Field-of-Interest Grant Program - Environment

The Field-of-Interest Grant Program, established in 2016, supports local nonprofits in Mendocino County with initiatives focusing on the environment, arts, and community resilience. Grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,500 are available for projects that promote climate resilience, habitat restoration, and environmental education. Applicants are encouraged to apply early, especially if they have received funding in previous years. This program aims to foster sustainable practices and preserve natural resources for future generations.

NOTE:
Applicants are strongly encouraged to apply at least five days in advance of the deadline.If you received a Field-of-Interest Fund Grant in the prior year, your organization is not eligible to apply for this round of funding, unless it is a school or community services district.
The Field-of-Interest Grant Program offers grant opportunities for local nonprofits with proposed projects or initiatives in the fields of arts and culture, children and youth, disaster relief, recovery, and resilience, economic development the environment, and healthy and inclusive communities.
Established in 2016, the Field-of-Interest Grant Program is a collection of funds established to make grants in specified areas of interest (e.g., the environment or human services), or specified geographical areas, or both. The grant program is offered annually with funding provided by individual Field-of-Interest funds.
Purpose
The goal of the program is to provide grants to Mendocino County nonprofit organizations around specified areas of interest (e.g., the environment or human services), or specified geographical areas, or both. Available funding and grant guidelines are provided annually. Not all funds run every year.
The Fund for the Environment is comprised of private donors and the Arthur and Jean Morley-FTOS, the Charles F. Flinn and Walker B. Tilley Endowment Fund for Sustainable Forestry, the Community Endowment Fund, the Environmental Education and Conservation Fund, and the Fund for Trails and Open Space.
The Fund for the Environment was established to provide grants to support climate resilience and honor, preserve, and steward the natural environment of Mendocino County.
Funding priorities include, but are not limited to:
Programs that offer environmental education around topics such as natural resource management, the effects of climate change, and humans’ role in causing and addressing climate change, land stewardship, habitat and watershed restoration, and/or providing and improving access to natural lands.Projects that conserve and rehabilitate Mendocino County’s natural environments and animal habitats (including the ocean and reef ecosystems) for the long-term social, environmental, and economic benefit of the community, such as wildlife surveys; habitat studies; habitat and watershed restoration projects; improving existing public access to conservation lands; land docents and land stewardship; native plant management; and invasive plant removal.Programs that support the acquisition, preservation, and restoration of parks, trails, trail signage, and open space areas that are free and open to the public for low-impact recreational uses.Increasing canopy trees for public benefit through tree planting (and subsequent maintenance) in cities and unincorporated areas of Mendocino County. Thinning, fuel reduction, and tree removal projects are ineligible for funding
Grant range: $1,000-$5,500
Grant proposals for $5,000 or more may have two stages of review: an initial review and a site visit. Site visits may be made in-person, by phone, or virtually.