Community Foundation Climate Collaborative

We are committed to reducing the impact of climate change in our communities.

Community foundations are well positioned to drive and support climate action in their communities, and are critical implementers of national funder and federal climate investments. The Community Foundation Climate Collaborative is a nonpartisan, nonpolitical network consisting of community foundations from across the country that share a commitment to climate change mitigation/adaptation and alleviating poverty and inequity.

Read about the opportunity and urgent need for community foundations to join together in this OpEd, authored by four leading community foundation CEOs, and this one on the power of collective action.

The CFCC supports four main purposes:

Promoting learning, research, and analysis on climate-related issues

Enabling innovation solutions and promoting best practices

Supporting strategic partnerships and resource mobilization

Facilitating joint action and advocacy including federal lobbying

Read the recent press release that outlines more about the CFCC’s work.

Our members

Over 50 community foundations from across the US have joined the Collaborative to date. Each member foundation is associated with a Regional Action Network (RAN). The regions include:

  • Greater Pacific
  • Mountain States/Great Plains
  • Midwest/Great Lakes
  • Northeast/Mid-Atlantic
  • Gulf Coast/Southeast Seaboard

For more information about becoming a CFON member or the work of the Collaborative, contact Amy Daly-Donovan, CFON Executive Director.

The Latest

See how our members are leading with funding and community initiatives to build climate resilience and mitigate climate change.

Greater New Orleans logo

Greater New Orleans Foundation

In celebration of its centennial year in 2023, the Greater New Orleans Foundation created the million-dollar Next 100 Years Challenge: a regional competition designed to inspire and attract plans for community-centered and cost-effective infrastructure improvements, including nature-based solutions, in 13 parishes of Southeast Louisiana that will reduce the threat from storms and other disasters. The Foundation awarded $100,000 each to ten collaborative teams that demonstrate strong potential to secure additional infrastructure dollars from the federal government, State of Louisiana, and other funders. Recognizing great potential in an additional five projects, the Foundation awarded $40,000 each to an additional five project teams to further develop their promising project concepts. With this addition, the Foundation has awarded a total of $1.2 million in our region.

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Telluride Foundation logo

Telluride Foundation

This year, Telluride Foundation launched a new Local Climate Resiliency Initiative to address impacts associated with a changing climate in our region. To kick off our climate initiative, the Foundation met with local partners to assess where our organization’s resources could be best deployed, as well as researched other national philanthropic and community foundation’s efforts to support community-based climate action. The goals of the initiative include protecting watersheds, restoring ecosystems, mitigating wildfire risk, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and taking a leadership role in helping our partners execute the regional Climate Action Plan (CAP).  As an organization that works throughout the region, the Telluride Foundation is uniquely positioned to help our communities adapt land and water protection to meet locally driven needs. Through this climate initiative, we will optimize our convening power, thought leadership, and resources for maximum impact.

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Leadership & Funding

The CFCC Leadership Council includes:

  • Rhea Suh, CEO, Marin Community Foundation, Chair
  • Amy Freitag, CEO, The New York Community Trust
  • Lisa Schroeder, CEO, The Pittsburgh Foundation
  • Javier Soto, CEO, The Denver Foundation

We are grateful to the following organizations for funding the CFCC to date:

  • Charles Stewart Mott Foundation
  • Marin Community Foundation
  • McKnight Foundation
  • Seattle Foundation
  • The Cleveland Foundation
  • The Columbus Foundation
  • The Denver Foundation
  • The New York Community Trust
  • The Pittsburgh Foundation