Local Sustainability Matching Fund

The Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network (USDN) joined together to launch a Local Sustainability Matching Fund. Now a project of the Funders’ Network, the fund was initiated with leadership support from the Kendeda Fund, New York Community Trust, Summit Foundation, and Surdna Foundation.
The fund provides matching investments from national foundations on a competitive basis to build partnerships between sustainability directors and local place-based foundations to advance discrete sustainability initiatives that demonstrate broad-based community support and engagement.

Click here for information about the Local Sustainability Matching Fund.

The application window for Round Three is now closed.

Awards

• Round 2 of the Local Sustainability Matching Fund Awards $245,000 to Six Community Partnerships (January 2013)
• Round 1 of the Local Sustainability Matching Fund Announces $250,000 in Awards to Five Innovative City Sustainability Projects (May 2012)

About Green Building Green Neighborhoods

This working group prioritizes learning and action to advance the following issues:

• Sustainable design, green building, green neighborhoods
• Sustainability planning
• Resource efficiency
• Green jobs

What Does Green Really Mean?

Sustainability. Green jobs. Energy efficiency. Green design. Resource conservation. LEED. What do these terms really mean? And what can funders do to make sure that “green” is more than a trendy buzzword–that green strategies actually reduce the carbon footprints and energy costs of buildings, enhance the health and vitality of neighborhoods, and improve the lives of people?

Background & Activities

The Green Building Green Neighborhoods (GBGN) funder working group was created in 2005 by funders interested in better understanding the promise that green strategies hold for improving outcomes for people and place. Its first efforts focused on the intersection of green design practices and location/placement decisions (for example, does a green building fulfill its promise if it is located in isolation, without convenient access to transportation?). The working group meets annually each fall and hosts Learning Network conference calls throughout the year to help funders learn more about green strategies and innovative practices. It also manages a funder listserv on topical green issues.

Strategic Collaboration

The working group is currently focused on learning more about green issues, identifying leverage points, and facilitating strategic collaborations in three specific arenas:

• Energy-efficiency retrofits in the building sector and their connection to green jobs;
• Green design and location issues (such as the LEED-ND rating system); and
• Urban sustainability planning and implementation.

The GBGN funder advisory committee is co-chaired by Darryl Young from The Summit Foundation and Diane Ives from The Kendeda Fund.