OVERVIEW: The Sequoia Climate Foundation supports climate change and clean energy, sustainable agriculture, and environmental justice.
IP TAKE: The Sequoia Climate Foundation is a major, newer climate funder positioned to make a big impact. Its first round of grantmaking alone (2020) earned it a spot among the top climate funders in the world. As reported at Inside Philanthropy, Sequoia’s grantmaking has continued to increase dramatically year over year, and its estimated grantmaking in 2024 was over $250 million. For the most part, Sequoia has given its largest grants to major intermediaries and regrantors, including the European Climate Foundation. As reported by Inside Philanthropy’s climate reporter Michael Kavate, some in the climate field have expressed concern about Sequoia’s preference for major organizations, “overwhelmingly favoring the field’s longtime favorites” while not reaching frontline organizations on a large scale. Yet Sequoia’s grantmaking strategies are nascent and evolving. In a 2023 statement to Inside Philanthropy, Sequoia president Christie Ulman wrote, “We have a lot of ambition as an organization and our portfolio, as you have seen, is growing, and we hope it continues to grow. It’s not a spend-down institution.”
Sequoia is not a particularly accessible funder. It doesn’t accept unsolicited grant proposals or inquiries. Its website provides information about its grantmaking and a selection of grantees, but does not include a full grants database. Information about its grants can be found in its annual 990 tax forms. Interested grantseekers will find it difficult to gain access here.
PROFILE: Established in 2020 and based in Irvine, CA, the Sequoia Climate Foundation “believes in a world powered by clean energy, where all people are protected by policies that have averted the worst effects of climate change.” An offshoot of Wellspring Philanthropic Fund, it is one of the largest organizations working in climate change philanthropy. While Sequoia’s funding source has not been formally confirmed, it’s widely believed that Sequoia’s benefactor is C. Frederick Taylor, a low-profile hedge fund billionaire who is also the main funder behind the Wellspring Philanthropic Fund. All contributions to Sequoia come from an anonymous LLC, Twenty-One Holdings, that also regularly contributes to Wellspring.
The foundation seeks “to support “ambitious organizations and coalitions catalyzing rapid emissions reductions, transforming global markets, and accelerating the transition to clean energy around the world.” Sequoia’s grantmaking supports climate interventions that will have an impact by 2030, the deadline under the Paris Agreement for the world to cut emissions by half. Its nascent grantmaking prioritizes climate change and clean energy, as well as sustainable agriculture and environmental justice.
Grants for Climate Change and Clean Energy, and Sustainable Agriculture
Sequoia supports organizations and groups working in clean energy, sustainable agriculture and food, environmental justice, and climate change. It works “across regions and sectors to support grantees taking bold and ambitious actions to drive down emissions and accelerate a just and equitable transition to clean energy.” That said, the foundation’s grant database reveals that climate and clean energy grants invest in everything from climate education, climate policy, environmental justice, and sustainable food systems to decarbonization efforts.
- Sequoia looks for grantees positioned to make an immediate significant impact and supports projects and initiatives in places where its grants can make the greatest difference.
- It also considers cost and the probability of success. It is willing to “take calculated risks on strategies that are justified by their transformative potential.”
- Sequoia emphasizes that it supports groups and projects that address climate change’s disproportionate impact on “underserved communities and at-risk global populations, including communities of color.”
- It has supported organizations around the world, including $39 million to the European Climate Foundation in 2023 alone, where Sequoia’s president, Christie Ulman, serves on the supervisory board, and the Sunrise Project, the Australia-based climate justice group.
Additional grantees include ClimateWorks, Tara Climate, Energy Transition Fund, Instituto Clima e Sociedade, and the Energy Foundation. Climate justice grantees included Climate Justice Alliance, Green New Deal Network, and Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund. Policy recipients included the Center for American Progress and CLASP.
Important Grant Details:
In 2021, Sequoia gave out $126 million in grants, $180 million in 2022, and $257 million in 2023. Grants can range from $20,000 to tens of millions; however, most awards typically range between $100,000 and $1 million. This number is projected to grow for 2024.
- The foundation is still relatively new on the scene, so it is difficult to pin down grantmaking practices, but so far, it appears to prefer giving to intermediaries, collaborative funds, and regrantors.
- New grantseekers can see a select list of “representative” past grantees here.
- It does not accept unsolicited proposals or requests for funding; however, it does invite grantseekers to reach out through its website with questions or general inquiries.
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