11th Hour Project

OVERVIEW: The 11th Hour Project is a major environmental grantmaker and one of the Schmidt Family Foundation’s two principal grantmaking programs. It supports work related to climate, clean energy, food systems and sustainable agriculture, Indigenous communities, human rights, mining practice reform, climate journalism and community health.

IP TAKE: The 11th Hour Project, part of the Schmidt Family Foundation and one of its core grantmaking vehicles alongside Schmidt Marine Technology Partners, is a major environmental, agriculture and clean energy funder. It “interweave[s] inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility” into its work, making it a compelling prospect for grassroots climate justice organizations and other groups led by or serving historically excluded communities. As IP has reported, 11th Hour once kept a relatively low profile but became one of the largest climate funders, distinguishing itself “by backing underfunded local efforts to halt new fossil fuel infrastructure.”

This funder takes a broad approach to interconnected environmental crises and targets some distinctive strategies like mining reform, impact investing and food systems transformation. Like other Schmidt family philanthropies, it emphasizes networks, innovation and systems change.

For most nonprofits, 11th Hour is a relationship-driven prospect rather than a cold-application funder. The funder explicitly says that it does not accept unsolicited proposals or requests. Its parent foundation says it proactively seeks grant opportunities and aims to build networks of changemakers across sectors, disciplines and geographies. The most realistic route onto the funding radar is therefore sustained visibility within the issue networks 11th Hour already supports, including relationships with current grantees, field-building intermediaries, coalitions and peer funders. A warm introduction can help, but strong programmatic alignment and a visible role in the relevant movement or ecosystem are more important than simply securing an introduction.

Recent foundation-wide grant records also show substantial repeat funding to organizations and intermediaries including the Regenerative Agriculture Foundation, Sustainable Markets Foundation, Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and Justice Outside. This pattern reinforces the importance of established field relationships, although the tax records alone do not establish a formal referral process.

PROFILE: The Palo Alto-based 11th Hour Project was established in 2006 by Wendy and Eric Schmidt and is one of two principal grantmaking programs operated by the Schmidt Family Foundation. The other is Schmidt Marine Technology Partners, which focuses on ocean technologies. Eric Schmidt, a software engineer, is a former CEO of Google. Wendy Schmidt, who co-founded the foundation and has led the Schmidt Family Foundation as its president, has a background in journalism.

In addition to the 11th Hour Project, the Schmidt Family Foundation supports ReMain on Nantucket, which applies the foundation’s environmental strategies in the context of a small island community threatened by sea-level rise, as well as 11th Hour Racing. Schmidt Marine Technology Partners is the foundation’s other major grantmaking program. Schmidt Ocean Institute is a separate nonprofit organization founded by Eric and Wendy Schmidt.

The mission of the 11th Hour Project is to “restore a balanced relationship between people and planet.” Its grantmaking addresses Ag Tech, Energy, Food & Agriculture, Human Rights, Indigenous Communities, Minerals + Materials and N², which refers to nature and nurture and supports young people’s access to nature. 11th Hour also maintains Emerging Strategies for journalism, civic engagement and data science for social good. The Schmidt Family Foundation also operates an Impact Investing function that works with both 11th Hour Project and Schmidt Marine Technology Partners.

Grants for Climate Change and Clean Energy

The 11th Hour Project conducts grantmaking for climate change and clean energy via its Energy and Minerals and Materials programs; however, some work related to climate resiliency also occurs via 11th Hour’s Ag Tech and Food and Agriculture programs, outlined in the following section.

• The Energy program focuses on U.S. initiatives to decrease the use of fossil fuels and simultaneously “accelerate[…] transformation towards a clean and equitable energy system.” This giving program prioritizes frontline communities, “especially low-income communities and communities of color [that are] harmed by fossil fuel extraction, transportation and use.”

• Minerals and Materials works to protect “communities and ecosystems” from the impacts of an extractive economy through two focus areas:
  • Transition Minerals supports efforts by Indigenous and “fenceline communities” to protect and mitigate ecosystems from harms related to mining.
  • Materials Economy aims to address the public-health, climate and ecological implications of the materials economy, with particular attention to plastic production and waste. The program also backs non-toxic and regenerative alternatives to major drivers of plastic demand and investment strategies intended to seed thriving local economies.

• Grantees in this broad space have included Climate Central, Communities for a Better Environment, the Utility Reform Network and Sustainable Markets Foundation. At the foundation level, Sustainable Markets Foundation received about $3.54 million from TSFF in 2024 and has received $19.7 million across 18 grants from 2020 through 2024, illustrating the funder’s willingness to maintain substantial relationships with environmental and movement infrastructure organizations.

For grantseekers working in regenerative agriculture, food sovereignty or farmer-centered systems change, participation in the networks around organizations like the Regenerative Agriculture Foundation may offer a more realistic visibility path than direct outreach to 11th Hour. This should not be construed as a formal referral or pass-through process.

Grants for Food and Sustainable Agriculture

Grantmaking for sustainable agriculture and food systems stems from 11th Hour’s Ag Tech and Food and Agriculture programs:

• Ag Tech “advances a new vision for agricultural technology” by working with “communities across the food web” and “cultivating farming futures rooted in justice, food sovereignty and agroecology.”

• Food and Agriculture grantmaking supports overlapping work to “to build resilient agricultural systems that improve soil, air, water, and animal and human health.” This program explicitly supports organizations and movements in the United States working toward a regenerative and equitable transition in food and farming and greater resilience for regional farming communities and food systems. It takes a network-based approach, connecting organizations working from different perspectives and strategies around a shared vision.

• Impact Investments aligned with regenerative agriculture are made through the foundation’s separate mission-investment work; these investments should not be confused with 11th Hour grants.

• Past food and agriculture grantees include the Regenerative Agriculture Foundation, the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, the Food Chain Workers Alliance and the National Black Food and Justice Alliance. The Regenerative Agriculture Foundation is a particularly important intermediary in this ecosystem: it was launched with support from 11th Hour, and TSFF provided it about $2.05 million in 2024 and $8.1 million across five grants from 2021 through 2024.

Grants for Human Rights

The 11th Hour Project’s Human Rights program supports “movements for just and ecologically sound development that promotes human rights, vibrant local economies, and dignified livelihoods for all.”

• The 11th Hour Project believes “that the climate crisis is deeply rooted in a global extractivist economy, structural inequality and systemic racism” and views its human rights work through a climate lens.
• The current program page explicitly states that Human Rights grantmaking has a geographic focus on Africa and Haiti.
• Funding supports movements challenging destructive mining, energy and agricultural projects or policies; community sovereignty over resources and food systems; access to clean and affordable electricity; and locally driven economic development that benefits communities while restoring land and natural resources.
• Human rights grantees have included Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa, Groundswell International and Human Rights Watch. The Schmidt Family Foundation reported a $6.665 million grant to Human Rights Watch in 2024, although foundation-wide 990 data does not always identify the specific 11th Hour program responsible for each award.

Grants for Indigenous Rights

The 11th Hour Project names human rights as a priority that runs through all of its grantmaking programs, but it also runs a grantmaking program focused specifically on Human Rights, as well as a program that specifically advances the rights and self-determination of Indigenous Communities.

• The Human Rights program’s stated geographic focus is Africa and Haiti, with funding at the intersection of human rights, environmental extraction, agriculture and energy
  • Giving centers the rights of communities to “determine the goals and means of achieving their own economic, social and cultural well-being.”
  • Grantees include the WOMIN Africa Alliance, Groundswell International and Advocates for Community Alternatives, which works with communities in West Africa that are “threatened by the destructive impacts of extractive projects.”

• The Indigenous Communities advances Indigenous communities’ and peoples’ self-determination and re-Indigenization. The current program page does not state a formal geographic restriction.
  • The program supports land return, Indigenous stewardship, restoration of keystone species, Indigenous knowledge holders and lifeways, language and cultural revitalization, and efforts to advance accurate narratives and representation of Indigenous peoples.
  • The funder says it aims to support work that is self-determined, holistic and accountable to communities.
  • Recent foundation-wide grantmaking shows strong support for U.S. Indigenous organizations. Sogorea Te’ Land Trust received $3.175 million from TSFF in 2024 for work supporting Indigenous land stewardship, self-determination and cultural representation; it received $3.5 million across four TSFF grants from 2021 through 2024. This observed pattern should not be presented as a formal North America-only eligibility rule.

Grants for Environmental Education and Community Development

N² is shorthand for nature and nurture. Through this program, 11th Hour supports outdoor educational, cultural and recreational programs for young people.

• N² explicitly seeks to address the “Nature Gap,” which the funder defines as disparities in access to the outdoors and its benefits that are often differentiated by race, class and gender. The program works toward equitable access through a community-driven coalition. Across 11th Hour more broadly, the funder says it resources many movements led by and serving historically excluded communities, particularly BIPOC and frontline communities.

• Funding strategies include place-based change, national policy and “best-in-class direct service,” with an emphasis on outdoor experiences that can build leadership, community power and social change.

• Past grantees have included the Cheyenne River Youth Project, Justice Outside, Fresh Tracks and the NACA Inspired School Network. Justice Outside received about $2.09 million from TSFF in 2024 and $2.3 million across two grants from 2023 through 2024. Because Justice Outside is itself a grantmaker and field-building organization, it is also an example of the intermediary networks relevant to organizations seeking visibility in this space.

Grants for Journalism, Civic Engagement and Democracy

The 11th Hour’s Emerging Strategies focus area currently names journalism, civic engagement and data science for social good as its priorities. The initiatives are designed to address issues at the center of the climate crisis through an interdisciplinary lens and connect the foundation’s climate and human rights priorities.

• Journalism funding prioritizes news groups aligned with the rest of 11th Hour’s grantmaking and BIPOC-led journalism in the U.S. and abroad. In Africa, the funder specifically supports African-led reporting, perspectives and storytelling.

• Civic Engagement supports organizations and initiatives protecting the right to protest and ensuring racially just participation in civic spaces. The current program page does not state a geographic limitation, so it should not be characterized as primarily U.S.-focused unless grant records are separately cited as an observed pattern.

• Data Science for Social Good supports university- and community-driven models that apply ethical and responsible data-science tools for the benefit of environmental, climate and human rights organizations. The program also seeks to democratize the development of the data-science field and ensure communities help shape the tools intended to serve them.

• Grantees have included the Texas Organizing Project, the University of Chicago Data Science Institute, North Dakota Native Vote and the BlackOUT Collective, among others.

Other Grantmaking Opportunities

The Schmidt Family Foundation also maintains an Impact Investing program that works closely with both 11th Hour Project and Schmidt Marine Technology Partners. It is better understood as a foundation-wide mission-investment function than as a conventional 11th Hour grant program.

• The foundation provides patient, flexible capital to early-stage companies and social enterprises through debt and equity investments. Focus areas include marine technology, renewable energy, climate-mitigation solutions, regenerative agriculture and Indigenous communities.

• Its primary geographic focus is the United States; renewable-energy investments also reach sub-Saharan Africa, while marine-technology investments can be global.

• Program-related investments and loans are not an alternate open door for grantseekers. The foundation says these investments are limited to highly aligned organizations and that the process is not open to unsolicited requests or letters of inquiry.

• Schmidt Marine Technology Partners is a separate Schmidt Family Foundation program and should not be conflated with 11th Hour. Grantseekers working on ocean technologies should research that program independently, including any time-limited open calls it may offer.

Important Grant Details:

The latest available IRS filing is the Schmidt Family Foundation’s 2024 Form 990-PF. Because 11th Hour is a program of TSFF and does not file a separate tax return, foundation-wide grant statistics should not be presented as if they reflect 11th Hour alone. In 2024, TSFF reported 695 grants totaling about $185.4 million. The median grant was $130,000, the average was about $267,000 and reported awards ranged from $400 to $8 million.

• The Schmidt Family Foundation reported 695 grants to 504 distinct grantees in 2024. The filing encompasses 11th Hour, Schmidt Marine Technology Partners and other foundation activity, so this should not be treated as an 11th Hour-only grant count.
• Geography varies by program. Energy and Food & Agriculture explicitly focus on organizations and movements in the United States, while Human Rights explicitly focuses on Africa and Haiti. Journalism operates in the U.S. and abroad, with a distinct African-led journalism strategy. Several other 11th Hour program pages do not state a formal geographic restriction.
• This funder does not accept unsolicited applications for funding. More precisely, 11th Hour’s current inbound-inquiries policy says it “does not accept unsolicited proposals or requests,” and the parent foundation says it proactively seeks out grant and investment opportunities.
• 11th Hour does not maintain a comprehensive public grants database. Prospect researchers should supplement its program pages with the Schmidt Family Foundation’s latest Form 990-PF and Schedule I/Part XV grant records.
• Submit questions to the 11th Hour Project via email at info@tsffoundation.org. The FAQ says inquiries for program staff sent to this address will be routed to the appropriate person, but this contact route should not be treated as an application mechanism.
• The Schmidt Family Foundation’s phone number is listed as (650) 376-7100.

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