Philanthropy Front and Center-San Francisco

2009 Goldman Environmental Prize Winners

Just announced yesterday are the winners of the Goldman Environmental Prize.  The prize, now in its 20th year, is awarded annually to grassroots environmental heroes from each of the world’s six inhabited continental regions and is the largest award of its kind with an individual cash prize of $150,000.

This year’s recipients include Maria Gunnoe, a born-and-bred West Virginian who faces death threats for her outspoken activism to stop the coal industry’s plunder of Appalachia via mountain top removal and valley fills. Another recipient, Marc Ona, a wheelchair-bound civil society leader from the West African country of Gabon, faces arrest, imprisonment and public character assaults for his unyielding campaign to stop a destructive mining concession in a protected national park.

Other recipients include a Russian scientist connecting NGOs across Eastern Europe and the Caucasus to identify and safely remove toxic chemical stockpiles; two Saramaka leaders, members of a Maroon community in Suriname founded by freed African slaves in the 1700s, whose legal struggle to protect their tribal land rights led to a binding decision for all indigenous and tribal peoples in the Americas; Bangladesh’s leading environmental attorney, whose legal advocacy led to tighter regulations on the environmentally-devastating and exploitative ship breaking industry; and an Indonesian woman developing community-based waste management systems to stem her island nation’s overwhelming waste infrastructure problems. See their photos and read more about the recipients at the Goldman Prize web site.

Car-sharing Philanthropy

I read an article in yesterday's San Francisco Chronicle about Zipcar, a car-sharing service that has started letting workers at some local nonprofits drive its cars for free.  The article cites Big Brothers Big Sisters, Visual Aid, 826 Valencia, Meals on Wheels, Friends of the Urban Forest, AIDS Walk San Francisco, and Imagine Bus as local charities that have benefitted from the company's donated car service.  Zipcar has operations in 25 U.S cities with the San Francisco site emerging as its philanthropic leader.  Other community groups that received this neat service can be found on the company's web site.

Since I'm on the car-sharing theme I also want to mention a local nonprofit service, City CarShare. Both look like excellent organizations.

New Report--Spotlight on Funding for the Environment and Animals in California

Did you know that California foundations gave twenty-nine percent of all U.S. foundation giving for the environment?  Some of our big environmental funders include the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Energy Foundation, and Marisla Foundation. To glean more tidbits download our brand new 2-page report, Spotlight on Funding for the Environment and Animals in California. 

You also should check out two grantmaker conversations in our Philanthropy News Digest (PND). PND staff interviewed Steven J. McCormick, president and CEO of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, about his tenure at the Nature Conservancy, his new role and responsibilities at the foundation, its approach to environmental grantmaking, and the challenges facing environmental philanthropy. And David Grant, president and CEO of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation in New Jersey, spoke with PND about the history of the foundation's environment program, its forward-thinking approach to grantmaking in the environment area, and what the foundation is doing to make itself a greener organization.

Reality Grantmaking: The Suspense Builds

I just want to extend our congratulations and thanks to the six finalist environmental organizations that have been selected to compete for a $1,000 grant as part of our Reality Grantmaking session tomorrow morning.  For those of you not familiar with Reality Grantmaking, it is an exciting program we have done for the past few years in collaboration with the Development Executives Roundtable and the Association of Fundraising Professionals-Golden Gate Chapter.  During Reailty Grantmaking, attendees have the opportunity to observe grantmaking in action as a panel of grantmakers determine which of the competing proposals will be selected to receive the grant.  In order for us to fulfill that strong grantseeker desire to listen in on the grant deliberation process, some organizations had to be willing to "take one for the team" and volunteer to have their grant proposals publicly reviewed.  Not surprisingly when funding is at stake, there was some competition involved and we have now announced the six organizations that were selected as finalists:

• Coral Reef Alliance
• Hidden Villa
• MedShare
• Pacific Forest Trust
• River Partners
• Accountable Development Coalition

The links above will take you to the submitted proposals.  If you plan on attending tomorrow, you can do some advance reading and place bets with yourself or your friends about which of these organizations will take home that $1,000 prize. 

Pacific Gas and Electric Company awards $1.5 Million to the California Academy of Sciences

Since throughout June the Foundation Center is offering special classes and events for our Funding for the Environment Month, it seems apt to use our blog this month to share with you news about recently awarded environmental grants.  This grant from Pacific Gas & Electric Company was just announced last week to support what is "poised to be the 'greenest museum' of its kind in the world."

The Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has announced a four-year, $1.5 million grant to the California Academy of Sciences for climate change and environmental sustainability exhibits and programs in the academy's new location, which is scheduled to open during the fall.  This recent grant is the largest made by PG&E to a single San Francisco institution. 

The collaboration is intended to help educate Californians about how they can take action on climate change. As the lead corporate sponsor of the academy, PG&E will provide energy-related content for the Science in Action exhibit and expertise for ongoing programs. In addition, PG&E employees will have an opportunity to participate in year-round volunteer activities and special events. The company is also the lead sponsor of the academy's environmental-sustainability exhibit, Altered State: Climate Change in California.

"The need for science and climate change education is one of the most critical issues of our time," said academy executive director Greg Farrington. "PG&E, which continues to demonstrate environmental leadership within California and nationwide, is an ideal partner for the new academy as we seek to serve as a leading resource for science education in the twenty-first century."

For more information, read the press release. 

Have you recently received or awarded a noteworthy environmental grant?  Let us know. 

Keeping the Beach Barefoot Friendly

If the recent heat wave has you dreaming of ocean vistas and sand between your toes then you might be interested in this RFP that was just posted to our RFP Bulletin on Friday:

Barefoot Wine, a California winemaker, and the Surfrider Foundation, a grassroots not-for-profit environmental organization dedicated to preserving the world's oceans, waves, and beaches, are offering support for a talented beach enthusiast to spend a week working with the Surfrider Foundation in San Clemente, California during the summer of 2008.

Barefoot Wine's Summer Dream Job program will provide hands-on experience in ocean water quality and organized beach cleanups as well as instruction in grassroots awareness campaigns. Entries will be judged by the staff at the Surfrider Foundation based on past environmental experience, relevant skills, and proven dedication to the cause. Along with being compensated financially, the recipient will receive a trip to California, including airfare, beachside housing, and ground transportation. Applicants must be 21 years of age or older and residents of one of the fifty United States or the District of Columbia.

See the Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project Web page for complete program information.

For other current RFPs of interest, vist our RFP page.