Carolyn Foundation

Dear Climate Change Grantseeker,

Thank you for your interest in the Carolyn Foundation.

Carolyn Foundation’s highest environmental priority is addressing climate change as the most important issue affecting our world. The Foundation’s objective is to support aggressive & equitable carbon reduction between now and 2030 as the foundation for achieving net-zero carbon by 2050.

Based on feedback from the community we take a two-pronged approach to achieve our objective:

• Core Partners: Through an invited grantmaking process, we support a core group of climate change partners that represent key climate change infrastructure within the MN climate ecosystem and are working towards our shared objective.
• Community-Led Climate Grantees: Through a responsive grantmaking process, we aim to support climate and/or environmental efforts led by those most likely to be impacted by climate change, with a priority for efforts explicitly addressing carbon reduction and community impact.

Our 2026 Core Partners are:

• Center for Rural Affairs
• Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota
• Clean Up the River Environment (CURE)
• Environmental Law & Policy Center of the Midwest
• Fresh Energy
• Great Plains Institute
• Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR)
• ISAIAH
• Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy (MCEA)
• Move Minnesota

Our 2025 Community-Led Climate Change Grantees are:

• Clean Energy Resource Teams
• Clean Grid Alliance
• Clean River Partners
• COPAL
• Lake Street Council
• Let’s Plant Trees
• Minnesota Interfaith Power & Light
• Rainbow Research
• Recycling Association of Minnesota
• Rise and Repair

Our next community-led responsive grant cycle opens on December 15, 2025. Click here to read more about the grantmaking guidelines. You may apply here. The deadline to apply is February 15, 2026, and grants will be paid in June 2026. Grants are typically $15k-$25k, depending on program size and fit. 

If your program doesn’t closely match our guidelines and priorities, please do not apply. If you are unsure, please call me to discuss: 612-596-3279.

Sincerely,
Becky Erdahl
Executive Director