Member Collective Grants

Member Collective grants are designed to give each member company the opportunity to help steer significant funds to impactful conservation efforts across North America. Through these grants, TCA and its members support a wide range of conservation actions, including public lands designation, private land protection, and ecosystem restoration, that impact communities, local economies, wildlife, and outdoor spaces.

The Member Collective grants process begins through an inquiry phase. Member companies can help identify eligible organizations that are playing an important role in protecting critical landscapes. Interested applicants may also submit an inquiry form directly to TCA. Selected organizations will then be invited to submit a grant application for up to $50,000. After careful internal vetting by TCA’s staff and board, member company employees vote on their top projects to help decide on final awards. Grants are awarded for a 12-month term.

Inquiry and Grant Recommendation Forms Open on January 27, 2025

Have questions? Register for one of our upcoming information sessions through the links below.

Member Info Session: January 30, 2025 at 11am PT/2pm ET
Applicant Info Session: January 30, 2025 at 9am PT/12pm ET
Applicant Info Session: February 6, 2025 at 11am PT/2pm ET

If you have questions about grant-making at The Conservation Alliance, please contact Kim Paymaster, Grant Program Director: kim@conservationalliance.com.

2025 Grant Process and Timeline

Open Inquiry Call: January 27, 2025 – February 19, 2025
TCA members and interested applicants may complete the relevant inquiry forms to recommend potential projects that meet our funding criteria and priority areas. TCA’s Grant Director will reach out to eligible applicants to discuss projects in more detail. Selected applicants will be invited to submit a full application.
Please note that the inquiry form will reopen in July 2025 for 2026 funding requests.

Application Period: February 20 – March 14, 2025
Select applicants will be invited to submit an application through TCA’s online portal system.

Application Review: March 17 – May 2, 2025
TCA staff and board will review all applications using the funding criteria and priorities listed below. Staff may contact applicants with requests for additional information if needed. A subset of projects that best meet our funding criteria are selected to be placed on a ballot for our member company employees to vote.

Member Voting: May 5 – 23, 2025
All member company employees are invited to learn about the subset of projects that were placed on the ballot. They can then vote for their top 10 projects. Each company’s votes are tallied to one ballot each.

Grant Announcements: June 2025
After the voting deadline, ballots are tallied and projects with the most votes receive funding. Grant announcements are made through a press release, by email and social media, and on our website. We encourage our member companies to share the good news about our latest grant announcement with their audiences.

Funding Criteria And Priorities

The following eligibility criteria ensure all grant applications received align with TCA’s grant making objectives and priorities.

Please contact us if you have questions about your organization’s eligibility.

Applications are welcome from local and national nonprofit organizations, Tribes, and groups with fiscal sponsorship. TCA does not provide funding for individuals.
Organization/group and project must be located in North America.
Projects must seek to achieve one of the following goals:
- Establish long-term protection for land and/or water in their efforts to foster a planet where natural places, wildlife, and people thrive together. Protection efforts include private land acquisitions/easements, federal-level efforts to conserve land and water, and landscape scale restoration efforts.
- Support management processes and planning that promote the climate resiliency and biodiversity of protected areas.
TCA’s vision of a successful conservation movement is one that has local support and is driven forward by a coalition that lifts up local voices and partners with diverse stakeholders at the local, regional, and national levels. We seek to support organizations that have a written or demonstrated commitment to elevating justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in their work.

TCA will prioritize conservation projects/applications that:

Advance TCA’s Conservation Strategy
Measurably mitigate the impacts of climate change and protect biodiversity
Are led by or increase engagement opportunities for historically marginalized communities, based on race, ethnicity, or national origin, with an particular focus on indigenous-led initiatives
Expand equitable recreation and/or access to nature in an effort to help create connections to and a sense of belonging in the landscape
Aim to improve long-term and sustainable economic impacts for local communities

Please review our evaluation rubric for a full list of criteria.

Types of projects that are less likely to receive TCA funding are those with a primary focus on:

State and local level legislative or administrative campaigns
General stewardship (e.g., trail maintenance, trash cleanup, conservation corps projects)
Stopping a mine or other threat without a parallel process for securing durable protection
Multiple projects in one proposal, unless applicant has received prior approval from TCA
Applications to fund the same group for a second project
Outdoor or environmental education
Research
Conferences, event sponsorships, or film festivals
Production of a film, podcast, or other media product
Participation grants to get people outside
Only in special cases do we fund more than one group working on a campaign – this is typically reserved for TCA Priority Campaigns