Where Is Green Giving Headed? 10 Trends in Conservation, Pollution and Agriculture Funding

Climate change is increasingly on the minds of agriculture funders. Jenson/shutterstock

This summer, I put together lists of the billionaires and foundations whose dollars help preserve wilderness areas, keep air and water clean, and make agriculture more sustainable. But what is it that these donors care about most right now?

That’s one of the big questions we set out to answer in IP’s forthcoming report about philanthropic grantmaking on conservation, pollution and agriculture, part of our ongoing State of American Philanthropy project. Drawing upon conversations with more than a dozen foundations and nonprofit organizations for that research project, and our other reporting on environmental philanthropy, I’ve collected some of the themes and trends that are dominating this corner of giving right now.

Despite the inextricable links between these topics in the natural world, each of these philanthropic categories has both shared and individual dynamics. Some funder strategies and trends are present throughout all three, while others are specific to individual issues or manifest differently for each area. You might say there are both silos and barns on this farm.

Below, I’ve laid out four big-picture trends that are impacting all three areas, if at varying degrees. While this is not intended as a comprehensive list, equity, climate change, collaboration and public health emerged as top drivers of the current funding landscape. I’ve also listed six smaller-scale currents that are shaping one or more of these areas.

Macrotrends

Equity

Since the murder of George Floyd and the uprisings of 2020, philanthropists of all stripes have been considering how their funding can advance equity, typically with a focus on racial equity. There are also, as IP recently explored, many major pledges unfolding in this space.

These efforts are playing out in different ways across these funding areas. Indigenous communities are one group that has attracted cross-cutting attention, with a particularly strong focus within conservation funding. The Wilburforce Foundation is one notable leader in the Western U.S., and national funders like Ford Foundation have also been active in this space. Both helped launch a $1.7 billion pledge for Indigenous conservation efforts.

With Congress approving a record amount of climate funding since the arrival of the Biden administration, that’s become another area of focus for grantmakers in these spaces. Funders are not only advocating for equitable distribution of federal funding, but also looking to build expertise in applying for such funding within communities, particularly within front-line communities of color.

Climate change

Speaking of climate change, it’s nearly impossible to discuss any environmental giving without mentioning the emergency of our era. The climate crisis is fast reshaping our lives, increasingly evident even in environmental funding not directly focused on the issue. Conservation funders are considering how their work can both support climate goals and how they will need to shift because of new climate realities. Agricultural philanthropy is seeing new interest from climate funders, while also supporting grantees facing increasingly extreme and unprecedented weather events and changes. Pollution, of course, encompasses the emission of greenhouse gasses and other pollutants, and thus, many traditional goals of environmental philanthropy are one and the same as those of newer climate funders.

Collaboration

Several experts said funders are focused on working with others to address their priorities, and responses to an Inside Philanthropy survey reinforced those anecdotal reports. Funders in this space overwhelmingly reported collaboration among their peers is either increasing (45%) or about the same (49%), with the latter category roughly split between those who think there is the right amount and those who believe more is needed.

“Funder collaboratives are becoming more powerful and more directive in what they will support,” wrote one Washington, D.C., fundraiser. Examples include newly formed groups like Funders for Regenerative Agriculture, or many national and international conservation mega-pledges, such as the Protecting Our Planet Challenge.

Public health

While pollution-focused funders have long counted public health as a foremost concern, increased and expanded attention to the role the environment plays in all manner of health concerns has helped all three of these segments attract new funding, experts say. A wide range of specific factors — including the links between wildlife trade and zoonotic diseases, more foundations considering the health impacts of pollution, and expanded attention to environmental justice — have brought new support to these intersections.

One notable longer-term result is the entry of health grantmakers into areas where they had rarely sent funding in the past. So far, these entrants are mostly large national foundations, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation being the most prominent example. If regional health grantmakers and health conversion foundations follow suit, it could bring a substantial influx of funding to the field.

Microtrends

People-centered conservation

It’s not new, but worth noting up top that conservation philanthropy is still, at least in some quarters, in the midst of a decades-long shift away from “fortress conservation,” which emphasizes cordoning off sections of land, and toward approaches that focus on communities and their needs. It’s a shift that influences and intertwines with other big-picture changes, including Indigenous-centered approaches and prioritization of public health.

Conservation finance

While most often focused outside the U.S., these efforts have seen a spike in interest, and with it, some major projects. MacKenzie Scott, for instance, backed the Nature Conservancy’s Blue Bonds program, which used debt relief to expand protected waters. The Global Fund for Coral Reefs is another notable example.

“There’s a whole set of really exciting spaces where innovative finance is unlocking new sources of capital,” said Sacha Spector, program director for the environment at Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. “As these kinds of investment or these kinds of financial vehicles expand and prove to be good ways of aggregating capital, that essentially aggregates social capital at the same time.”

Regenerative agriculture

A wide range of priorities, from public health to water supplies, has brought new grantmakers to regenerative agriculture, even as it remains a relatively small area of funding. The rapid growth of the recently launched support group Funders for Regenerative Agriculture, or FORA, is one indicator of its popularity. There is broad interest in this area, spanning small family funds to major donors like Eric and Wendy Schmidt and the Walton family.

Wildfires

By necessity, funders within all of these spheres have also been paying more attention to wildfires. Devastating conflagrations can kill wildlife, lower water quality and pollute whole regions, so more grantmakers are seeing them as an immediate threat, but also as a lasting problem requiring proactive measures. While experts were less likely to mention other extreme weather events, like hurricanes or floods, climate-driven disasters seem to be a growing concern across these philanthropic areas.

Textile production

Philanthropic engagement and action on textile production is still nascent, but the potential for change is huge, given clothing’s cultural centrality. Like regenerative agriculture, it has drawn not only agricultural grantmakers, but also funders concerned with climate and water, as well as the philanthropic arms of apparel companies. Staff and members of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (which also helped seed FORA) have been advancing this work.

Wildlife corridors

Though not a new concept, there’s been slowly growing interest among conservation funders in wildlife corridors, or safe passageways for animals between protected areas. With climate change shifting traditional habitats, and expanded recognition that animals need protected migratory pathways, more conservation funders are looking for ways to create links between new or existing wilderness zones. As preservation campaigns like 30 by 30 accelerate, and threats to biodiversity mount, interest in these types of preservation projects may grow.

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