OVERVIEW: The Northwest Fund for the Environment supports land and water conservation in Washington. A few grants have also supported initiatives in other Western states and national environmental policy.
IP TAKE: The Northwest Fund for the Environment supports conservation efforts through policy advocacy, litigation, environmental oversight and community organizing rather than direct restoration work. Many of its core grantees are established environmental organizations, but the funder also makes smaller grants to grassroots and emerging groups. While its regular grantmaking is initiated by its board, the foundation’s Community Response Fund accepts applications on a rolling basis. This program offers the clearest opportunity for new grantseekers, particularly those responding to urgent environmental issues in Washington. For larger, ongoing support, building relationships with existing grantees and environmental advocacy networks may be the most promising approach.
PROFILE: The Seattle-based Northwest Fund for the Environment (NWFE) was established in 1971. In its earliest years it made grants to environmental conservation groups and supported related litigation. After a period of dormancy in the 80s, it began receiving “annual contributions from an anonymous donor” and was able to continue its work until 1994, when it received a large bequest and created an endowment. Today it is steered by a board of ten trustees that includes “at least one representative from the family that endowed the foundation in 1994.”
NWFE pursues a mission to advance “change in the uses of natural resources which will increase their protection and preservation in the State of Washington.” It runs grantmaking programs for Aquatic Ecosystems, Growth Management for “environmentally sensitive areas” and Community Response to “enhance” the foundation’s objectives.” While more than half of NWFE’s grants stay in Washington, organizations in other Western States and national environmental organizations have also received funding.
Grants for Environment, Marine and Freshwater Conservation
NWFE’s giving supports a range of environmental organizations, including front-line conservation outfits, policy and advocacy groups and grassroots environmental efforts. The foundation runs three grantmaking programs.
- The Aquatic Ecosystem Program aims to ” protect and restore the extensive network of fresh and saltwater ecosystems in the State of Washington and the native species that inhabit these ecosystems.”
- A subprogram for freshwater ecosystems supports the protection of freshwater systems and habitats and prepares for “for changes in water availability attributed to climate change.”
- The saltwater ecosystem subprogram focuses on the protection of saltwater habitats and species from threats related to pollutants, invasive species and climate change. The fund also supports programs to improve the efficacy, transparency and sustainability of saltwater resource management infrastructure
Grants from this program have gone to organizations including Columbia Riverkeeper, the Surfrider Foundation, American Rivers and Communities for a Health Bay.
- The Growth Management Program promotes “smart growth land use policies and to prevent damage to environmentally sensitive areas that are threatened by development, climate change impacts and the weakening of existing environmental laws and regulations.” This program focuses on policy and the engagement of communities in advocacy and local campaigns for land conservation and management.
Grantees include the Olympic Forest Coalition, the Cascade Forest Conservancy, the Okanagon Highlands Alliance and the Hanford Challenge, which is involved with the restoration of the former Hanford nuclear energy plant site in Benton County.
- NWFE’s Community Response Fund supports organizations and projects that engage communities with the foundation’s other two programs, particularly those communities that are “the first to see, experience and understand environmental needs, threats and trends.” This grantmaking program paused in 2024 while the foundation reviews its priorities for this giving area.
Past grantees include Zero Waste Washington, Washington Wild and Young Women Empowered, all of which are based in Seattle.
Important Grant Details:
NWFE grants typically range from $2,500 to $20,000. It awards under $500,000 in grants each year.
- More than half of this funder’s grants serve organizations based in the state of Washington, but national organizations and groups in other Western states have also received funding.
- This funder supports front-line conservation efforts, as well as policy, advocacy and community organizing.
- The foundation is not currently accepting applications for funding; all grants are “initiated by the Board of Trustees.”
- Find information about past grantees by year by scrolling through the Recent Grants tab at the top of the website.
Submit general inquiries to this funder via the form on its contact page. The foundation can also be reached by telephone at (206) 207-6883.
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