CPF Rapid Response Grant

CPF Rapid Response Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Colorado Plateau Foundation
Amount: Up to US $10,000
Last Updated: June 25, 2025

Summary

The Colorado Plateau Foundation offers the CPF Rapid Response Grant to support Native-led organizations addressing urgent needs in the Colorado Plateau region. Grants of up to $10,000 are available at any time, separate from the annual grant cycle. The foundation focuses on four priority areas: water protection, sacred place preservation, language preservation, and sustainable agriculture. Since 2012, it has invested over $1.2 million in more than 60 initiatives to empower Native communities.

Overview

The Colorado Plateau Foundation (CPF) is a Native-led foundation that supports the cultures, lands, and waters of the Colorado Plateau. The Colorado Plateau Foundation invests in Native-led organizations working in four priority areas on the Colorado Plateau – protection of water, protection of sacred places and threatened landscapes, preservation of Native languages, and sustainable community-based agriculture. As our mission, Colorado Plateau Foundation connects the philanthropic community to on-the-ground initiatives by growing a sustainable supply of resources and giving grants that enhance the work of Native-led organizations on the Plateau. The Colorado Plateau is centered in the southwestern United States, in an area termed the Four Corners region which extends into Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. The following tribal nations govern the lands of over a third of the Colorado Plateau: Hopi, Zuni, Navajo Nation, White Mountain Apache, Hualapai, Havasupai, Ute, and Kaibab Band of Paiute.Jim Enote (Zuni) founded Colorado Plateau Foundation in 2012, in partnership with the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Christensen Fund, and Arizona Community Foundation.The Colorado Plateau Foundation emerged to address a regional need for a bridge between the Colorado Plateau’s Native communities and the national philanthropic community in response to the lack of philanthropic dollars reaching rural, Native communities on the Plateau, despite both overwhelming need and the presence of established Native-led organizations who were leading transformative work.Our grantmaking priorities are informed by tribal leaders from across the Colorado Plateau. Through a series of inter-tribal gatherings, cultural and community leaders from Colorado Plateau tribes identified our four priority giving areas as requiring immediate and sustained attention.We value a culturally centered model of giving that meets grantees where they are at and then supports their growth into organizations capable of accomplishing sophisticated and positive change to protect the Plateau’s environment and cultures. We give capacity-building grants in amounts between $1,000 and $25,000 to organizations working in our four priority issue areas. Since 2012 we have given $1,200,000 to over 60 Native-led initiatives. Our Four Priority Areas We Fund Protection of Water Recognizing the cultural importance of water for tribes across the Colorado Plateau, we support groups stewarding this life-giving resource. Protection of Sacred Places & Endangered Landscapes Our lands are part of us, inseparable from our cultures and communities. We support groups integrating tribal voices into landscape management and safeguarding sacred places. Preservation of Language We support language preservation because tribal languages, the vessels through which ancestral knowledge is passed to future generations, are threatened with extinction. Sustainable, Community-based Agriculture Native foods and traditional farming are essential to the Colorado Plateau’s tribes. We support organizations that are reclaiming sustainable, community-based agriculture. CPF Rapid Response Grant Colorado Plateau Foundation’s rapid response grants support Native-led organizations responding to critical and urgent needs and unforeseen opportunities in the Colorado Plateau region. The grants provide up to $10,000, can be applied for at any time, and are separate from CPF’s annual grant cycle.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Applicants for Rapid Response Grants must meet the following criteria:You are a Native-led organization in-service to tribal nations on the Colorado Plateau working in any of the CPF priority areas: protection of water, protection of sacred places and threatened landscapes, preservation of Native languages, and food security through sustainable community-based agricultureYou are a Native-controlled organization (majority of the governing board and staff are Native)You are a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, a tribal government with IRS 7871 status, or an organization with a 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor.You are in good standing with grant reports if you are a past CPF grant recipient.

Ineligibility

The following activities and costs are not eligible for Rapid Response grants:Fundraising eventsIndividuals (we support organizations only)Non-Native majority-led organizationsFor-profit businessesOperating expenses, including existing staff salariesExpenses or activities that have already occurredEquipment, land acquisition, or researchEducation programs or scholarshipsCapital campaignsLiterary or film projectsFees to attend conferences.