Our mission is to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees.

Founded in 1972 — the centennial of the first Arbor Day observance — the Arbor Day Foundation is the largest nonprofit membership organization dedicated to planting trees. 

More than 1 million members, supporters, and valued partners have helped us plant more than 350 million trees in neighborhoods, communities, cities, and forests throughout the world to ensure a greener and healthier future for everyone.

Our vision is to help others understand and use trees as a solution to many of the global issues we face today, including air quality, water quality, a changing climate, deforestation, poverty, and hunger.

The impact we make on our world is accomplished through our conservation and education programs. 

We work to restore forests, improve tree cover in communities, and inspire the next generation of tree planters to ensure this important work endures.

Arbor Day Foundation

Madison Square Park

National Parks Conservation Association

National Park Foundation

Together, we create science-based solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife and communities that depend on it.

You love the ocean as much as we do, and we can’t protect it without you.

A healthy ocean means more than beautiful coasts and vibrant ocean wildlife. If the ocean isn’t healthy, neither are we. Because the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we’re breathing this very second comes from our ocean.

Our work is focused on solving some of the greatest threats facing our ocean today. From the Arctic to the Gulf of Mexico, we bring people, science and policy together, to champion innovative solutions and fight for a sustainable ocean.

That’s why for over forty years we’ve worked to protect vital ecosystems, defend critical legislation, enforce accountability of leaders and legislators and rally the world’s largest effort to remove trash from our beaches. Because a healthy ocean means a healthy planet.

Ocean Conservancy

Sierra Club Foundation

Conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on Earth.

WWF's mission is to conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on Earth.  Our vision is to build a future where people live in harmony with nature.

World Wildlife Fund

Supporting highly-impactful, evidence-based solutions to the triple challenge of climate change, air pollution and energy poverty.

The Founders Pledge Climate Change Fund exists to leverage each dollar and fund the most effective, neglected climate solutions.
 
Climate change is an incredibly complex problem borne out of how we produce and consume energy; it's intertwined with challenges of economic development, energy poverty, and emissions-fueled air pollution. It is an environmental and humanitarian crisis we must urgently address. 

We aim to take a holistic approach that recognizes the global nature of this challenge and the fact that, despite its urgency, we are still in the early days of climate action. We address the worst-case scenarios of climate damage, and look for solutions that can reduce current carbon emissions and accelerate the transition to clean energy to meet global demand, especially in developing countries. Through the Fund, we:

- Accelerate innovation in neglected technologies
- Catalytically grow the most effective climate organizations
- Promote policy leadership and paradigm shaping

### Our Approach to Grantmaking
When evaluating potential grants, we consider several key points:

- **Counterfactual impact.** Our grants are designed to create a meaningful outcome that would not otherwise have happened. This means that you can rely on the Funds to create meaningful, real change, rather than just maintaining the status quo.
- **Impact-driven philanthropy.** This fund prioritizes the highest-impact solutions to challenges. We assess where the gaps are, which opportunities may be neglected by other funders, and where the biggest wins are in terms of making the biggest difference.
- **The organization’s funding gap.** Not all organizations are set up to scale up their programming and many can’t productively absorb large amounts of unsolicited funding. We evaluate all potential grantees’ capacity for growth and consider how much money they could put to good use.
- **Organizational strength.** Particularly with unrestricted funding, it’s important to have trust in the leadership and capacity of the organizations we support. We look at their track record of success and their transparency about failures as well as successes, and we only support those organizations which are exceptionally well run.
- **Time-critical opportunities and funding certainty.** While Founders Pledge members give to our top climate charities regularly, sometimes there are time-critical opportunities which require fast decisions. We will use the Fund to make grants that enable such short-term opportunities and stability for high-impact funding opportunities thereby increasing the impact compared to individual giving to specific organizations.
- **Portfolio approach.** Because most climate damage comes from particular severe outcomes – with a world of 4 degrees of warming being much worse than twice as bad as a world with 2 degrees – and because every particular strategy – such as energy innovation – might underdeliver, we pursue a portfolio approach to maximize positive impact. This means we will diversify our bets in ways that, when one approach fails (such as energy innovation), the others we promote (such as carbon removal) can be expected to be particularly important and still available.

### Frequently-Asked Questions

**Can charities apply for money from the Fund?**
The Funds do not generally accept applications from charities, and we request that charities do not send unsolicited applications for funding. If the Fund Managers choose to open up an application round, this will be publicized. 

**How frequently will you make grants from the Fund?**
In general, Fund Managers will review grantmaking decisions on a quarterly basis. Decisions will be made based on the value of Funds and the available options for high-impact grantmaking. We may disburse funds outside of quarterly review dates if we become aware of a particularly promising and time-sensitive funding.

**How will my contribution be used?**
All funds are granted out. The Fund is not an investment vehicle. The Fund does not use any percentage of contributions to cover staff time or other overhead costs. Every dollar contributed to the Fund will be used to make grants directly to end-user organizations creating a real difference.

### More Questions?

To learn more about the Founders Pledge Climate Change Fund, please visit [founderspledge.com](https://founderspledge.com/funds/climate-change-fund) or email the Fund Managers at [funds@founderspledge.com](mailto:funds@founderspledge.com).

Founders Pledge: Climate Change Fund

ASPCA

American Honey Bee Protection Agency

1294684541

1435915265

2092125301

We are a nonprofit, so instead of charging fees we rely on the generosity of donors like you.

Choose a donation for Every.org

2446828177

Monthly donations help nonprofits focus on mission and long-term impact, not fundraising. Cancel anytime.

2516130445

2542453124

2569181361

2883383521

2904334964

339774024

3419981770

3784064084

3794356679

3868271524

3925410835

93462226

25918362

2729980760

3440869557

1014384873

1112422858

2028390811

220342792

2266630408

2519810400

2539558839

2826465835

2830700366

2843798242

2898624300

2916352438

3259439560

3642494300

3902459442

4250940449

585491400

634737150

641510716