Funding Opportunities

The CSCI is currently accepting applications for grants to advance community-based climate resilience efforts. Interested individuals can use the information provided on this page to determine their eligibility and the pathway through which they might apply. The initiative will accept applications into March of 2025, and expects to announce the awards in the summer of 2025. For information on prior grant recipients, please click here. 

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Opportunity | Eligibility | Application | Priorities | Deliverables

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The Opportunity

The CSCI is pleased to be able to provide grants to climate adaptation professionals to create or advance a climate resilience plan or project in collaboration with a community that is on the front lines of the climate crisis. The community should be represented in the application and effort by a community-based organization and a local, regional or Tribal government entity, as defined below.  

The proposed work can cover any step in the Steps to Resilience framework, and can be a new or ongoing collaboration.  The funds can be used for a range of activities depending on the needs of the community, including climate vulnerability and risk analyses, planning processes, community engagement, project prioritization, and/or the implementation of projects. 

Each grant will cover a 12-month period, and include approximately $100,000 in funding as well as access to training opportunities, technical experts, and cohort support.  Final amounts will be determined by the scope of work agreed upon during the grant approval process. While the funds are awarded to the adaptation professional, they also can be passed through to the government entities, community-based organizations, or other project partners as needed.

Benefits for the government entity and community-based organization

• Progress towards their community’s climate resilience goals
• Potential to leverage previous investments in climate resilience efforts
• Assistance from a climate adaptation professional of their choosing
• Capacity-building, including opportunities for training in the Steps to Resilience framework and access to cohort support and peer learning
• Support for engaging and serving historically disinvested and underserved populations and incorporating nature-based solutions if applicable

Benefits for the adaptation professional

• Funding to advance a climate resilience plan or project in collaboration with a community on the front lines of the climate crisis
• The potential to continue ongoing work with a community or connect with new communities in need of climate services
• The flexibility to cover a range of expenses depending on the needs of the community
• Learning opportunities, including training in the Steps to Resilience and peer-to-peer learning with a network of other adaptation professionals
• Access to cohort a support program, peer learning, and to the CSCI team of experts
• Help refine best practices, develop replicable approaches, and establish common metrics of success to accelerate resilience efforts across the country

Eligibility

This grants program is focused on assisting communities on the front lines of the climate crisis in the United States, inclusive of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, commonwealths, and territories, as well as the Tribal nations that share this geography. As detailed in the selection criteria below, the community must be facing significant climate-related challenges, based on environmental as well as socioeconomic considerations. If the proposed work is local in scope, the population of the community should be less than 300,000 residents. If the proposed work is regional in scope, areas with up to 500,000 residents will be considered. 

An application must be submitted by an “Applicant Team,” composed of a climate adaptation professional (“adaptation professional”), at least one community-based organization (CBO), and at least one government partner.

• The adaptation professional must be an organization or sole practitioner that has been accepted into the Registry of Adaptation Practitioners prior to the start of the project. Learn more about applying to the Registry or search the Registry database.
• The CBO(s) must be a non-profit organization, local university, informal community leader, or other non-governmental or community-serving institution that can help ensure the perspectives and priorities of the broader community are well-represented throughout the process.
• The government partner(s) must be a town, city, county, district, regional or Tribal government, or a special planning commission that can authorize the implementation of projects aimed at advancing the climate resilience of the community.

Application Pathways

Click through the graphic below to learn more about the three application pathways, referring back to the definitions above as needed.

Application Links Referenced Above:

1. Complete the community sign-up form (all applicant teams are required to complete this first step)
2. Apply to the Registry of Climate Adaptation Practitioners, or search the Registry
3. Complete the grant application form (Download a preview here)

Timeline

• November 19, 2024 Community sign-up form and grant application open!
• January 10, 2025 Communities that wished to receive referrals to adaptation professionals had to complete and submit the community sign-up form by this date
• February 3, 2025 Communities that had applied to receive referrals to adaptation professionals will receive a list of candidates to consider by this date
• March 3, 2025 Extended to March 21, 2025 – In response to requests received, all applicant teams now have until 8:00 PM Eastern Time on March 21, 2025 to submit their final applications
• May/June 2025 Finalists notified
• August/September 2025 Projects begin

Funding Priorities & Selection Criteria

The CSCI will evaluate applications and issue awards on a competitive basis. A panel of experts will review applications and assign scores based on the eight criteria listed below.

Vulnerability Criteria (The “who” and “why”)

1. Community vulnerability to climate change-related hazards, as often indicated by federal and state designations

2. Presence of and focus on historically-disinvested populations and communities

Impact and Sustainability Criteria (The “what”)

3. Alignment of proposed actions with cited vulnerabilities

4. Strength of partnerships

5. Community readiness and/or likelihood of successful progress on climate resilience

6. Capacity-building potential

Values (The “how”)

7. Incorporation of diversity, equity, and inclusion and justice principles

8. Consideration of nature-based solutions

For additional background on the criteria, please click here.

Requirements & Deliverables

In addition to what is proposed for a plan or project.

For CBOs and government partners

• Work directly with an adaptation professional on creating or advancing the proposed climate resilience plan or project over the 12-month grant period
• Attend a 1.5-hour CSCI orientation at the start of the grant period
• Complete a survey one year after the close of the 12-month grant period

For adaptation professionals

• Attend a 1.5-hour CSCI orientation session at the start of the grant period
• Complete a grant kickoff survey (1-2 hours) by the end of the first month of the project
• Participate in a 30-minute progress check-in call by the end of the 6th month of the grant period
• Complete an end-of-grant survey (1-2 hours) by the end of the grant period.
• Complete portions of a project case study template (3-6 hours) by the end of the grant period.
• Adaptation professionals that have not yet completed the training requirement to be included in the Registry must do so within the first three months of the grant period

Additional information 

While an adaptation professional organization may co-apply with more than one community, reviewers also will evaluate the applicant’s capacity.  

Prior CSCI Applicant Teams and prior CSCI grant recipients are permitted to submit grant applications in subsequent years.

Applicants with additional questions should contact info@climateresiliencefund.org with the subject line “CSCI Grant Application.”