9 tips on becoming an effective climate funder

Funding climate action takes deep understanding, confidence, and collaboration. Impatience Earth exists to help funders on this journey, and recently we teamed up with OECD - OCDE netFWD for a ‘Scaling Up Climate Smart Development’ learning series. We invited funders and grantee partners to share why and how they are integrating climate change into their international development work, and their advice for other philanthropic actors. Here are some of the top tips:?

1. Invest in learning and understanding the roots of the climate crisis. Only by spending time understanding the causes of the crisis, the solutions, and how it intersects with your current giving can you be an impactful funder and bring along key decision-makers in your organisation. Learning can take many forms, from the informal (reading books and discussions with experts) to the more structured approaches (enrol in a course). Look for a diverse range of experts to learn from, whether they acquired their climate knowledge by education or lived experience of the issues.?
2. But don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis. Educating yourself is fundamental, but that shouldn’t stop you from taking action at the same time. There are plenty of intermediary organisations that can help you get started with funding impactful climate work.?
3. Start by funding what interests you. This is the best way of staying engaged in the climate sector long-term.
4. Find others to connect with. There are organisations to help you get started in climate funding, like Impatience Earth and WINGS, and networks to connect you to like-minded funders like NetFWD and the Environmental Funders Network. Also consider supporting pooled, collaborative funds as a way to combine financial resources, time and expertise to exponentially increase the impact of your climate funding, without compromising your core mission. If we want grantees to collaborate, funders should also be willing to do so!
5. Frontload your funding. Money spent on climate action now is far more effective than money spent five to ten years down the line. This is the time to take action.??
6. Trust and listen to your grantees. Organisations on the ground are best placed to make decisions on where and how money should be spent. Relationships based on trust and long-term collaboration will enable you to give with fewer strings attached and to help grantees beyond funding (e.g. connections,advice, capacity building).?
7. Help your existing grantees to add a climate lens. Acting on climate does not mean taking money away from your existing programme areas like health and education. You can do both and support your grantees to consider how climate change intersects with their work, to help them build resilience in the face of increasing climate impacts.?
8. Support transformative systems change. This crisis requires deep systemic change to address its root causes. Movement building, policy work and strategic litigation are all effective tools for enacting this change.
9. Take action beyond funding. If only 5% of your endowment is spent out in climate grants and the rest is invested in extractive industries, then you are spending 19x the amount on activities that undermine your giving. You are also missing out on opportunities to use your investments for positive climate impact. Beyond investments, reflect on your organisation’s own operations and look for opportunities to decarbonise, such as minimising high-carbon travel, increasing the energy efficiency of your office and opting for plant-based catering if you are hosting an event.?

Impatience Earth 's team of experienced climate and philanthropy experts provide pro-bono advisory services to corporate foundations, private foundations, and high net worth individuals. Funders: if you’re interested in finding out more about how we can help you on your climate journey, or simply need a sounding board for the work you’re doing in this space, please get in touch at [email protected]?

You can learn more about the Scaling Up Climate Smart Development series via our report and webinar recording here.