Environmental Funders Network

And that’s a wrap! Happy holidays folks ❄️❄️ The EFN office will be closed over the festive period from Wednesday 25 December to Wednesday 1 January. During this time, the team is taking a well-deserved break and will not be accessing their emails. We’ll see you in 2025! #endofyear

The UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are critically underfunded, receiving just 0.03% of UK philanthropic funding Yet, they include critical ecosystems - for instance the UKOTs holds the fifth-largest marine estate in the world! Read our new blog by Sophia C. Cooke and Sufina Ahmad MBE exploring how the UKOTs Fund, led by John Ellerman Foundation, is stepping up to fill this gap. By funding practical conservation, capacity building, policy advocacy, and land acquisition, the Fund has already achieved incredible results: 🪸 The creation of Coral biobanks in Turks and Caicos 🏞️ New and expanded national parks in the Falkland Islands and Anguilla 🦈 Groundbreaking whale shark research in St. Helena 🤝 Core funding empowering local environmental organisations With over £1.8 million distributed over two funding rounds, this is a hugely successful model, where strategic and even modest funding can deliver huge conservation impacts. The UKOTs Fund plans to launch a new funding round in 2025. If you’re looking to make a global environmental impact, this is your opportunity to protect biodiversity on an unparalleled scale. Learn more about the UKOTs Fund’s impact and how you can get involved: https://buff.ly/4ix5UoR #UKOTs #UKOverseasTerritories #biodiversity #environment #conservation #species #ecosystems

Our latest report, Exploring the Role of Wealth Advisors in Green Giving, dives how we can encourage advisors to help increase philanthropy giving to the environmental sector. Through 60 in-depth interviews with wealth advisors and high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), we share: 🔍 Barriers facing advisors & HNWIs: they often feel overwhelmed by environmental issues or lack the confidence and knowledge to engage effectively. 💡 Opportunities across the sector: from empowering Next Gen philanthropists to creating pooled funds 🤝 The role of EFN & environmental groups: exploring how can we help raise awareness of existing resources, foster sector-wide collaboration, and advocate for systemic change to support advisors and donors in navigating this space. Read the full report here: https://buff.ly/3OYx1ve #wealth #hnwi #philanthropy #foundations #advisors #wealthadvice

UK’s Overseas Territories (UKOTs) are home to 94% of the UK’s endemic species, yet they receive less than 0.1% of environmental philanthropic funding. That’s why we at EFN, in partnership with the John Ellerman Foundation, hosted a UKOTs Funder Learning Series this year. Check out our new blog, by Sarah Tulej, exploring how organisations are financing vital environmental work in the UKOTs in new ways: 🪸 Alizee Zimmermann from the TURKS AND CAICOS REEF FUND INC is protecting coral reefs from the devastating impact of stony coral tissue loss disease. Her innovative Coral Biobank is preserving reef-building coral species, while her sustainable funding initiatives, like the Reef Keepers’ hotel programme, are breaking new ground. 🌊 Alicia Gibson from Finance Earth is supporting the establishment of environmental trust and endowment funds are creating long-term income streams to support the creation of marine protected areas. The UKOTs are leading the way with creative solutions to secure a future for their unique biodiversity. But philanthropic support is vital to provide a stable base for further fundraising 📖 Read the full blog: https://buff.ly/3VEkqkJ 💻 Watch the recording back: https://lnkd.in/eBsiAr-i #ukots #ukoverseasterritories #coralreef #coral #biodiversity #funding #philanthropy #marineprotectedareas

The heiress on a mission to spend the lot protecting the planet 🦈🏞️ It’s wonderful to see one of our advisors, Becky Holmes, featured in The Times Magazine, Luxx. The article shares how Becky and her sister are funnelling their family wealth into protecting the planet’s biodiversity, and encouraging other multimillionaire children to do the same: 👉 ‘“We don’t want to be a multigenerational wealthy family,” she says. “Our number one goal is not growing our wealth, it’s doing good with it.” This, she says, is unusual in the UK, where most financial advice is based on building and protecting wealth rather than donating it.”’ Becky also kindly mentioned EFN during her interview: 👉 ‘According to the EFN, only 8.5 per cent of UK donations from foundations goes to environmental causes. “It is such an enormously complex, interconnected global problem that people find it difficult to know where to put their money,” Holmes says… This is where EFN comes in, providing resources to inform donors and connect them with the right causes.’ Becky is trustee of her family’s grant-making foundation, The Helvellyn Foundation, which funds biodiversity-focused charities and Chief of Staff at Langland Conservation. Read more from Becky: https://lnkd.in/egs3pBvP #biodiversity #nextgen #philanthropy #environment #climatechange #climate #nature

Did you know 69% of all UK environmental funding is controlled by just 10 foundations, and nearly 45% goes to just 25 organisations? Our agility, in-depth local ecosystem knowledge and deep connection with local community experts & volunteers are what make local charities, like us, and our grassroots biodiversity, climate, rewilding and social benefit projects, unique and so capable of delivering lasting, impactful change. . So how you can help? - Diversify your giving: Support grassroots and community-based charities alongside the bigger names. - Champion funding equity: Advocate for fairer distribution of resources to maximise impact. Are you a funder, philanthropist, or business looking to shape your 2025 ESG strategy or invest in meaningful change? Let’s talk. Together, we can close the funding gap, tackle marine & coastal environment pollution, protect at-risk species and better understand & improve water quality in The Solent. Thank you to the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) Environmental Funders Network for their research and work raising awareness. #TheSolent #Climate #Rewilding #Biodiversity #Charity #Environment #ESG

Just 9% of funding available for Environmental Charities. Great report from Environmental Funders Network: https://lnkd.in/edGWWXT8 Here's some excerpts below from the EFN Report: 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 9% 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐔𝐊 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭, 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 £3.6𝐤 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 (𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 £6.6𝐤 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫). 𝐔𝐊 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 £900 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦, 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬. 𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧 2009, 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬. 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫-𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭. 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 145 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐕𝐀𝐑 𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 1% 𝐨𝐟 (𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 13,000) 𝐔𝐊 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. And if you want to find our more about our Surfers Against Sewage Trusts & Foundations work, click here -> https://lnkd.in/ejpCVmAb #trustsandfoundations #philanthropy #environmentalfunding #funding #grants

Read our new blog: How can we improve funder-fundraiser relationships in the environment sector? ⭐ Sophia C. Cooke, co-author of our latest report, Increasing the effectiveness of environmental funder-fundraiser relationships, shares why we’ve researched this intersection, what we learnt and key takeaways for funders. Here’s a little taster: “We detail 20 reported challenges paired with existing or potential solutions. These challenges fall under four categories: funding availability, grant applications, grant management, and collaboration and coordination. We then go on to pull out six cross-cutting, broad recommendations for funders which, if followed, would see many of the challenges addressed naturally: 1️⃣ Focus on people and outcomes rather than projects and outputs 2️⃣ Underpin all behaviour with trust and flexibility 3️⃣ Make decisions based on a combination of long-term thinking and urgency 4️⃣ Design application and reporting processes carefully & relax requirements where feasible 5️⃣ Collaborate as much as possible 6️⃣ Create and embrace opportunities to hear from grantholders Read: https://lnkd.in/e5mdePGw #funder #funding #philanthropy #fundraiser #fundraising #trust #foundation

It's vital that environmental work in UK Overseas Territories gets the amount and type of support it needs - the OTs contain much of the UK's most important nature but are seriously underfunded, putting incredible ecosystems at risk. An effective way for funders to do this is through a pooled fund - this report sets out the evidence and impact of the approach.

An exciting opportunity for environmental funders to support the UK Overseas Territories Fund 🌐 🌊 🪸 The UKOTs protect 94% of UK's unique biodiversity but receive just 0.33% of environmental grants. The John Ellerman Foundation is leading a new collaborative fund to create sustainable marine protection in these vital ecosystems. Please find the new report from the Environmental Funders Network below. For interested funders, let's connect to discuss how you can support this critical work.