McKnight Foundation: Midwest Climate and Energy Grant

The McKnight Foundation's Midwest Climate and Energy Grant focuses on funding initiatives that address the climate crisis while promoting equity in the Midwest. The foundation supports projects that transform energy systems, decarbonize transportation and buildings, and enhance community resilience. It aims to engage diverse populations and foster innovative solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and advance sustainable practices. Eligible organizations include nonprofits, governmental entities, and those in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa, with an emphasis on collaborative, impactful projects.

NOTE: McKnight accepts proposals on a rolling basis. We aim to make a decision and distribute funding within three months of receiving a full proposal. Given year-end priorities, grants submitted and reviewed in the fourth quarter may take additional time. We recommend submitting your request by September 1 if funding in the current calendar year is critical.
Our Approach
The Midwest Climate & Energy program uses its philanthropic funding to support efforts that build power through partnership, aligning climate and equity goals to advance bold action on the climate crisis.
Our program takes a systems change lens, focusing on shifting the conditions that perpetuate the climate crisis, which include structural racism. We direct grantmaking toward work that shifts mental models, changes power dynamics, engages communities, and advances transformative policies, practices, and resource flows, in order to dramatically cut carbon pollution in the Midwest by 2030.
Transform the Energy System
We aim to ensure that the Midwest equitably transitions to an energy grid capable of powering an increasingly electrified society – a grid that’s powered by clean energy sources, accessible and affordable to ratepayers, and flexible and resilient to accommodate more clean power and withstand disruptive events.
Our grantmaking through this strategy will:

• Engage the utility sector and related decision-making venues as a crucial lever for system transformation.
• Amplify stories of the clean energy transition and combat mis- and disinformation.
• Expand solutions that advance customer options for clean energy that is accessible, equitable, and affordable.
• Elevate voices that are representative of the rich diversity of the Midwest.
• Decarbonize Transportation

Our grantmaking through this strategy will:

• Support increased public sector investment in transit, active transportation modes, and other shared mobility options.
• Support the equitable deployment and implementation of electrification infrastructure.

Elevate the engagement of diverse Midwest communities to advance transportation planning that prioritizes climate and equity and repairs historical harms resulting from discriminatory policies.
Decarbonize Buildings
We aim to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the buildings sector in the Midwest, cutting energy usage, electrifying equipment and appliances, and resolving the energy insecurities and burdens of under-resourced households.
Our grantmaking through this strategy will:

• Engage with the utility sector and related decision-making venues as a crucial lever for building decarbonization.

Raise the bar on building performance to incorporate increasingly electrified end-uses, promote health, safety, and comfort, and center the real needs of people.
Bridge across sectors and break down silos to fundamentally shift the paradigm for how buildings are built.
Scale innovation to advance real-world examples of carbon-free buildings in the Midwest.
Support Working Lands
Our Grantmaking through this strategy will:

• Promote the leadership of farmers and farmer-led organizations to advance climate solutions.
• Build partnerships with public and private sectors to seed and scale farming practices that reduce emissions and sequester carbon.

Support organizing and advocacy infrastructure in the Midwest for an inclusive farming system with strong workers’ rights that honors Indigenous farming knowledge and has equitable opportunities for low-income, communities of color, and emerging farmers.
Strengthen Democratic Participation
Our grantmaking through this strategy will:

• Bolster organizations, networks, and intermediaries working to engage and organize communities toward more powerful participation in civic life.
• Ensure our democratic institutions and policymaking arenas are accessible and equipped to meet the challenge of the climate moment. ​

Eligibility

We accept proposals and provide operating and project grants to organizations based in, and working in, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa.Other Midwest states remain invite-only.We consider capital grants only in exceptional circumstances.With very few exceptions, applicants must be classified by the Internal Revenue Service as tax-exempt nonprofit organizations to be eligible for a grant.Government entities may apply for funding for innovative projects.A note on lobbying and public policy analysis:The Foundation may consider funding requests for efforts such as advocacy and education to inform the policies and administrative rules of executive, judicial, and administrative agencies; information-sharing that is neutral, nonpartisan, and fully descriptive of both sides of pending legislative issues; and policy research.

Ineligibility

We generally will not fund activities that are traditionally the sole responsibility of the government.We do not fund the following type of requests:Scholarships or other types of assistance for individualsConferences, including attendance or travelDiscrete project development, construction, installation, and/or deployment costs (for example, materials, labor, etc.)Land purchaseEndowments and capital campaigns, except in rare casesActivities that have a specific religious purposeLobbying prohibited by the Internal Revenue CodeAs required by the Internal Revenue Code, the Foundation will not fund attempts to influence specific pending or proposed legislation, including referenda, local ordinances, and resolutions.