Grantmaking
Trust-Based Funding for Environmental Initiatives
Our trust-based funding approach puts resources directly into the hands of community leaders who know best what their communities need. We believe that those closest to environmental challenges have the most innovative solutions—they simply need access to resources to implement them.
What Sets Our Funding Approach Apart:
Our Trust-Based Funding Model
Relationship-driven support that centers trust and community expertise
Multi-year grants ranging from $10,000 to $25,000 per year when possible
Capacity building in financial, operational, and fundraising areas
Network building with cohorts of grantees to facilitate shared learning and systems-level changes
Simplified eligibility that isn’t hinged on organization size or impact reporting ability
Support for organizations at all stages of development, from grassroots initiatives to established organizations
“Trust-based funding is imperative to grassroot organizations.
We would be lost if we needed to have the typical structure that many other funders require.”
– Robin Roberts, Philly Gear Library | Grantee
Funding Priorities & Impact
We support a diverse range of community-led initiatives working at the intersection of racial justice, outdoor experiences, and environmental equity.
Our funding priorities focus on five key areas:
01
Health, Healing,
and Wellness
We fund programs that harness the healing power of nature to strengthen community wellbeing and address health disparities. This includes initiatives that integrate outdoor experiences with mental health support, honor traditional and cultural healing practices connected to land and water, and build food sovereignty through community-led growing projects.
02
Land and Water Access
We support community-driven efforts to break down barriers and create equitable access to outdoor spaces for all. Our funding prioritizes initiatives that establish safe pathways to parks, beaches, and natural areas, build outdoor skills and confidence, strengthen Indigenous stewardship of ancestral lands and waters, and develop creative transportation solutions that connect communities to nature.
03
Grassroots Organizing
& Mobilization
We fund community organizing that builds collective power to advance environmental justice. This includes supporting coalition building around environmental issues, amplifying youth-led campaigns, tackling environmental health inequities, empowering communities to conduct their own research and data collection, and backing policy advocacy efforts led by those most directly impacted by environmental challenges.
04
Youth Access to Nature (YAN)
We invest in youth as environmental leaders, cultural stewards, and agents of change through our Youth Access to Nature Fund. This includes supporting organizations that increase access to nature for youth—not just for recreation, but for healing, organizing, and connection to ancestral practices. Our YAN funding prioritizes accessible application processes without 501(c)(3) requirements, multi-year unrestricted grants, and comprehensive capacity-building through workshops, affinity spaces, and coaching that help build long-term infrastructure for community leadership.
05
Economic Opportunity
We support initiatives that create sustainable economic pathways through environmental and outdoor work. Our funding focuses on programs that provide green job training and placement, foster small business growth in outdoor recreation and environmental sectors, and support cooperative and community-owned environmental enterprises.
Application Open! YAN 2026
Through our Bay Area Youth Access to Nature grantmaking, we aim to fund work that is at the intersection of racial justice, youth under 25, and the environment. This could include a variety of activities, such as recreation and experiential education programs, environmental justice, conservation, climate justice, environmental advocacy work, cultural and ancestral practices, education, and much more.
Eligibility: Applicants do not need to have a 501(c)(3) status nor a fiscal sponsor to apply. Your work is eligible for funding if your projects and programming engage young people of the nine counties of the greater San Francisco Bay Area of California: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma counties.
Current Status:
Accepting applications until 11:59 PM PST on July 31, 2026.
Funding availability: Two year request maximum of 50k total ($25,000/year), 14 applicants will be awarded.
Questions about applying? Contact grantmaking@justiceoutside.org
Support Grantmaking
Interested in becoming a funding partner?
Contact Danielle Wolfrum, Director of Donor Engagement, at Danielle@justiceoutside.org