Funding

The Tribal Climate Change Funding Guide is intended to provide up-to-date information on grants, programs and plans that may assist tribes in addressing climate change through a broad range of sectors. We will update this guide regularly, so please check back often. If you have questions or updates for this guide, email: kathy@uoregon.edu. Please note that for entries that are accepting applications continuously, the grant deadline column will list "12/31/2024" as the grant deadline. This ensures that those grants will appear immediately after those grants with a set deadline.

Title Sort descending Organization Grant Deadline Description Funding Amount Geography Website
A Cooperative Agreement for Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Competition NOAA

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: 05/24/2021. The NOAA Climate Adaptation and Mitigation Program (CAMP) supports research, programs, projects and other activities related to NOAA’s mission, primarily through collaborations among scientists and professionals in areas of mutual interest across the full spectrum of NOAA climate sciences. This cooperative agreement will focus on the following four priority areas: 1) Improved scientific understanding of the changing climate system and its impacts; 2) Scientific assessments of current and future states of the climate system that identify potential impacts and inform science, service, and stewardship decisions; 3) Mitigation and adaptation efforts supported by sustained, reliable, and timely climate services; 4) A climate-literate public that understands its vulnerabilities to a changing climate and makes informed decisions. Eligible applicants must be academic institutions of higher learning which offer doctoral degrees in NOAA-related sciences; consortia of academic institutions of higher learning which offer doctoral degrees in NOAA-related sciences; or non-profit research institutions. Multi-institution applications will not be accepted.

Categories: climate, mitigation, adaptation

$30,000,000 - $50,000,000 National Link
AmeriCorps Indian Tribes Grants Corporation for National and Community Service Corporation for National and Community Service

Last Deadline: May 2022. AmeriCorps grants are awarded to eligible organizations proposing to engage AmeriCorps members in evidence-based or evidence-informed interventions to strengthen communities. An AmeriCorps member is an individual who engages in community service through an approved national service position. Members may receive a living allowance and other benefits while serving. Upon successful completion of their service, members earn a Segal AmeriCorps Education Award from the National Service Trust that members can use to pay for higher education expenses or apply to qualified student loans.

Categories: community service, disaster prevention and relief, education, employment, labor, training, environment

National Link
Evidence for Action: Indigenous-Led Solutions to Advance Health Equity and Wellbeing Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Most Recent Deadline: March 1, 2024. The purpose of this call for proposals (CFP) is to support Indigenous-led systematic inquiry to enhance the health and wellbeing of Indigenous Peoples and generate approaches to improve health equity. This will be achieved by funding community-prioritized investigation, elevating and integrating Indigenous cultures and knowledge-building practices. To support a diverse range of projects tailored to different phases of development and scope, awards will be made through two tracks, as described later in this solicitation. Preference will be given to applicant organizations that are Tribal entities (including those that are state recognized, federally recognized, or have no formal recognition status) or Indigenous-Serving Organizations, including Urban Indian Organizations. Track 1: Initiating and Developing Research Capacity and InfrastructureThere is not an explicit budget cap for awards funded under this track, but we expect that grants will be in the approximate range of $100,000–$400,000 total. We anticipate much of the grant duration to involve relationship-building, trust development, and community feedback processes. Proposals must demonstrate a clear plan for ongoing and sustained collaboration and continued work with newly engaged partners.Track 2: Supporting Later-Stage, Sustained Research Efforts  There is not an explicit budget cap for awards funded under this track, but we expect grants will be in the range of approximately $500,000–$750,000 total. We expect project teams to demonstrate established, equitable partnerships with Indigenous communities who can begin testing a solution or strategy as part of their project.  

National Link
FY 2021 Energizing Insular Communities Grant Program DOI

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: 6/30/2021. The Office of Insular Affairs (OIA) is requesting proposals for its Energizing Insular Communities (EIC) Program which provides grant funding for sustainable energy strategies that mitigate climate change, reduce reliance and expenditures on imported fuels, develop and utilize domestic energy sources, and improve the performance of energy infrastructure and overall energy efficiency in the territories.

Categories: Energy efficiency, energy infrastructure, sustainability, climate change, rural

$8,500,000 National Link
MET Mini Grant Program NOAA, NMFS

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: 2/21/2021. Funding Opportunity #: NOAA-NMFS-PIRO-2018-2005476. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA/NMFS) is soliciting competitive applications for the 2018 Pacific Islands Region Marine Education and Training (MET) Mini-Grant Program. Projects are being solicited to improve communication, education, and training on marine resource issues throughout the region and increase scientific education for marine-related professions among coastal community residents, including indigenous Pacific islanders, Native Hawaiians and other underrepresented groups in the region.

Categories: communication, education, training, marine resources

up to $15,000 Pacific Islands/Hawaii, West Coast Link
Preventing Outages and Enhancing the Resilience of the Electric Grid DOE, National Energy Technology Lab

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: August 31, 2023. Application deadline recently extended. Under Section 40101(d) Formula Grant Program of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), the Department of Energy will provide grants to States (including U.S. Territories) and Indian Tribes to improve the resilience of their electric grids. States and Indian Tribes may further allocate funds to “eligible entities”, as defined by Section 40101(d). These grants offer a unique opportunity to advance the capabilities of States and Indian Tribes, and their communities, to address not only current, but future resilience needs.

Categories: energy, electric grids, infrastructure, power, BIL

Varies National Link
Rural Business Development Grants USDA

Deadline Passed. Most Recent Deadline February 28, 2024. Application deadlines vary by state. Check with your local program staff. RBDG is a competitive grant designed to support targeted technical assistance, training and other activities leading to the development or expansion of small and emerging private businesses in rural areas that have fewer than 50 employees and less than $1 million in gross revenues. Programmatic activities are separated into enterprise or opportunity type grant activities.

Categories: small business, rural business, family-owned, private business, rural communities

Grants range from $10,000 up to $500,000. United States Link
Rural Economic Development Loan & Grant Program USDA 12/31/2024

Rolling Deadline. The Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant program provides funding for rural projects through local utility organizations. USDA provides zero-interest loans to local utilities which they, in turn, pass through to local businesses (ultimate recipients) for projects that will create and retain employment in rural areas. The ultimate recipients repay the lending utility directly. The utility is responsible for repayment to USDA.

Categories: Economic Development, Rural Development, Grants and Loans

See description. National Link
Sovereign Futures Leadership Society Grant 2023 Na'ah Illahee Fund

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: January 31, 2023. The Na'ah Illaheed Fund is accepting applications to a grant program titles, "Sovereign Futures Green Infrastructure Leadership Society." The Na'ah Illahee is a Seattle-based Indigenous women-led organization dedicated to teh ongoing regeneration of Indigenous communities. Grant awards are $5 each and participants in the 2023 Society's Cohort will explore and identify environmental/climate solutions through a community-centered project based on learning framework. Over a 6-month period, participants will identify ways to omplement and increase more regenerative and recipricol energy systems within their communities. Examples incluse: Integrated Water Systems; Clean, Renewable Energy; Water Treatment; Energy Sovereignty; Solid Waste Management; Food Sovereignty Infrastructure etc. The application is open to all of those who identify as Indigenous and currently reside in the PNW Region (WA, OR, ID, MT, AK, and BC).

Categories: energy, water, sovereignty, solid waste management, food sovereignty, infrastructure

$5,000 Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, BC Link
Strengthening Partnerships and Engaging Networks The Gulf Research Program

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: 7/20/2021. The Gulf Research Program (GRP) is seeking projects from Communities of Practice (CoP) that work in the area of climate adaptation or disaster resilience to build the knowledge base and capacity of their members to apply an equity lens to their activities in order to address the needs and challenges of communities that are disproportionately at risk from climate hazards or other disasters.

Categories: climate hazards, communities

Up to $1.0 million Link
The Employees Community Fund (ECF) of The Boeing Company Boeing

Deadline passed. Application deadlines dependent on state requirements. Qualifying charitable or educational organizations can apply for grants from the Employees Community Fund (ECF) of The Boeing Company, which has been empowering employees to pool their tax-deductible donations for greater impact for more than 60 years. Employee advisory boards work to locally distribute combined employee donations, which are made through recurring payroll deductions or one-time gifts, to nonprofits in their community. Boeing pays all administrative costs so 100 percent of every employee dollar helps strengthen local communities. ECF grants have gone toward community projects such as aiding the homeless, stocking food banks, helping at-risk children succeed in school, providing job training for the unemployed, funding critical health services, supporting veterans programs and more.

Categories: climate change, environmental protection, conservation, community, human health, social justice

Varies. United States, International Link
Tribal Clean Air Act EPA

Deadline passed as of March 3, 2023. EPA Region 9 anticipates awarding approximately 30 grants to federally-recognized tribes within the Region 9 geographic area for funding tribal air pollution control programs, air quality education and assessment projects, and the development of tribal air program capacity.

Categories: clean air, air pollution, education

It is expected that the awards will range from $50,000 to $120,000. Pacific Southwest Link
University of Arizona Haury Tribal Resilience Initiative Recruitment Grants. University of Arizona

Deadline passed. Deadline for 2022 unknown. The Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice in 2020 announced its new Tribal Resilience Initiative (TRI). Special consideration will be given to applications to support hiring of scholars (1) whose work addresses the severe water access challenges that face Native American and Indigenous communities, especially those facing Native American communities within Arizona; and (2) to scholars who have significant expertise or experience that relates to tribal customs and governance, and to traditional knowledge, and ways of approaching resilience challenges of Native American and Indigenous communities that respect both. The Haury Program will award up to ten one-time grants in Spring of 2021 to support the recruitment of scholars whose teaching, scholarship, or outreach centers on matters relevant to Native American and Indigenous resilience. Each one-time award will be for $18,000 to be used to support the position, or to support a research assistant for the awardee.

Categories: Scholars, water, tribal governance, traditional knowledge

$18,000 National Link
Wood Innovations Funding Opportunity USDA Forest Service

Deadline Passed. Most recent deadline: March 23, 2023. The Wood Innovations Grant Program, launched in 2015, stimulates, expands, and supports U.S. wood products markets and wood energy markets to support the long-term management of National Forest System and other forest lands. National focus areas include mass timber, renewable wood energy, and technological development that supports hazardous fuel reduction and sustainable forest management Read the funding announcement here.

Categories: wood energy, wood products, hazardous fuels reduction, forest health, forest management, economic health, environmental health

The maximum for each award is $300,000. National Link
1994 Tribal College Extension Special Emphasis (TCEP-SE) USDA, NIFA

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: 4/30/2020. The purpose of the TCEP is to enable 1994 institutions to deliver science-based, culturally relevant extension education programs designed to address public needs and improve quality of life. The TCEP is intended to be a component of the applicant 1994 institution's land-grant roadmap or strategic planning process. To the extent practicable, priorities should reflect NIFA's national critical needs areas: 1) Development of sustainable energy; 2) Increased global food security; 3) Adaptation of agriculture and natural resources to global climate change; 4) Reduction of childhood and adolescent obesity; and 5) Improved food safety.

Categories: tribal college extension program, sustainable energy, global food security, adaptation, agriculture, natural resources, climate change, food safety

$40,000-$200,000 National Link
2018 Responsive Grants Program Sierra Health Foundation

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: 3/19/2018. Through the Responsive Grants Program, Sierra Health Foundation will invest in communities and organizations that promote health and racial equity to address health disparities and the social determinants of health. Sierra Health Foundation has a broad definition of health, believing there is much more to health than health care. Health is influenced by many factors, including socioeconomic conditions, environment, education, income, housing, neighborhood safety and other drivers of health outcomes – factors that have come to be known as the Social Determinants of Health. Where we live, work and play has a significant influence on our health. Health equity means achieving the highest possible standard of health for all people and giving special attention to the needs of those at greatest risk of poor health, based on social conditions. Racial equity “is the condition that would be achieved if one’s racial identity no longer predicted, in a statistical sense, how one fares.

Categories: health equity, racial equity, quality of life, education, environment, sustainability

Up to $15,000 Northern California, California, Siskiyou Link
2022 Tepa Native American Scholarship Funds Tepa Companies

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: June 30, 2022. The Tepa Native American Scholarship Fund was established by the Tepa Companies who are wholly owned subsidiaries of the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians. The scholarship was created to build personal and lasting relationships with students who will become the future leaders in Native American communities and possibly within the Tepa Companies. Two awards of $1,000 will be provided to Native American students majoring in Environmental Science, Earth Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Finance or Business Administration for the 2022 Fall semester. Learn more and apply here.

Categories: Earth science, technology, construction, engineering,

$1000 National Link
2022 Tribal Climate Resilience Annual Awards Program Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: July 6, 2022. The BIA Branch of Tribal Climate Resilience (Branch, TCR) is excited to announce the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Annual Awards Program Request for Proposals (RFP). The Branch will release approximately $46 million in funding through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and FY 2022 annual appropriations. Please visit the TCR main homepage for more information and download the full solicitation here. For further questions about the 2022 Request for Proposals, please find your regional Tribal Climate Resilience Liaison here, or email Resilience.Funding@bia.gov for National and/or technical questions about the application process.

Categories: Climate resilience, planning, internship, trainings and workshops, youth engagement

Up to $3,000,000, depending on project category. National Link
2023 Air Quality Collaborative Projects ANTHC

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: November 15, 2022. The Alaska Native Tribal Health Conortium (ANTHC) Air and Healthy Homes Program is accepting applications for funding to carry out air quality projects in rural Tribal Communities within the state of Alaska. Proposals should describe a project that will address air quality such as road dust, indoor air quality, solid waste burning, ambient air pollution, and wood smoke. If an air quality project includes any type of monitoring, assessments, or data collection, ANTHC will assist in the development of a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP), which will be required. Award amounts vary from $5,000 to $25,000 and is provided by a US Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air Act 103 Grant.

Categories: air quality, Alaska Tribes, rural community, air pollution, health

$5,000 – $25,000 Alaska Link
2023 AmeriCorps Seniors Native Nations and Indigenous Elders Senior Demonstration Program AmeriCorps

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: April 5, 2023. Through the Native Nations and Indigenous Elders SDP funding opportunity, applicants must demonstrate how they will engage adults ages 55 and older to address one or more of the Indigenous Elders SDP priorities. AmeriCorps Seniors is open to proposals that are reflective of the needs of Indigenous and Native communities served by the applicant’s proposed program. Some examples of programs selected as part of this opportunity might include the following:    Programs promoting the preservation and teaching of Native and Indigenous languages and cultural practices.    Programming focused on helping Native and indigenous communities respond to and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.    Programs that support the quality of life of Veterans and Military Families, Caregivers, and Survivors.    Programs that provide social, economic, and/or educational services to Native and Indigenous people both on and off Native and Indigenous lands.    Programming that advances justice and equality in areas such as food sovereignty, climate change & conservation, and mental health services.      Programs that create workforce pathways for older adults, including deliberate training, certifications, and hiring preferences or support.

Categories: seniors, veterans, language, food sovereignty, mental health, conservation, workforce training

Varies National Link
2023 Flood Mitigation Assistance Swift Funding Opportunity Federal Emergency Management Agency 1/15/2025

Deadline for Applications, January 15, 2025. The Flood Mitigation Assistance Swift Current (Swift Current) effort provides funding to mitigate buildings insured through the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) after a major disaster declaration following a flood-related disaster event to reduce risk against future flood damage. Structures that are considered substantially flood-damaged during and after a flood event are eligible for Swift Current. Once a disaster declaration is issued, the local community can submit a project for consideration. 

Categories: flood, flood mitigation assistance, disaster, emergency management

National Link
2023 Nationally Significant Federal Lands and Tribal Projects Program

Deadline Passed. Most Recent Deadline: November 6, 2023. The Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act established the NSFLTP Program to provide Federal financial assistance to projects of national significance for construction, reconstruction, or rehabilitation of transportation facilities within, adjacent to, or providing access to Federal or Tribal lands. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (Pub. L. 117-58, November 15, 2021, “Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” or “BIL”) modified the program in several ways, including providing $55 million per year from the Highway Trust Fund, as well as authorizing up to an additional $300 million per year from the General Fund, for each of FYs 2022 through 2026. The BIL also reduced minimum project sizes from $25 million to $12.5 million, directed 50 percent of the funds towards Tribal transportation facilities, increased the Federal share of projects on Tribal transportation facilities to 100 percent and required funding of at least one eligible project submitted by the National Park Service for a unit of the National Park System with 3,000,000 annual visitors or more.

Categories: Transportation, Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, BIL

National Link
2023 State and National Native Nations Grants and Planning Competition Americorps

Dealine passed. Most recent deadline: April 5, 2023.  Through the 2023 notice of funding opportunity, AmeriCorps seeks to prioritize the investment of national service resources into disaster services like COVID-19 response, economic opportunities, education, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, Indigenous language, civic and social engagement, healthy futures and veterans and military families. Opportunities include three-year operating grants which engage AmeriCorps members in time-limited-service commitments and one-year planning grants to develop programs that implement evidence-based solutions to community needs.

Categories: disaster response, education, TEK, language, health, economy, community, Veterans

Varies National Link
Abandoned Mine Reclamation (AMLR) Program DOI

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: June 17, 2023. The Office of Surface Mining awards grants to States and Tribes to support the operation of APPROVED State and Tribal abanodned mine land (AML) reclamation programs. Approved programs use grant funds for mine site reclamation projects on eligible lands, which are lands and waters mined or affected by coal mining processess that occurred prior to August 7, 1977 as well as certain post-1977 and noncoal mining activity.

Categories: Pollution Prevention, Hazardous Waste Disposal

Varies Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, Southeast, National, Alaska, Midwest Link
Accelerate R2 Network Challenge DOC

Deadline Passed. Most Recent Deadline: 3/11/2020. EDA, in collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the First Responder Network Authority (FirstNet), is seeking applications from eligible parties to create a strategic nationwide network of organizations working to address disaster response and resiliency (R2) challenges with innovative technologies. The Accelerate R2 Network Challenge seeks to create a nationwide network or networks that will enable and support innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, and investors to bring transformative technologies into the response and resiliency markets.

Categories: disaster response, resiliency, network, technology, development

$400,000- $1,000,000 National Link
Advancing Tribal Nature-Based Solutions Grant First Nations Development Institute 5/22/2024

Deadline to Apply: May 22, 2024. Tribes and Native communities are on the front lines of climate change, experiencing extreme weather, rising sea levels, extended drought, warming temperatures, and melting permafrost. The IPCC’s Fifth Assessment Report demonstrates that climate change affects Indigenous peoples more severely and earlier than other populations. Many tribes and Native communities are located in remote and coastal locations, which increases their vulnerabilities to flooding and wildfire. Furthermore, subsistence and cultural practices rely on healthy ecosystems that are stewarded by Native peoples. To support climate action that addresses adaptation and disaster preparation First Nations established the second project under its newly created Climate Initiative, Advancing Tribal Nature-Based Solutions. This project is designed to provide tribes and Native nonprofits with resources to support climate action that addresses adaptation and disaster preparation (e.g., wildfires, flooding, drought) through the application of nature-based solutions based on Native knowledge. For more information and to apply, visit: https://www.firstnations.org/rfps/advancing-tribal-nature-based-solutions-grant

Categories: Emergency response planning and preparation
Climate proofing infrastructure and services
Climate risk governance and capacity building
Wildlife management and habitat restoration
Workforce development initiatives (e.g., community training opportunities, youth conservation programs, paid internships)
Capacity building for the organization and staff (e.g, specialized trainings, transportation)
Departmental and programmatic development and advancement
Updating tribal climate adaptation and resource management plans

Total requested funds in project budgets under this funding opportunity should not exceed $200,000. National Link
AgrAbility - Assistive Technology Program for Farmers with Disabilities USDA

Last deadline: January 19, 2023. The AgrAbility program increases the likelihood that farmers, ranchers, farm workers and farm family members with disabilities will experience success in agricultural production. The program supports projects between State Cooperative Extension System and private, non-profit disability organizations who work in partnership to provide agricultural education and assistance directed at accommodating disability in farm operations for individuals with disabilities, and their families, who engage in farming and farm-related occupations.

Categories: agriculture, equity, inclusion, social justice, disability services

$150,000 - $180,000 National Link
Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) USDA 12/31/2024

Deadline: Year round with periodic ranking cycles announced. The Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) protects the agricultural viability and related conservation values of eligible land by limiting nonagricultural uses which negatively affect agricultural uses and conservation values, protect grazing uses and related conservation values by restoring or conserving eligible grazing land, and protecting and restoring and enhancing wetlands on eligible land. ACEP has two components:Agricultural Land Easements (ALE) help private and tribal landowners, land trusts, and other entities such as state and local governments protect croplands and grasslands on working farms and ranches by limiting non-agricultural uses of the land through conservation easements.Wetland Reserve Easements (WRE) help private and tribal landowners protect, restore and enhance wetlands which have been previously degraded due to agricultural uses. 

Categories: IRA, farmland, conservation, wetlands

Varies National Link
Agricultural Water Conservation and Efficiency Grants BoR, DOI

Deadline unknown for 2017. The objective of this FOA is to invite Indian Tribes, irrigation districts, water districts and other organizations with water or power delivery authority located in the state of California to leverage their money and resources by cost sharing with Reclamation on projects that save water, improve water management, create new supplies for agricultural irrigation, improve energy efficiency, and benefit endangered species. Projects should also increase the capability or success rate of on-farm water conservation or water use efficiency projects that can be undertaken by farmers and ranchers through irrigation system improvements and irrigation efficiency enhancements.

Categories: Water Conservation, Agriculture

varies Northwest, Southwest, California Link
Agriculture and Food Research Initiative - Childhood Obesity Prevention Challenge Area USDA, NIFA

Deadline passed as of August 19, 2016. Deadline for 2017 unknown. This Challenge Area Focuses on the societal challenge to end obesity among children, the number one nutrition-related problem in the US. Food is an integral part of the process that leads to obesity and USDA has a unique responsibility for the food system in the United States. This program is designed to achieve the long-term outcome of reducing the prevalence of overweight and obesity among children and adolescents 2-19 years. The Childhood Obesity Prevention Program supports Multi-function Integrated Research, Education, and/or Extension Projects and Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement (FASE) Grants.

Categories: Health, Children's Health, Obesity

$6,000,000 total program funding Northwest, Southwest, Midwest, Northeast, Southeast, National, Alaska Link