I’ve been doing research on foundation and government money available for urban agriculture, climate action and sustainability. I was pleased to learn that the McKnight Foundation and 3M Foundation are putting significant resources into climate action (though not through open grantmaking). McKnight committed $100 million to fight climate change, working with other foundation funders in a network called ClimateWorks.

I thought I’d share a few of the resources I found to raise money for youth and community projects. I’ll revisit this theme in future.

Youth Funders

• McKnight YouthPrise
• Do Something
• MN Dept of Natural Resources GreenWorks! and GreenSchools!
• National Gardening Association
• Captain Planet
• Whole Foods – Whole Kids (Salad bars and school gardens)

Crowd-funding Platforms

• WeTheTrees.com – This platform focuses on permaculture projects. If you don’t reach your fundraising goal, you don’t receive any of the money.
• Indiegogo.com – This platform pays you even if you don’t reach your goal, but you pay a higher processing fee. It offers a discount for nonprofit fundraising.
• Crowdfunder.com – This platform focuses on small businesses and social enterprises.
• Sponsume.com – This platform pays even if you don’t reach your goal, again with a larger processing fee.