Fall 2014 Collective Action Grants

Deadline: 
September 14, 2014

From the Alberta Ecotrust website:

Alberta Ecotrust is founded on the premise of partnership and collaboration. We want to invest in environmental projects that build on the work and achievements of other organizations, projects and programs and use our shared resources to solve problems. Further, we believe that cooperation across sectors – between environmental nonprofits, business and government – is the best way to find innovative solutions to the increasingly complex environmental problems we are facing.
 

This fall we are experimenting with an entirely new way of investing in environmental solutions. We are shifting our approach from investing in single organizations and isolated projects to a small number of active collaborations involving multiple organizations gathered around a specific problem. We are calling these Collective Action grants.
 

So what is a Collective Action grant? It is an opportunity for groups of three or more environmental organizations to create a formal strategy and plan to tackle an environmental issue or problem together. Building upon the Collective Impact model (learn more here), we are looking to invest up to $100,000 each into collaborative initiatives that approach environmental issues through a shared vision – utilizing the diverse skills, resources and networks of multiple organizations.
 

Recognizing the many challenges involved with collaboration, Alberta Ecotrust will be providing additional support to grantees above and beyond project funding. We call this backbone support. Grantees will receive continued support from Alberta Ecotrust throughout the life of the project to facilitate collaboration, help with evaluation, and provide additional resources where necessary.
 

We are excited to embrace this new mindset. We believe this is an excellent and timely opportunity to align interests and build shared community agendas on environmental protection. We look forward to hearing your ideas and supporting your collective action.