In memory of Flo Britton, who was always a wonderful adventure partner and travel companion ❤️

Backed by careful research to maximize the impact of our dollars. It's an issue that is critical for out survival. Gotta make this one monthly 🔄🌍

Supporting this awesome organization again as they fight a series of anti-trans bills in the Maine legislature (including trying to ban trans youth from school sports programs) 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️

Making my previous donation recurring :) The Steel Yard is an amazing crossroads of magical people and ideas. It's a place were people come to learn new job skills, explore the industrial history of Rhode Island, create public art, and at least once a year, see molten iron flung into the air.  It's the kind of place where a welder who's been working on submarines for 40 years can be found collaborating with a young ceramic artist. It's so full of creativity, teamwork, and a deep care for the Rhode Island community.

Popular entertainment is arguably society's most powerful for change. But the lack of accurate representation in mainstream entertainment perpetuates the racial divide. There is no shortage of talented BIPOC creators. The only scarcity is opportunity, funding, and risk taking for them within the Hollywood machine. Rideback Rise is ensuring creators of all backgrounds can tell their stories and see themselves in popular culture, creating a system of change designed to reshape majority opinions. Everybody in. Everybody forward. Everybody up.

Representation is a powerful tool for change!

Living on the Gulf of Maine has been an amazing experience. There are so many people, plants, and animals that depend on it, so it feels very important to care for and protect it. 

For families and communities impacted by Hurricane Ian. 

Joining @ franceska.rolda in her support for the people of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona

Stand with us today to help achieve our vision of a world without Alzheimer's tomorrow.

The Alzheimer's Association is the leading voluntary health organization in Alzheimer's care, support and research.

Alzheimer's Association National Office

Supporting highly-impactful, evidence-based solutions to the triple challenge of climate change, air pollution and energy poverty.

## The Founders Pledge Perspective

Climate change is one part of a triple challenge surrounding energy production. Not only does most current energy production lead to damaging carbon emissions, the effects of which are devastating ecosystems and changing our planet beyond recognition, it also pollutes the air and leaves many of the world’s poor without sufficient energy. This adds up to an environmental and humanitarian crisis.

Thus, we face a triple challenge: we not only need to drive down carbon emissions to near zero by mid-century, and drastically reduce air pollution, but we need to do so while supporting work to reduce global poverty that will often be accompanied, or even driven, by increased energy consumption.

We aim to take a holistic approach that recognizes the global nature of this challenge, as well as the fact that, despite its urgency, we are still in the early days of climate action. This means that the solutions that we focus on will not only reduce emissions now, but will do so in a way that avoids future emissions, while also creating opportunities for the world’s poor and eventually ending energy poverty entirely.

We aim to do this in three ways:

- **Audacious advocacy**: By focusing our grantmaking on organizations leveraging large amounts of money through policy advocacy. There are highly effective organizations with budgets in the millions of dollars which have influenced government innovation budgets, orders of magnitude larger than their costs. By looking for opportunities with leverage like this, we can have an outsize impact.
- **Accelerating low-carbon innovation**: By finding and funding advocacy opportunities that strengthen the energy innovation eco-system or promote particularly neglected technologies. As the success of solar has shown for electricity, the availability of cheap, low carbon alternatives to our current energy sources can make a very significant difference. Efficient, low-cost technology can spread around the world without inter-governmental cooperation or expensive policies to spread around the world, making it a more robust strategy in a world where climate action will often not be the first priority of policy makers and the public.
- **Focusing on blindspots and bottlenecks**: By focusing on areas neglected by other stakeholders, we can ensure that fund dollars make as much difference as possible. While some technologies, such as solar, enjoy widespread popularity and significant policy support, this is not similarly true for other approaches, resulting in a huge imbalance in resource allocation. By finding and funding advocates for overlooked solutions, such as carbon capture and storage technology, we can ensure we are making the most of every tool available to us in the fight against climate change.

Managed by two members of the Founders Pledge Research team, the Climate Change Fund identifies and supports sustainable, evidence-based solutions to the “triple challenge” of carbon emissions, air pollution, and energy poverty.

## Our Approach to Grantmaking

When evaluating potential grants, we consider several key points:

- **Counterfactual impact**. Our grants are designed to create a meaningful outcome that would not otherwise have happened. In particular, we aim to make grants that otherwise wouldn’t have been made, rather than those which just take the place of other philanthropists’ donations. This means that you can rely on the Funds to create meaningful, real change, rather than just maintaining the status quo.
- **Impact-driven philanthropy**. The goal of this fund is maximal positive impact, irrespective of this impact being “sexy” or visible. This means we will focus on opportunities that others focused on clear attribution of their work or shiny outcomes might neglect. For example, we are very comfortable funding organizations to increase their general capacity and strategy when we perceive this as their bottleneck to higher impact, rather than being tied to specific outcomes or deliverables.
- **The organization’s funding gap**. Not all organizations are set up to scale up their programming and many can’t productively absorb large amounts of unsolicited funding. We evaluate all potential grantees’ capacity for growth and consider how much money they could put to good use.
- **Organizational strength**. Particularly with unrestricted funding, it’s important to have trust in the leadership and capacity of the organizations we support. We look at their track record of success and their transparency about failures as well as successes, and we only support those organizations which are exceptionally well run.
- **Time-critical opportunities and funding certainty**. While Founders Pledge members give to our top climate charities regularly, sometimes there are time-critical opportunities which require fast decisions. Or there are needs for certainty of funding streams to allow new hires and start new campaigns and programs. We will use the Fund to make grants that enable such short-term opportunities and stability for high-impact funding opportunities thereby increasing the impact compared to individual giving to specific organizations.
- **Portfolio approach**. Because most climate damage comes from particular severe outcomes – with a world of 4 degrees of warming being much worse than twice as bad as a world with 2 degrees – and because every particular strategy – such as energy innovation – might underdeliver, we pursue a portfolio approach to maximize positive impact. This means we will diversify our bets in ways that, when one approach fails (such as energy innovation), the others we promote (such as carbon removal) can be expected to be particularly important and still available. This maximizes the expected impact of your donation in a world characterized by huge uncertainty about the success of different high-impact solutions.

## Frequently-Asked Questions

**Can charities apply for money from the Fund?**

The Funds do not generally accept applications from charities. If the Fund Managers choose to open up an application round, this will be publicized. Charities are requested not to send unsolicited applications for funding.

**How frequently will you make grants from the Fund?**

Fund Managers will review grant-making decisions on a quarterly basis. Decisions will be made based on the value of Funds and the available options for high-impact grant-making. We may sometimes delay grant-making if we believe that waiting for more promising opportunities will be more impactful. Conversely, we may disburse funds outside of our quarterly review dates if we become aware of a particularly promising and time-sensitive funding opportunity.

**How will my contribution be used?**

All funds are granted out. The Fund is not an investment vehicle. The Fund does not use any percentage of contributions to cover staff time or other overhead costs. Every dollar contributed to the Fund will be used to make grants directly to end-user organizations creating a real difference.

## More Questions?

To learn more about the Founders Pledge Climate Change Fund, please visit [founderspledge.com](https://founderspledge.com/funds/climate-change-fund) or email the Fund Managers at [funds@founderspledge.com](mailto:funds@founderspledge.com).

Climate Change Fund

Maine's only trans advocacy organization, supporting and empowering trans people to create a world where they can thrive.

Our mission is to support and empower transgender people to create a world where they can thrive.

MaineTransNet is a community based organization led by transgender people for transgender people. We provide peer-to-peer support groups, social and community events, advocacy for the transgender community across Maine, and transgender cultural competency training for medical, mental health, and social service providers. We engage transgender people and our allies across Maine in the practice of community building and organizing for mutual liberation. Our work is rooted in a deep desire to care for one another, which leads us to focus our efforts on building systems of mutual support on a bedrock of accessibility, inclusivity, and hospitality. We view structures of power and oppression as interlocking, and believe in finding our leadership from among those people who experience this as a reality in their daily lives.

MaineTransNet

The Steel Yard offers arts and technical training programs designed to increase opportunities for cultural and artistic expression.

The Steel Yard is a non-profit industrial art center and shared studio located in Providence, RI. We’re an arts maker space and non-traditional craft school offering courses & educational programs in blacksmithing, welding, jewelry, foundry, and ceramics. 

Our public projects department fabricates functional, design-driven public-art for installation throughout Southeastern New England. These decorative bike racks, trash cans, benches, and fences are found at businesses and main streets from Western Massachusetts to Block Island, with custom metal sculptures installed along waterways, parks, schools and public spaces across the region.

We’re a community of artists, makers, and learners. We host an artist residency program for emerging and mid-level artists that provides full access to our studios and equipment. Our welding job training program pays under-employed Rhode Islanders to learn welding, shop safety, and associated skills with the goal of getting a good-paying job.

Our 3.8-acre award-winning campus is the perfect venue for public and private events and one-of-a-kind fundraisers like our annual Halloween Iron Pour.

the Steel Yard

Helps you put your money where your morals are. Together, we can close the funding gap for Black-founded nonprofits.

Giving Gap

We are a volunteer-run non-profit celebrating the ideals of Islam thru education and charitable works in the developing world

Ibn Asheer supports international medical relief projects by collecting durable/reusable medical equipment and other donated supplies from health care entities in the US and shipping them to developing countries.  We also direct water development projects, primarily in the Middle East and Africa, to provide running water for small villages.  We do not spend any funds raised on administrative cost, so all of your donation goes towards the specified cause of the relief projects we run.

Ibn Asheer Institute Of Islam

A new non-profit content accelerator empowering the next generation of Hollywood leaders.

Our Mission
To empower BIPOC creators, artists, and entrepreneurs to make popular entertainment that reflects our multicultural society so we can help improve racial equity in America.

We're creating a system of change designed to reshape majority opinions by ensuring that creators of all backgrounds can tell their stories and see themselves in popular culture.

Our Vision
We are committed to creating a more empathic world. We believe stories and content have the power to unite people, bridge cultures, and achieve racial equity.

Rideback Rise Inc

The Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) develops and delivers collaborative solutions to global ocean challenges. 

This independent, objective nonprofit organization is dedicated to the resilience of the Gulf of Maine ecosystem and the communities that depend on it. GMRI collaborates with stakeholders to support healthy ocean ecosystems, a thriving blue economy, sustainable seafood, and climate-resilient coastal communities.

The organization’s evidence-based, transparent, and nonpartisan perspective allows them to convene diverse and often competing stakeholders to solve complex problems. Their unique, interdisciplinary approach combines five key capacities: 

•	Science: Research that deepens our scientific understanding of the Gulf of Maine ecosystem and economy 
•	Education: Hands-on science learning experiences for students and educators as an investment in the next generation of ecosystem stewards
•	Community: Support for the communities that depend on the Gulf of Maine, including fishermen, aquaculturists, and seafood supply chain businesses 
•	Climate Center: Local, state, national, and global climate actions to help coastal communities thrive in a warmer world
•	Gulf of Maine Ventures: Creating, scaling, and investing in high-impact companies that advance GMRI’s nonprofit mission 

In recent years, they have also deepened their role as a primary owner of waterfront property in Portland, taking on the responsibility to protect and preserve working waterfront access and demonstrating a model of low-carbon, climate-resilient solutions for this key infrastructure. 

Scientists at GMRI were the first to publish research revealing rapid warming in the Gulf of Maine. As of 2021 — the hottest year on record for the Gulf of Maine — this body of water has warmed faster than ~98% of the world’s ocean. As they help coastal communities in their own region mitigate and adapt to the impacts of rapid warming, GMRI leverages the Gulf of Maine as a testbed to develop solutions that are relevant around the world. 

GMRI has grown rapidly over the past two decades, emerging as one of the region’s most respected institutions due to its program impact and the exceptional caliber and commitment of its board, management team, and staff. The organization has a proven track record of recruiting and empowering their thoughtful, entrepreneurial, and persistent staff. This commitment to excellence is reflected in their long history of impact and achievement, with some recent examples including: 
•	Hiring and supporting leading experts on climate and fisheries, who have served at the highest levels including roles and relationships with NOAA, NASA, two presidential administrations, and multiple international fisheries management groups;
•	Working with fishermen and aquaculture farmers to implement new management strategies, diversify and grow their businesses, and preserve access to important working waterfront infrastructure;
•	Leading the nation’s climate science efforts at the highest levels, with four scientists contributing to the current National Climate Assessment (NCA5) and the leader of the previous National Climate Assessment (NCA4) serving as the Climate Center Director;
•	Providing science-based sustainability guidance to businesses throughout the regional seafood supply chain — from dealers and national grocery chains down to restaurants and harvesters; and
•	Immersing 12,500+ of Maine’s middle school students and their teachers in authentic hands-on science experiences every year — made possible in part by over $15 million invested by NASA in GMRI’s statewide education efforts. 



Gulf of Maine Research Institute

Dedicated to Rebuilding Hope for people impacted by natural disasters.

Convoy of Hope’s disaster response fleet has officially departed the World Distribution Center for Florida. Although the team still has a lengthy drive ahead of them, relief supplies are packed and ready for distribution to survivors of the storm.

All Hands and Hearts – Smart Response is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that effectively and efficiently addresses the immediate and long-term needs of communities impacted by natural disasters. We communicate directly with local leaders and community members and then deploy our unique model of engaging volunteers to enable direct impact, helping to build safer, more resilient schools, homes and infrastructure.

All Hands and Hearts

Taller Salud, Inc. es una organización de base feminista comunitaria, que trabaja por el bienestar integral de las niñas, jóvenes y mujeres adultas, dirigida prioritariamente a comunidades de escasos recursos.

Taller Salud

Founders Pledge is a global nonprofit empowering entrepreneurs to do the most good possible with their charitable giving. 

We equip members with everything needed to maximize their impact, from evidence-led research and advice on the world’s most pressing problems, to comprehensive infrastructure for global grant-making, alongside opportunities to learn and connect. We’re grateful to be funded by our members and other generous donors. 

Founders Pledge

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Life has been kind to me and it's my mission to share that kindness with the world. 