Pittsburgh Foundation Environmental Action Grants: Learning and Action

The Pittsburgh Foundation's Environmental Action Grants prioritize community-centered projects that enhance environmental health and decision-making. With grants ranging from $10,000 to $150,000, the foundation supports initiatives that involve participatory research, advocacy, and grassroots organizing. The focus is on empowering communities, particularly in Allegheny County, to address environmental challenges. The foundation seeks to bridge gaps in social justice and promote equitable access to a healthy environment, fostering collaboration among local stakeholders.

Foundation-Directed Grantmaking
The Pittsburgh Foundation is committed to helping the communities we serve become equitable and vibrant places where everyone can thrive. We align our grantmaking with resident’s dreams for themselves, their families and their communities and prioritize support in the five focus areas: Basic Needs; Equity and Social Justice; Environmental Action; Arts and Culture; and Economic Mobility.
Duration: Generally, grants will be awarded for no more than two years due to limited availability of funds.
Amounts: One-year grants generally range from $10,000 to $75,000. Two-year grants will generally not exceed $150,000. Actual grant amounts are determined based on staff review of each individual application and consideration of the funding available at the time the application is received.
Our environmental action grantmaking prioritizes support for projects, initiatives and collaborations that center communities in environmental decision-making and amplify the intersectional nature of working to protect the health of our communities and the preservation of our environment. While we will continue to prioritize projects serving residents of Allegheny County, we will also consider on a case-by-case basis projects that work across the southwest Pennsylvania 12-county region.
All people have the right to live in a safe and healthy environment. To address past harms and mitigate future impacts, we seek to translate research into action to protect the health of communities and their environments and build agency within these communities.
The Foundation is interested in supporting the following:

• Community-engaged participatory research and citizen science activities that seek to increase environmental health safety and climate literacy.

Cross-sector partnerships that advance systems changes to improve environmental health outcomes, protect the environment and share decision-making power with community members.
Advocacy initiatives that advance policies that protect health and preserve the environment.
Grassroots and youth organizing efforts that advance environmental priorities in the region (for example, clean energy, transportation, food systems, economic transition of coal-impacted communities).

Eligibility

To qualify for a grant, your nonprofit organization must be:
Located within Allegheny County and/or primarily serve Allegheny County residents (unless otherwise specified in the grant criteria).Designated by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) public charity. (If your organization does not have 501(c)(3) status, you may apply utilizing a fiscal sponsor.)

Ineligibility

What We Do Not Fund
The Pittsburgh Foundation does not make grants to any organization not listed in Internal Revenue Code Section 170(b)(1)(A), including private non-operating foundations or any “disqualified supporting organizations” as defined in Internal Revenue Code Section 4966(d) (4).Organizational start-up support.Statewide or national organizations, unless they have an established local office or chapter that meets the above eligibility criteria and priorities.Projects that expressly advocate for or endorse a specific candidate for elected office.Annual appeals or event sponsorships.Episodic and/or one-time programs and events.Capital expenses and/or campaigns.Direct funding for individuals (except individual artists).Payments on organizational debt.Costs and activities that are completed before a requested grant has received a decision from our board.University overhead costs.Single-disease support organizations.Educational scholarships. Academic research.