Sustainable Development Grant Program

Sustainable Development Grant Program

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: The Rockefeller Brothers Fund
Last Updated: November 20, 2025

Summary

The Sustainable Development Grant Program, funded by The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, aims to combat climate change by promoting ecological stewardship, economic viability, and social equity. It supports initiatives that enhance public understanding, implement clean energy solutions, and foster international cooperation. The program prioritizes projects that address the urgent threats posed by climate change while ensuring that development efforts are sustainable and inclusive for future generations.

Overview

Note:  If you are unsure about whether you qualify for funding, please email us before beginning a grant application. Given the demands for the time of our staff, we are unable to accept grant applications sent by email or to arrange meetings with program staff to discuss unsolicited grant proposals. The RBF rarely funds unsolicited grant requests. Goal: Advance Solutions To Climate Change The Sustainable Development program advances global stewardship that is ecologically based, economically sound, socially just, culturally appropriate, and consistent with intergenerational equity. Human activity is causing climate change, rapid loss of biodiversity, and accelerating degradation of Earth’s life support systems. With the recognition that the impact of unchecked climate change threatens all other conservation efforts, the program focuses its grantmaking on advancing solutions to climate change. Strategies Building public and policymaker understanding and support for a range of actions to address the threat of climate change. Supporting implementation efforts to build a clean energy economy at the federal, state, and local levels. Supporting efforts to reduce reliance on carbon-intensive energy sources. Supporting targeted efforts to advance international progress on climate change. Full Guidelines Human activity is causing climate change and rapid loss of biodiversity, and accelerating degradation of Earth’s life support systems. These developments threaten the livelihoods, health, and security of people in all nations and cultures as well as the well-being of the greater community of life. The RBF’s sustainable development grantmaking endeavors to address these challenges by supporting development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The program supports global stewardship that is ecologically based, economically sound, socially just, culturally appropriate, and consistent with intergenerational equity. The Fund encourages government, business, and civil society to work collaboratively on climate change, to acknowledge the moral and ethical consequences of inaction, and to make it an integral part of all development planning and activity. Recognizing the global nature of many environmental problems, the Fund also promotes international cooperation in addressing these challenges. The Sustainable Development program maintains a significant focus on the United States in light of its disproportionate impact on the global economy, politics, and the environment. The program’s work is also advanced in collaboration with the Fund’s “pivotal place” programs—Central America, China, and the Western Balkans—and with the Democratic Practice program’s Global Challenges portfolio. Pivotal Place programs support work in specific countries or regions to build the knowledge, policies, organizational capacity, and leadership needed to advance sustainable development in locally appropriate ways. The Fund’s Democratic Practice–Global Challenges portfolio supports broad participation in forging the international agreements and institutional arrangements needed to encourage investment in sustainable development. Fund staff work to ensure that global developments inform work in specific places and that locally grounded efforts generate lessons and innovations needed for global impact. With the recognition that the impact of unchecked climate change threatens all other conservation efforts, the Sustainable Development program focuses its U.S. grantmaking on building a green economy at the federal, state, and local levels. In addition, the program provides support for select international efforts to advance global climate negotiations.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. To be eligible for a grant, organizations should be tax-exempt or seeking support for a project that would qualify as educational or charitable.The Sustainable Development program is focused on efforts to promote effective climate policies in the United States through support for high-leverage opportunities at the federal, state, and municipal levels (including New York City, the Fund’s home).

Ineligibility

What We Do Not FundSupport to individuals for any purpose, including education, health care, travel, or attendance at conferences.Meetings, publications, or films, including documentaries, unless directly related to a Fund-supported project. (If you're interested in hosting a meeting at The Pocantico Center, you can learn more here.)Youth activities, including sports, afterschool, and exchange programs.Capital expenses, including the construction and renovation of buildings.Lobbying, as well as the planning or organizing of lobbying activities.Tickets or tables at galas and other fundraising events.