Since launching the McConnell Foundation’s Climate focus area in April 2021, our primary funding approach has been responsive – accepting proposals through our online portal and reviewing them all year long. We have received hundreds of proposals and are fortunate to be supporting 50 partners working to reduce emissions and enhance equity in climate action across the country.
Building on this, in 2023 we will be shifting to a targeted and proactive approach to identify and respond to key gaps in the climate mitigation funding ecosystem. We will continue to fund Climate projects throughout 2023. We will do so through proactive partnership development and invitation-only calls for proposals to complement the work we are supporting already.
This means that:
- Our application portal will no longer be accepting Climate funding applications, as of December 20, 2022.
- We will provide updates on reopening the portal for new Climate applications, in late 2023.
- We will maintain virtual office hours for the climate focus area at a reduced frequency until the application portal is reopened.
- Applications that have already been submitted through our application portal will be evaluated in the coming months. Organizations will receive notifications by end-March 2023 or early April 2023.
There will be no change to current partners with active funding relationships at the Foundation.
We remain committed to allocating a significant portion of our funding to address the climate crisis in 2023, through collaborative projects and a targeted approach that builds on and complements all the work we are currently supporting. We look forward to continuing to work with partners to advance climate mitigation solutions, advance equity and diversity in the climate movement and increase impact in sustainable finance.