In 1996, four New England foundations met to examine environmental priorities in New England. Their conclusion was

“for the New England environmental movement to succeed, the New England environmental movement must project a broad and compelling vision that will persuade large numbers of people that they are stakeholders in the formidable effort to build a sustainable future. This effort must begin at the local level. If environmental protection is imposed upon people, we will surely fail. But if it is accomplished with, for, and because of people, we may succeed…”.

The participating funders recognized their limits – not enough staff resources and extensive grant application processes that neither reached nor attracted local level community groups to their foundations. In order to extend and fine tune their philanthropic efforts a different kind of funding structure was needed to offer proactive, professional grantmaking, skills-building and networking opportunities to support the needs of emerging volunteer-based organizations and leaders. The New England Grassroots Environment Fund was created and till this day remains one of very few organizations focused on the local level, reaching across issues, breaking across issue silos and offering network support to local New England initiatives.

NEGEF is both a Funders/Activists’ Collaborative and a Community Network Builder. Our mission is: to energize and nurture long-term civic engagement in local initiatives that create and maintain healthy, just, safe and environmentally sustainable communities.

Since 1996, the Grassroots Fund has funded 1,500+ community groups with more than 2,300 grants in over 55% of New England’s cities and towns. NEGEF’s grant programs have invested a total of $4,500,000 directly in the grassroots. Each dot on the map to the right represents a story of community volunteers working together to take on an opportunity or challenge in their neighborhood. These grants are typically between $500 and $3,500, and are delivered through two region-wide small grants program:

Seed grants are quick project-focused grants dedicated to help volunteer groups launch and build their newly evolving projects.

Grow grants are competitive group development grants dedicated to help established groups increase capacity, collaborate, and leverage impact.

For more information, please visit our Grants page.