Alaska Conservation Foundation > Strategic Funding

Strategic Funding  

Your Support Helps Address Alaska’s Conservation Priorities

Overview

Alaska Conservation Foundation (ACF) serves as the philanthropic link between you and Alaska’s conservation movement. Our staff, Board and grantees ensure your investment is well-spent and gets results. ACF’s expert team of program officers objectively track Alaska conservation issues, threats and opportunities. As a result, ACF is able to award funding to groups whose work is consistent with ACF’s values, mission and goals - and yours!

Redoubt. Photo by Dennis Anderson, Night Trax Photography.

ACF is the single largest grant maker to Alaska conservation efforts. Over the last 30 years, ACF has awarded more than $30 million in grants to over 200 Alaskan organizations and individuals. Fiscal year 2010 was a record-breaking year with the Foundation awarding  just over $4 million in grants.  This included funding through our issues campaigns, Community Capacity  initiative, the Conservation Internship Program and Strategies for Alaska’s Future.

Grantmaking for results

As economic and political landscapes evolve so do the optimal strategies and approaches to protecting Alaska-and that’s where your support and ACF come in!

Beginning in 2009, ACF undertook an evaluation of our grantmaking programs. The process incorporated input from Alaska conservation leaders, best practices in philanthropy, and current research on nonprofit sustainability. A central part was to articulate a Theory of Change to guide our conservation work, providing focused priorities and improved approach for evaluating the Foundation’s effectiveness.

The result…a new grantmaking direction that allows your support to have an even larger impact. Our grantmaking seeks to build the influence of Alaska’s conservation movement, focusing upon long-term, enduring solutions that create more robust environmental policy and protections. Only by building a movement that supports better environmental policy can we achieve the enduring conservation protection warranted by the magnificence of Alaska.

Your Support = More Grantmaking

Your unrestricted support assists ACF in administering the following types of grants in order to build Alaska’s conservation movement. For every dollar you contribute, 90% goes to our program work!

  • Organizational Capacity Grants: Grants designed to promote effective operations and leadership within Alaska’s conservation organizations. These grants favor strategies that promote civic engagement, innovative approaches, diverse partnerships, problem-solving, collaboration and public awareness. Recipients are also eligible to take part in ACF-funded support and training for areas like sound business practices.
  • Rapid Response Grants: The only one of its kind in Alaska. It gives groups a way to respond quickly to fast-breaking, unforeseen Alaska environmental issues of statewide and/or national significance. Often, a controversy breaks into public view at the last minute, since the proponents of damaging initiatives know that restricting public attention improves their odds of success. These grants are awarded through an expedited review process.
  • Watchable Wildlife Conservation Trust Grants: The Watchable Wildlife Conservation Trust was established in cooperation with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. Grants are awarded for projects that emphasize non-consumptive use of wildlife, expand wildlife conservation efforts, and broaden public support for conserving Alaska’s wildlife resources.
  • Conservation Internship Program: The primary goal of the CIP is to help strengthen Alaska’s conservation movement by developing the next generation of Alaska’s conservation leaders while simultaneously increasing the capacity of Alaska’s conservation organizations.  The program provides paid internship experiences to undergraduate and graduate students who plan a career in conservation, environmental justice or another closely related field and are willing to make a long-term commitment to preserving and protecting Alaska’s pristine environment and diverse cultures.
  • Donor Advised and Restricted Grants: ACF offers you a way to give money directly to a particular group or issue that you care about. Donor advised funds may or may not be permanently endowed.

Want to show your support for Alaska?  Click here to make your gift now.

Your $$ at Work – Grants Awarded

See a comprehensive list of all the grants awarded with your help!

 Grant Seekers

If you are seeking a grant from ACF, click here.