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 Organization Sort descending Grant Deadline Description Funding Amount Geography Website
Planning Proposals to Catalyze Innovative and Inclusive Wildland Fire Science through Diverse Collaborations US National Science Foundation (NSF)

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: May 31, 2023. The NSF is calling for planning proposals for advancing inclusive wildland fire science via diverse knowledge systems. Proposals that aim to develop a deeper understanding of wildland fire as integrated social-cultural-ecological-technological systems and improve education across multiple levels, in informal settings and/or formal settings spanning pre-college through post-secondary levels, are also encouraged. Budget requests may not exceed $100,000 per year, with a duration of up to two years. Prospective investigators must submit a two-page description of the proposal concept to wildlandfire@nsf.gov.

Categories: fire, knowledge systems, education

Up to $100,000 per year National Link
Building Synthetic Microbial Communities for Biology, Mitigating Climate Change, Sustainability and Biotechnology US National Science Foundation (NSF) 8/1/2024

Deadline: August 1, 2024.  Microbes and communities of microbes have remarkable genetic, physiological and biochemical diversity, allowing them to flourish in environments all over the planet and in a variety of substrates and hosts. The goal of this solicitation is to support research that addresses one or more of the three themes: 1) define the underlying mechanisms or rules that drive the formation, maintenance or evolution of synthetic microbial communities, 2) use synthetic microbial communities to address fundamental biological questions, including questions in molecular biology, cellular/organismal biology, ecology and evolution and/or 3) build synthetic communities with biotechnology, bioeconomy or environmental engineering applications, including but not limited to the production of novel biorenewable chemicals, biodegradation of recalcitrant or “forever chemicals,” enabling a circular bioeconomy, fostering sustainable agriculture and mitigating the impacts of climate change.

Categories: Scientific research, microbiology, forever chemicals, molecular biology, climate mitigation

Total program funding: $9,500,000 National Link
Organismal Response to Climate Change US National Science Foundation (NSF)

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: November 21, 2023. Most climate change studies to date have lacked integration between the study of organismal mechanisms involved in the response to changing climates and eco-evolutionary approaches. This solicitation calls for proposals that integrate the study of genomic, physiological, structural, developmental, neural, or behavioral mechanisms of organismal response to climate change (ORCC) with eco-evolutionary approaches to better manage the effects of a rapidly changing climate on earth’s living systems. Specific areas of emphasis include but are not limited to: integrating physiology and genomics into the next generation of species distribution models; mechanistic understanding of plastic responses to climate change; functional genomics of organismal response to climate change; the role biological interactions play in organismal responses to climate change; and improving our ability to predict how organisms will respond to climate change and the consequences these responses will have across biological scales.

Categories: scientific research, adaptation, evolutionary biology, climate science

Varies. Total Program Funding: $10,000,000 National Link
White House Champions of Change Award Nominations US White House

Funding unknown for 2017. President Obama has challenged us all to help win the future by out-educating, out-innovating, and out-building our competitors in the 21st century. Know someone who is doing extraordinary things to make a difference in your community? Nominate them to be a Champion of Change. We’ll consider your nominations as we feature people who are bringing about change in their communities on the White House website to share their ideas on how to win the future.

Categories: Leadership, Award, Climate Initiatives

See Description National Link
Farm Business Management and Benchmarking Competitive Grants Program USDA

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: April 8, 2022. The Farm Business Management and Benchmarking (FBMB) Competitive Grants Program provides funds for improving the farm management knowledge and skills of agricultural producers by maintaining and expanding a national, publicly available farm financial management database to support improved farm management. Learn more and apply here.

Categories: Farm business, agriculture, financial management

Up to $500,000 National Link
Crop Insurance in Targeted States Program USDA

Deadline Passed 7/30/2018. Deadline Unknown for 2019. The purpose of the Targeted States program is to deliver crop insurance education and information to U.S. agricultural producers in States where there is traditionally, and continues to be a low level of Federal crop insurance participation and availability, and producers are underserved by the Federal crop insurance program. These states, defined as Targeted States for the purposes of this RFA, are Alaska, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming. Any cooperative agreements that may be funded will not exceed the maximum funding amount established for each of the Targeted States. Recipients must agree to the substantial involvement of RMA in the project.

Categories: crop insurance, education, farm management, planning

Alaska- $203,000 Alaska Link
Community Facilities Economic Impact Initiative Grants USDA

Application Window Closed. This program provides funding to assist in the development of essential community facilities in rural communities with extreme unemployment and severe economic depression. An essential community facility is one that provides an essential service to the local community, is needed for the orderly development of the community, serves a primarily rural area, and does not include private, commercial or business undertakings.

Categories: community facilities, development, economic depression, rural areas, public health

Varies Rural Areas Link
Community Facilities Tribal College Initiative Grants USDA 12/31/2024

Deadline is ongoing. This program provides funding to 1994 Land Grant Institutions (Tribal Colleges) to make capital improvements to their educational facilities and to purchase equipment.

Categories: community facilities, development, educational facilities, infrastructure, renovation and improvements, cultural projects

Grants up to $250,000 per land grant institution
Funds can be used to pay up to 95% of the project cost
National Link
Crop Protection and Pest Management Competitive Grants Program USDA

Application Deadline April 16, 2019. The purpose of the Crop Protection and Pest Management program is to address high priority issues related to pests and their management using IPM approaches at the state, regional and national levels. The CPPM program supports projects that will ensure food security and respond effectively to other major societal pest management challenges with comprehensive IPM approaches that are economically viable, ecologically prudent, and safe for human health. The CPPM program addresses IPM challenges for emerging issues and existing priority pest concerns that can be addressed more effectively with new and emerging technologies. The outcomes of the CPPM program are effective, affordable, and environmentally sound IPM practices and strategies needed to maintain agricultural productivity and healthy communities.

Categories: pest, food security, human health, agriculture

$200,000- $325,000 U.S Link
Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) for FY22 (Alaska) USDA

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: April 11, 2022. This funding seeks to stimulate the development and adoption of innovative conservation approaches and technologies. Applications are accepted from eligible entities for projects carried out in the state of Alaska. A total of up to $415,000 is available for the Alaska (State) CIG competition in FY 2022. Learn more and apply here.

Categories: Conservation, innovation, Alaska, technology

$5,000 - 415,000 Alaska Link
Water & Waste Disposal Grants to Alleviate Health Risks on Tribal Lands USDA 12/31/2024

Applications are accepted year-round. This program provides low-income communities, which face significant health risks, access to safe, reliable drinking water and waste disposal facilities and services.

Categories: low-income communities, public health, safe drinking water, waste disposal

Varies Rural Areas, Tribal Lands Link
Grants for Rural and Native Alaskan Villages USDA 12/31/2024

Applications accepted continuously. Meant to fund water and waste disposal systems in rural Alaskan Villages. Funds must be used for development and construction of water and wastewater systems to correct dire health and sanitation conditions in those villages. Many communities in remote rural Alaska, where villages are accessible by plane or boat only, are essentially inaccessible during the long, hard winters. They lag far behind the lower 48 States in having safe and dependable drinking water and suitable waste disposal systems available. Construction costs are extremely high. This is due in part to the severe weather conditions, which makes laying pipe difficult, if not impossible. These conditions also require the use of insulated pipe, or in areas of permafrost, above ground utilidors, often with heat traced insulated pipe. The vast distances from the transportation hub of Anchorage to a village increases costs substantially as the material must be delivered by barge or air.

Categories: Adaptation, Emergency Management, Water, Health, Natural Resources

The maximum grant is 75 percent of the project cost. Alaska, Coastal Link
Individual Water & Wastewater Grants USDA

Applications accepted continuously. The purpose of this grant is to provide water and waste disposal facilities and services to low income rural communities whose residents face significant health risks. Every effort is made to identify and fund the neediest projects. This program is only eligible in states with Colonias, and those are Arizona, California, New Mexico, and Texas.

Categories: Adaptation, Water, Health, Natural Resources

Generally, applicants are expected to borrow as much as they can afford to repay, as in the regular loan program. However, water and waste disposal systems can obtain up to 100 percent grants to construct basic drinking water, sanitary sewer, solid waste disposal and storm drainage to serve the residents. Arizona, California, New Mexico, Texas Link
Water & Waste Disposal Predevelopment Planning Grants USDA 12/31/2024

Applications accepted year round. This program assists low-income communities with initial planning and development of applications for USDA Rural Development Water and Waste Disposal direct loan/grant and loan guarantee programs. The area must also have a median household income below the poverty line or less than 80 percent of the statewide non-metropolitan median household income

Categories: water, waste disposal, planning, development, infrastructure, rural communities

Maximum of $30,000 or 75 percent of the predevelopment planning costs. Rural Areas, Tribal Lands Link
Agriculture and Food Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program USDA

Deadline passed as of June 28, 2017. Deadline for 2018 unknown. The Agriculture and Natural Resources Science for Climate Variability and Change Challenge Area RFA focuses on the societal challenge to adapt agroecosystems and natural resource systems to climate variability and change and implement mitigation strategies in those systems. In the Agriculture and Natural Resources Science for Climate Variability and Change Challenge Area RFA, specific program areas are designed to achieve the long-term outcome of reducing the use of energy, nitrogen, reducing GHG emissions from practices, and water in the production of food, feed, fiber, and fuel; reduce GHG emissions from these agroecosystems; and increase carbon sequestration. Project types supported by AFRI within this RFA include multi-function integrated research, education, and/or extension projects and Food and Agricultural Science Enhancement (FASE) Grants.

Categories: Education, Natural Resources, Research, Adaptation, Mitigation, Land, Health, Energy, Water

Varies Northwest, Southwest, Northeast, Southeast, National, Alaska, Midwest Link
Mutual Self-Help Housing Technical Assistance Grants USDA 12/31/2024

Applications accepted continuously. Provides grants to qualified organizations to help them carry out local self-help housing construction projects. Grant recipients supervise groups of very-low- and low-income individuals and families as they construct their own homes in rural areas. The group members provide most of the construction labor on each other’s homes, with technical assistance from the organization overseeing the project. Funds may be used to:Give technical and supervisory assistance to participating familiesHelp other organizations provide self-help technical and supervisory assistanceRecruit families, help them complete loan applications and carry out other related activities that enable them to participate

Categories: housing, rural areas, low-income communities, technical assistance

varies Rural Areas Link
Food Distribution Program on Indian Reservations Nutrition Education (FDPNE) Grant Program USDA

Recent Deadline: 3/22/2021.  Since 2008, FNS has awarded funding each fiscal year for nutrition education projects through Food Distribution Program Nutrition Education (FDPNE) grants. Indian Tribal Organizations (ITOs) and State agencies (SAs) that have a direct agreement with FNS to administer FDPIR are eligible to apply for funds to conduct projects that provide nutrition information and services to FDPIR participants. The overall goal of the FDPNE grant program is to improve the likelihood that persons eligible for FDPIR will make healthy food choices consistent with the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans and USDA MyPlate Guidance. The project requirements for FDPNE grants are loosely based on the SNAP Education Plan Guidance. FNS selects components of The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans for development of FDPNE program goals. Nutrition education services are a combination of educational strategies and learning experiences, accompanied by supporting policy, systems, and environmental interventions, designed to facilitate the voluntary adoption of food choices and other nutrition-related behaviors conducive to the health and well-being of participants. In the context of this grant program, nutrition education should focus on how USDA Foods in the FDPIR food package may be used to contribute to a healthy diet. The Indian Tribal Organization (ITO) or State Agency (SA) shall work with appropriate organizations and partners such as: extension agents, registered dieticians, diabetes coordinators, and public health nutrition professionals to provide food and nutrition information, recipes, or cooking demonstrations, as appropriate for households who participate or are eligible to participate in the FDPIR program. The ITO or SA shall provide nutrition education and information specific to the foods included in the FDPIR food package to improve the health of FDPIR participating households. 

Categories: health education, food justice, human health, diet, noncommunicable disease, nutrition, exercise,

$2,000 - $214,000 National Link
Conservation Stewardship Program USDA 12/31/2024

Applications accepted continuously. The Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) helps agricultural producers maintain and improve their existing conservation systems and adopt additional conservation activities to address priority resources concerns. Participants earn CSP payments for conservation performance—the higher the performance, the higher the payment.

Categories: Stewardship, Conservation, IRA

Varies All 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Caribbean and Pacific Island areas. Link
Intermediary Relending Program USDA 12/31/2024

Applications accepted year round. This program provides 1 percent low-interest loans to local intermediaries that re-lend to businesses to improve economic conditions and create jobs in rural communities.

Categories: rural communities, local economy, jobs, development

$250,000; or 75 % of the total cost of the ultimate recipient's project for which the loan is being made, whichever is less. Rural Areas Link
Community Connect Grant USDA

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: June 20, 2023. The Community Connect provides financial assistance to eligible applicants that will provide broadband service in rural, economically-challenged communities where service does not exist.

Categories: development, economy, rural communities,

Unknown National Link
United Fresh Start Foundation Community Grants Program USDA

Deadline passed as of April 20, 2017. Deadline for 2018 unknown. The initiative extends the foundation’s work beyond the school day, to provide children with access to fresh fruit and vegetables afterschool, on the weekends, during summer breaks and in other creative venues. The program provides $25,000 in grants to local community organizations and groups that share the United Fresh Start Foundation’s commitment to increasing kids’ access to fresh produce, helping them develop healthy habits to last a lifetime. Grants will support programs, events and/or activities that increase children’s access to fresh produce.

Categories: food justice, distribution, nutrition, education, diet, health, noncommunicable disease,accessibility, local, fresh, economy, school, youth

Grants are available up to a maximum of $2,500. National Link
USDA Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvement Guaranteed Loans USDA

The USDA Rural Business Cooperative-Service Agency is accepting applications for Renewable Energy Systems and Energy Efficiency Improvement Guaranteed Loans to assist agricultural producers and rural small businesses with evaluating energy efficiency and the potential to incorporate renewable energy technologies into their operations.

Categories: Renewable energy, Agriculture, small businesses

Unknown National, agriculture & small rural business Link
Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical, and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program USDA

Deadline passed. Most recent deadline: April 3, 2023. This program assists in the development, construction, and retrofitting of new and emerging technologies for the development of Advanced Biofuels, Renewable Chemicals, and Biobased Product Manufacturing by providing loan guarantees for up to $250 million.

Categories: biofuels, renewable chemicals, biobased products, renewable energy, manufacturing, development

Varies National Link
Rural Microentrepreneur Assistance Program USDA 12/31/2024

Applications are accepted year round. Provides loans and grants to Microenterprise Development Organizations (MDOs) to:Provide microloans to help microenterprises startup and growth through a Rural Microloan Revolving FundProvide training and technical assistance to microloan borrowers and micro entrepreneurs

Categories: business development, rural areas, microenterprise

Up to $50,000 Rural Areas Link
Distance Learning and Telemedicine Grants USDA

Past deadline: May 15, 2019. The DLT Program provides financial assistance to enable and improve distance learning and telemedicine services in rural areas. DLT grant funds support the use of telecommunications-enabled information, audio and video equipment, and related advanced technologies by students, teachers, medical professionals, and rural residents. These grants are intended to increase rural access to education, training, and health care resources that are otherwise unavailable or limited in scope.

Categories: telecommunications, rural, telemedicine

$500,000-$50,000 National Link
Business and Industry Loan Guarantees USDA 12/31/2024

Rolling Deadline. This program bolsters the availability of private credit by guaranteeing loans for rural businesses.

Categories: Rural areas, business development, credit, local economy

Up to $25 million Rural Areas Link
Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program USDA

Past Deadline: May 16, 2019. Beginning farmer education for adult and young audiences in the United States can generally be traced back to the advent of the 1862 and 1890 Morrill Land-Grant Acts. But, for the first time, the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (Pub .L. No. 110-234, Section 7410) appropriated $75 million for FY 2009 to FY 2012 to develop and offer education, training, outreach and mentoring programs to enhance the sustainability of the next generation of farmers. The Agriculture Act of 2014 provided an additional $20 million per year for 2014 through 2018. The reasons for the renewed interest in beginning farmer and rancher programs are as follows: the rising average age of U.S. farmers; the 8% projected decrease in the number of farmers and ranchers between 2008 and 2018; and the growing recognition that new programs are needed to address the needs of the next generation of beginning farmers and ranchers. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (aka the 2018 Farm Bill) reauthorized the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program and provides mandatory funds for which supports education, mentoring, and technical assistance initiatives for beginning farmers and ranchers.

Categories: ranchers, Farm Bill, outreach, programs food

$600,000- $50,000 National Link
Rural Energy for America Program Energy Audit & Renewable Energy Development Assistance Grants USDA

Rolling deadline. Provides guaranteed loan financing and grant funding to agricultural producers and rural small businesses for renewable energy systems or to make energy efficiency improvements. This program helps increase American energy independence by increasing the private sector supply of renewable energy and decreasing the demand for energy through energy efficiency improvements. Over time, these investments can also help lower the cost of energy for small businesses and agricultural producers.

Categories: rural development, infrastructure, renewable energy, sustainable

Unrestricted Grants (up to $500,000) National Link
Farmers Market Promotion Program USDA

Deadline Passed for 2018. Deadline Unknown for 2019.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), AMS, requests applications for the fiscal year (FY) 2016 Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) to competitively award grants to eligible applicants for projects that establish, expand, and promote direct producer-to-consumer marketing.

Categories: Farmers Market, Local Foods, Sustainability, Bioregionalism, Sustainable Agriculture, Community Development.

Capacity Building: Minimum grant award is $50,000. Maximum award is $250,000.
Community Development, Training, and Technical Assistance: Minimum grant award is $250,000. Maximum award $500,000.
United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Link
Multi-Family Housing Direct Loans USDA

Applications accepted year round. This program provides competitive financing for affordable multi-family rental housing for low-income, elderly, or disabled individuals and families in eligible rural areas. This program assists qualified applicants that cannot obtain commercial credit on terms that will allow them to charge rents that are affordable to low-income tenants.

Categories: housing, rural communities, multi-family housing, improvement, development

varies Rural Areas Link