
SUPPORT OUR MISSION
We expand protected areas, support ecological research, and empower the public to become stewards and advocates for the natural world.
How we work
The scale and diversity of threats facing the environment seems to increase almost daily. Climate change rightfully generates the most attention from a global threat perspective. But habitat loss and degradation combined with poaching, illegal wildlife trafficking, invasive species, and the toxic legacy of many different industries takes a heavy toll. Yet only 3% of US philanthropy is dedicated to the environment. March Conservation Fund seeks to address this gap by supporting conservation initiatives in the United States and internationally, with a strong focus on tropical ecosystems. The geographical breakdown of our philanthropy as of 2020 is illustrated in the figure below.
MCF is a private foundation, and we do not employ our own staff to implement projects. Instead, we support and empower non-profit organizations. In the case of international grant making, we usually work with a US 501(c)3 partner to support the work of in-country partners, and to help administer those grants. Collectively, the talented and dedicated staff of these organizations are finding innovative ways to address threats to the environment at all levels. We are empowering them in this effort by funding their missions, helping to build capacity in their teams, and in some cases by creating entirely new initiatives.
Support to environmental organizations currently falls under five program areas. The Latin American Reserve Stewardship Initiative (LARSI) is a collaboration with American Bird Conservancy that provides capacity-building grants to organizations in the Neotropics that own and/or manage ecological reserves. Our Land Purchase/Park Protection program provides direct support to buy threatened tropical forest habitat, which is then owned and managed by in-country partners, and to support and equip patrol teams to combat illegal activity in protected areas. The Wildlife Trafficking program funds organizations working to stop illegal wildlife trade. This ranges from more local trade in live animals to international trafficking of animal parts by organized crime syndicates. Biodiversity Conservation is the broadest program, supporting a diversity of work both in the US and abroad. It includes bird research grants, island restoration work, ecological monitoring, and land stewardship by the land trust community. Our Environmental Education & Advocacy program is also very diverse, but almost entirely restricted to the United States. The Youth Access to Nature Fund (administered by The San Francisco Foundation), is our largest recipient in this program, but we also support a diversity of smaller groups focused on eco-literacy as well as larger non-profits fighting to protect national environmental laws. In some cases, the impact of these programs overlaps. For example, park protection achieves biodiversity conservation while helping prevent wildlife trafficking. Finally, we continue to maintain support to non-environmental charities based in the San Francisco Bay Area through our Arts, Music & Human Social Services program. Some of these organizations have been supported for many years, before MCF adopted an environmental focus. A breakdown of contributions by program as of 2020 is illustrated in the figure below.
Although direct granting to beneficiaries will always be part of our strategy, MCF has embraced the power of re-granting as a tool to increase our impact and support more organizations than we could do on our own. In comparison to pass-through grants, where funds move through a fiscal sponsor with little oversight, re-granting implies stewardship of funds. MCF relies on the capable staff of partner organizations to help find prospective grantees, solicit and review proposals, monitor project results, and evaluate impact. This is an under-rated tool for foundations and individuals that want to make a difference but struggle to evaluate the effectiveness of different non-profits. It is also a powerful method to support numerous organizations that are trying to address environmental crises or conservation goals that span large geographic areas. By funding re-granting initiatives, donors can pool their support to fund many projects, all under the guidance of regional experts that bring decades of experience and credibility to the process. A summary of the impact of re-granting by MCF during the period 2017-2020 is shown below. Stay tuned as we build on this model to develop and fund more re-granting initiatives going forward.