Regenerative Agriculture Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Regenerative Agriculture Foundation supports agriculture-related efforts that promote responsible land stewardship, climate change solutions, freshwater and ocean protections, racial and economic equity and other issues in the U.S.
IP TAKE: The Regenerative Agriculture Foundation is a participatory funder that likes to work with local leaders in the field. RAF believes in “trust and relationship-based philanthropy.” To this end, it conducts grantmaking through a racial equity lens and prioritizes BIPOC-led organizations. It is transparent, with an active blog that focuses on news, grantee stories, and financial reports — it even explains why it is largely an intermediary. And while this is an accessible funder, inviting interested groups to reach out and say hello, its grantmaking is by invitation only and not open to unsolicited requests for funding. As an intermediary, RAF needs to fundraise but the support it receives from Laurene Powell Jobs’ Waverley Street Foundation makes the effort needed to get on this funder’s radar well worth it.
As IP has noted, RAF is part of a trend in agriculture funding to increase large-scale support for sustainable farming. RAF’s advocacy, research and funding also work to influence the field of sustainable farming as it relates to climate resilience. Of particular note, this funder likes to invest in “bold, on-the-ground efforts frequently outside the prevailing agricultural practices that are under-appreciated as climate solutions.”
PROFILE: Established in 2016, the Regenerative Agriculture Foundation (RAF) is an intermediary funder based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Kevin Boyer and the 11th Hour Project created this foundation to advance various agriculture-related goals. RAF aims to “foster the economic, policy, and knowledge conditions that support land stewardship, provide climate solutions, protect freshwater and oceans, advance racial equity and a just economy, support thriving rural communities and sustain diverse human and ecological life.” In seeking new ways of thinking about agriculture, RAF ultimately believes that “paths to climate resilience come from farmers and land stewards within communities on the frontlines of climate change.”
Grants for Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change
RAF’s theory of change takes a racial equity approach across all grantmaking, advocacy and research. Funding ultimately works towards building a regenerative future that is mindful of regenerative land stewardship, biodiversity, human diversity, racial and economic justice, climate solutions and clean water. RAF’s grantmaking therefore invests in BIPOC-led and/or BIPOC-serving organizations that advance racial & climate justice through “bold, on-the-ground” solutions that also double as climate solutions.
The foundation has separate grantmaking programs: a Rapid Response Fund and a Capacity Building Fund. In a recent report, RAF names several funding priorities, which include: women in agriculture, innovative technical assistance and peer to peer learning, the value proposition of regenerative agriculture, pilot projects that bridge researchers and farmers, and support for coalitions of farmers and their allies.
The Rapid Response Fund works to give small grants to support mobilizing activities.
To be eligible for funding, recipient groups must be members of one of these policy organizations: Rural Coalition, NSAC, Native Farm Bill Coalition, National Family Farm Coalition, HEAL Food Alliance, and Good Food for All.
Organizations serving BIPOC communities and with operating budgets under $3.5 million receive priority consideration. In 2022, $455,000 went to 49 organizations, and over $500,000 in 2023.
The Capacity Building Fund supports BIPOC-led organizations with financial resources and training to help increase policy advocacy involvement. It “strives to put farmers of color at the center of policy conversations” and “provides opt-in opportunities for grantees to build capacity […] and space to convene and share experiences and peer support.”
RAF also has a Priority States Fund that focuses on advocacy in states with key agricultural policymakers (Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Arkansas).
Past grantees include Regenerative Agriculture Alliance, Point Blue, Land Stewardship Project and the Wallace Center at Winrock International.
In June 2022, the Farm Bill Grassroots Capacity Building Project launched as a collaboration between National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, RAFI-USA, and Regenerative Agriculture Foundation, with support from the Waverley Street Foundation. This project — while working to advance agricultural policies that address the climate crisis and racial disparities — supports policy organizing as a whole.
Important Grant Details:
Grants range from $10,000 to $350,000, but $50,000 is the most common amount. RAF awards grants twice per year to support regenerative agriculture as a way of achieving its mission. It works with various funding partners to award grants and support niche interests through pooled funds.
The foundation only makes grants by invitation only and does not accept unsolicited proposals or requests for funding.
It does, however, invite organizations to reach out and introduce themselves and their work. It distributes grants annually in the summer.
For inquiries and general questions, reach out via email at mark@regenerativeagriculturefoundation.org or via telephone at 612-203-5648.
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