The Climate Justice Organizing Fund will support grassroots groups organizing to change the policies and practices that create and maintain climate inequities.
Track One: Climate Justice Capacity Building and Strategy Development ($15,000 grants)
This track is for newly formed organizations focusing on climate justice or existing grassroots organizations expanding their work to focus on climate justice. It is intended to support capacity-building activities like climate justice organizing training or climate justice strategy development. These activities must result in strengthened capacity for actually implementing a direct-action organizing campaign for climate justice.
Track Two: Implementing a Climate Justice Direct Action Organizing Campaign ($25,000 grants)
This track is to support grassroots, community-led organizations already working on climate justice issues. It intended for groups that have already developed a climate justice organizing strategy and need financial support to sustain, implement, or scale a direct action community organizing campaign. Unlike funding for planning or preparation as outlined in Track One, this funding track focuses explicitly on implementation of a specific campaign.
Eligibility for Both Tracks
An annual operating budget of less than $500K. Note: The community grantmaking committee will preference smaller grassroots organizations that are often overlooked in funding opportunities and sometimes lack dedicated grant-writing staff.
Leadership must reflect the organizational membership base, include people directly affected by the climate crisis, and represent communities impacted by the climate crisis.
Eligible organizations must use or plan to use direct action community organizing that centers the experiences and voices of climate-impacted communities. Specifically, eligible organizations build power by and with grassroots communities to hold corporations and policymakers accountable to impacted communities.
Eligible applicants should demonstrate that they clearly understand climate justice and environmental racism and how the issues they are organizing around will promote climate justice.
Additional Track One Eligibility Criteria
Eligible applicants are newly formed organizations focusing on climate justice or existing grassroots organizations expanding their work to focus on climate justice.
Additional Track Two Eligibility Criteria
Eligible organizations:
Have a track record of community organizing tactics that drive change in legislative or regulatory policies or institutional practices.
Invest in community engagement to ensure their strategies are informed directly by community members impacted by climate change.
Have a track record of basebuilding, i.e., growing the number of communities and residents supporting climate justice issues by bringing in new people or groups.
What Makes Your Application Competitive
A competitive application will demonstrate how the applicant uses or intends to use direct action community organizing to address specific climate justice issues. It clearly illustrates how impacted community members are central to strategy development and decision-making. The application should also demonstrate a clear plan for delivering on their climate justice organizing goals and illustrate a track record of achieving results.
For Track Two, special consideration will be given to coalitions or individual organizations prioritizing collaboration with other groups and stakeholders to expand the cohesiveness of the movement.
Application Tips
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Application Deadline
The deadline to apply for the Climate Justice Organizing Fund is 11:59 p.m. on March 26, 2025. To be considered for funding, proposals must be complete and submitted on time. Because of the volume of applications we receive, we cannot consider incomplete or late applications.
What Happens After You Hit Submit
Bread & Roses staff will screen all proposals to make sure they meet eligibility requirements.
Community Grantmaking Committee members will review proposals individually and use a consensus-based decision-making process to select groups that will be recommended for funding.
Recommendations for grants made by the Community Grantmaking Committee will be presented to the Bread & Roses Board of Directors for final approval.
Grant award announcements will be made in June 2025.
