that will see major wealth destruction and loss of life well before 2030,” wrote one respondent. “Time to wake up to trends already well underway.”