Whether you are looking for new prospects, or some fresh fundraising ideas for Earth Day, you need a crash course in proposal writing, or you have no idea how to get started about development planning, these fundraising resources are a must for any conservation, environmental education, or green activist group!
Grants
These sites will help you hone a prospect list and loan ideas about where you can look for funding:
1. Fundsnet Services has 17 pages of the best foundations funding environmental nonprofits.
2. The Center for Nonprofit Excellence regularly updates an impressive list of national competitive opportunities.
3. Guidestar has a full list of environmental education and conservation granters.
4. The EPA keeps an active list of resources and opportunities for conservation and environmental nonprofits.
5. Government grants available for sustainable communities through HUD, EPA, and DOT.
6. If your organization is doing anything creative to promote conservation, you might be eligible for a loosely defined conservation innovation grant through the NCRS.
Proposal writing
Writing proposals is a daunting task to many nonprofit professionals, but it shouldn’t be considering all of the help available for free. Take a look at these letters and sample proposals if you need help framing your green ask.
7. A sample proposal letter specific to environmental projects.
8. A step by step guide from the Grantsmanship Center on how to put together a good proposal for capacity building.
9. Use National Resource Defense Council’s superbly researched and documented statistics on nearly all environmental issues from global warming to wildlife to build a case.
Research and background for planning
When you are tasked with development planning and are not a development planner…
10. Training Resources for the Environmental Community’s Conservation Fundraising at a Crossroads is an excellent training guide for environmental nonprofits to build a culture of healthy fundraising within their organizations. Read it to see where your organization should get started!
11. Foundation Center has honed a fantastic literature list for environmental nonprofits to learn about fundraising and development.
12. Institution for Conservation Leadership’s Managing in Hard Times can help conservation nonprofits think about what they will do if they do not get 100% of their grant asks. Their contingency budget template is a great add on to any operating or program budget.
Green grassroots fundraisers
If you want to mobilize your volunteers to help you fundraise, or are just looking for a simple way to “greenly” make a bit of project revenue, try these environmentally friendly small scale fundraisers.

13. Bottle cap murals for a green art fundraiser that involves a whole group in recycling something that might not always be recyclable.
14. DIY reuse crafts projects to sell or raffle!
15. Terracycle pays schools and other groups to recycle juice containers.
Consultants
If you need help beyond your internal capacity, look to consultants. You can save money by freeing staff time and get the job done more efficiently. I have worked with the organizations listed below:
(Note: This is not an endorsement.)
16. Rock Environmental has affordable solutions for development consulting if your organization cannot fit a full development staff into the budget.
17. Conservation Impact has an impressive portfolio of helping nonprofits all over the US with development.
18. The Land Trust Alliance has a comprehensive list of local capacity building consultants for conservation organizations.
