Free Rivers Fund Grants

Free Rivers Fund Grants

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Free Rivers Fund
Amount: €1,000 - €2,000
Last Updated: November 24, 2025

Summary

The Free Rivers Fund (FRF) provides essential financial support for grassroots initiatives that aim to protect free-flowing rivers from dams and development projects. Founded by passionate kayaking activists, FRF collaborates with the paddle sports industry to collect donations and distribute grants. Projects can apply annually, regardless of their organizational status, ensuring that both established groups and individuals have the opportunity to make a significant impact in river conservation efforts.

Overview

Where did Free Rivers Fund come from? The Free Rivers Fund (FRF) originated from the minds of three international kayaking activist. Dan Yates (UK), Rok Rozman (SLO) and Bernie Steidl (AUT) were all engaged in a different struggle against hydropower projects that were threatening the free flowing creeks and rivers of their homes. The idea was to give financial support to those who spend their free time protecting rivers from being dammed. With all three founders being grassroots activist, they have experienced with how vital even small funding is for running a campaign successfully. And how time consuming it is to raise those funds. The Free Rivers Fund intends to help here. Our intention is for the process to be as easy as possible for small grassroots projects to access money to help cover their costs. We don’t want projects to waste time on applications and forms and rather use that time to reach their conservation goals. In October 2016, Yates, Rozman and Steidl approached kayaking companies to see if their idea would be supported. It was greatly encouraging that many companies understood the need to protect rivers and were willing to support FRF. This very positive feedback encouraged them to go ahead with establishing the fund. What does the Free Rivers Fund do? The Free Rivers Fund collects donations from adventure sports companies and distributes funds to conservation groups. FRF partners with companies in the paddle sports industry, but is also building up co-operations with kayak clubs, and accept private donations as well. Grassroots conservation projects seeking support can apply once a year. A jury then carefully selects the projects where the funding will make the biggest difference for river protection. That means that the small, community-run projects have just as good a chance of receiving funding as the large, established organizations. To apply the project does not need to be a registered NGO or organization, they can just as well be individuals who are ready to step up to help their local, endangered river. Selected projects will be funded by the Free Rivers Fund for a full year. Free Rivers Fund Grants The Free Rivers Fund (FRF) supports initiatives and actions in defense of free flowing rivers. Partnering with the paddle sports industry we provide grants for activist and conservation groups that commit to the fight to protect rivers from dams and development. Free Rivers Fund aims to support those initiatives that most urgently need funding. No matter if you have been an organization for several years already or if you are just starting out with a bunch of ideas but no results to show, we are looking forward to receiving your application! IF YOU ARE FIGHTING FOR FREE FLOWING RIVERS, PLEASE APPLY! Funding The total amount of funding is not fixed but depends on the total incoming donations. We divide the total amount of money that the Free Rivers Fund receives by the number of projects funded. Generally you can expect between 1000€ and 2000€.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. To apply for a FRF grant you just need a river and a plan of how the money will be used to help this river become or stay free flowing. This could be either action towards undamming rivers (removing existing structures that prevent a natural flow in a river bed, natural transport of sediments and barriers to migrating fish), or action to preserve free flowing rivers (fighting against new dams or hydropower projects). You do not need to be a registered non-profit organization but you must have a clear plan or already be in action to protect rivers in some capacity.As long as that general goal is met - the kind of project or action is up to you. In the past we have funded: costs for lawyers & legal fees, construction, protests, equipment to conduct research, photography, film & art projects & equipment, travel costs and much more.

Ineligibility

Due to its legal structure the Free Rivers Fund cannot give out money directly to the grantees. Instead of transferring money to the grantees' bank accounts, we can pay bills for the funded projects. If you have expenses for your project, there are several possibilities for you to get your funding:We do not fund: Clean-Ups, general research projects, general renaturalisation and reforestation projects and any other project that has not the general aim to preserve or reinstate a river in it's free-flowing state.