A guide to grants for environmental nonprofits, including EPA, USDA, DOE, foundation, and corporate funders, with eligibility and proposal tips for environmental work.

Environmental work is one of the most actively funded areas in U.S. philanthropy, and federal investment in environment, climate, and conservation has expanded significantly. For environmental nonprofits, land trusts, conservation organizations, environmental justice groups, and climate advocates, the funding ecosystem is large and growing.

This guide covers the main sources of grants for environmental nonprofits and how to navigate them.

TL;DR: Quick Answers

Who funds environmental work? EPA, USDA (NRCS, Forest Service), DOE, DOT, state and local environmental agencies, foundations, and corporate funders.
Who can apply? Environmental nonprofits, land trusts, watershed groups, environmental justice organizations, universities, tribal nations, and local governments.
What do they fund? Conservation, water quality, air quality, environmental justice, climate, biodiversity, land protection, environmental education, and policy.
Where do most start? Through state environmental agencies, local watershed and conservation networks, and community foundations.

Major Federal Environmental Funders

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Environmental Justice Grants, Brownfields, Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds (pass-through), Environmental Education, and many climate and pollution programs. See EPA grants.

USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). EQIP, CSP, and many conservation programs for working lands. See USDA grants.

USDA Forest Service. Forestry programs, urban forestry, wildland fire, and conservation partnerships.

Department of Energy. Clean energy and decarbonization programs accessible to nonprofits, see DOE grants.

Department of the Interior. National Park Service, USFWS, USGS, BLM, and many programs supporting conservation partnerships.

NOAA. Coastal, marine, and Great Lakes programs.

DOT. Active transportation, electric vehicles, and related programs, see DOT grants.

State environmental agencies. Often re-grant federal funding and run state-specific programs.

Major Foundation and Corporate Funders

Major environmental foundations include the Walton Family Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Pisces Foundation, the JPB Foundation, the ClimateWorks Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, and many regional environmental funders.

Corporate funders include Patagonia, REI, outdoor brands, utilities, banks, and many others. See corporate giving programs.

Major Program Types Funded

Environmental grants commonly support:

Conservation and land protection. Land trusts, easements, fee acquisition, see capital campaign grants for capital protection.
Climate work. Mitigation, adaptation, resilience, energy transition.
Environmental justice. Community-led work in overburdened communities.
Water quality and watersheds. Stream restoration, monitoring, watershed plans.
Air quality and pollution reduction.
Biodiversity and species protection.
Environmental education (often through EPA EE and informal STEM programs, see grants for STEM education).
Policy and advocacy (mostly foundation-funded; federal funds usually can’t be used for advocacy).
Coalition and capacity work, see capacity-building grants.

What Environmental Funders Look For

Measurable environmental outcomes. Acres protected, pollution reduced, species recovered, communities served. Pair with stories.
Community engagement. Especially for environmental justice and frontline community work.
Equity. Reach to historically over-burdened populations.
Partnerships. Multi-organizational collaboration is increasingly favored.
Science-based approaches. Cite relevant research.
Sustainability. What continues after the grant.

How to Win Environmental Grants

1. Use EPA, USGS, NOAA, and other federal data tools. EJScreen, water-quality monitoring, climate data, see using data in grant proposals.

2. Center community voice. Especially for EJ and frontline-community work, design with, not for.

3. Show scientific rigor where relevant, particularly in conservation and water-quality work.

4. Document partnerships. Cross-organizational coalitions are common in environmental work, see partnerships in grant proposals.

5. Quantify environmental outcomes. Measurable change, not just activities, see SMART goals.

6. Plan for reporting and dissemination.

7. Address equity authentically.

Where Most Organizations Start

For most environmental nonprofits:

State environmental agency programs (often re-granting federal funds).
Community foundation grants for local environmental work.
EPA Environmental Justice and Brownfields grants for community-led work.
USDA NRCS programs for land and watershed work.
DOE community-energy programs for climate and energy work.
National environmental foundations for major and scaling initiatives.
Corporate environmental funders for capacity and program support.

How Grantboost Helps

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Grants for Environmental Nonprofits