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E N V I R O N M E N T F U N D E R S C A N A D APROGRAMS ANDSERVICESM A Y 2 0 2 3
E N V I R O N M E N T F U N D E R S C A N A D APAGE | 01A T A GLANCEAnnual national conferenceRegional gatheringsSpeaker Series webinarsFunder collaboratives (including pooled funds)focused on:Federal climate policyOceans conservationBuilding power for climate & natureFunder Interest GroupsConservation FinanceIndigenous Protected and Conserved AreasTrust-based PhilanthropyOrganizing for NatureClimate ChangeAsset ManagementProject Clearinghouse Canada listservMember listservOpen Data and Transparency InitiativeThought leadership research Time-sensitive conveningsPartnership initiatives Building First Nations-Funder RelationshipsIndigenous-ENGO Research & KnowledgeMobilizationCanadian Philanthropic Commitment onClimate ChangeMember communicationsMonthly newsletterWebsite with member-only sectionSocial media Environment Funders Canada (EFC) is anational network that catalyzes its members – 70+diverse philanthropic funders – to respond toenvironmental crises in Canada with ambitiousand innovative solutions that also addressintersecting economic, social, equity andwellbeing challenges. Our current offeringsinclude:Please read on for more informationabout all of our programs and services.
L E A R N I N G & N E T W O R K I N G E V E N T SPAGE | 02In-personGATHERINGSEFC’s premier member event – ourannual conference – brings together EFCmembers and other interested fundersfrom across the country and beyond fortwo days of networking, learning,sharing and socializing! With thought-provoking plenary sessions, interactivefunder-led concurrent sessions, uniquefield trip opportunities, and plenty oftime for socializing and fun, there issomething for everyone at EFC’sconference. The intimate size (usuallyabout 90-100 people) and beautifullocation (different every year) makes thisevent extra special and not to bemissed!AN N U AL CONF E RE NCEAs a national organization, EFCrecognizes that there are distinctregional differences to the issues,opportunities and challenges ourmembers face in advancing their work.To facilitate learning, sharing andcollaborating in this regard, EFC aims tohost a couple in-person regionalgatherings each year. These gatheringsusually involve a distinct learningopportunity as well as time for fundersto connect, network and socialize. Aregional ‘climate and equity’ event inMontreal is planned for September2023, and other events in Alberta, BCand Ontario are being explored for late2023 and early 2024.RE G I ON AL GA T HE RINGS
L E A R N I N G & N E T W O R K I N G E V E N T SPAGE | 03These online events offer new content onissues of strategic importance toenvironmental funders, delivered throughvirtual spaces where we get to ask toughquestions of each other and ofourselves, and where honest andrespectful dialogue, debate andquestions are welcomed and embraced. Depending on the topic, the session mayentail a fireside chat or provocativeconversation with an opportunity forattendees to inject their own questionsinto the mix, a formal presentationfollowed by Q&A or funder-onlydiscussion, or a facilitated groupdiscussion and ‘intel’ sharing. Some sessions will be open to everyone,others may be only for funders, andothers still may be only for EFCmembers. In most cases, recordings willbe available to EFC members on ourmembers-only website following thesession. EF C SPEAK E R SE RIES WE B I NA RS
S H A R I N G A N D C O L L A B O R A T I N GPAGE | 04FunderCOLLABORATIVESEFC currently houses two formal fundercollaboratives that enable funders withshared interests to pool funds, leverageresources, and share learning andexperience to advance a common goal. The Low Carbon Funders Group(LCFG) is comprised of group of funderswho have come together to support thecoordinated efforts of leading ENGOsworking to advance the implementation ofstrong federal climate policy in Canada.Chaired by Annie Bérubé of the McConnellFoundation, the funder group pools and/oraligns significant resources to collectivelysupport a collaborative ENGO proposaland strategy. The LCFG has beeninstrumental in providing capacity forENGOs to address and advance pressingpolicy issues.The Oceans Collaborative (OC) is agroup of funders who share the overarchinggoal of restoring and protecting healthy,productive oceans and coasts in Canada.Chaired by Meaghan Calcari-Campbellof the Gordon and Betty MooreFoundation, the OC focuses onsupporting Indigenous leadership andbuilding stewardship and governancecapacity; engaging, supporting, andmobilizing coastal communities andstakeholders; and advancing implement-ation of effective laws and policies tosupport healthy oceans and communities.The OC manages a pooled grantmakingOceans Fund that supports strategic,catalytic investments in projects fromcoast to coast to coast in Canada. A third funder collaborative focused onmobilizing power for nature andclimate is in the early formative stageswith plans to formalize later in 2023.EFC also plays a role in connecting andliaising with other funder collaborativesin the environmental space such as theGreat Lakes Funders Collaborative andthe Target One Funders.
S H A R I N G A N D C O L L A B O R A T I N GPAGE | 05FUN DER I N TE RES T GRO UPSEFC Funder Interest Groups (affectionatelyknown as the FIGs) are funder-led groups ofEFC members with a shared interest in aparticular learning objective, topic or issue –and a desire to connect more often to shareknowledge, learn together, discuss fundingopportunities and/or explore collaboration.While there may be some variation, thesegroups are typically co-chaired by two EFCmembers and meet virtually three to four timesper year. The EFC conference provides anadditional opportunity for informal in-persondiscussion among the groups. Current FIGs include:Conservation Finance – Co-chairs: AndreVallillee, Metcalf Foundation and LaurelAtkinson, Waltons TrustIndigenous Protected and ConservedAreas (IPCAs) – Co-chairs: Meaghan CalcariCampbell, Gordon and Betty MooreFoundation and Joanna Kerr, MakeWayTrust-based Philanthropy – Co-chairs:Raine Playfair, Coast Funds and Arti Freeman,Definity Insurance FoundationOrganizing for Nature – Chair: StanKozak, Gosling FoundationLet’s Talk Climate – facilitated directly byEFC with rotating funder chairs to enable arange of climate-related topics to be covered.Asset Investment (under development) –designed to engage a cohort of approximately12 financial decision-makers from within EFCmember organizations, and delivered througha partnership with Impact United.
E F C L I S T S E R V SPAGE | 06MemberCONNECTIONSProject Clearinghouse Canada is an ‘opt-in’member-only EFC listserv that provides amechanism for EFC members to shareprojects they are funding that requireadditional financial support. It is a light-touch way for EFC members to collaborateon specific funding opportunities and toexplore funding new initiatives and neworganizations. More details and instructionson how to use this new tool can be found inour Project Clearinghouse CanadaGuidelines. We encourage all EFC members to useProject Clearinghouse Canada regularly toshare and explore funding opportunities. If you haven’t opted-in to the ProjectClearinghouse Canada listserv and wouldlike to do so, please contact EFC staff. PR O J EC T CLE A RI NGHOU S E CA N A DAEFC maintains a moderated memberslistserv that enables individual members tosend items of interest to all EFC membersand EFC staff and board to communicatewith our full membership. Members areinvited to share anything they feel may berelevant to our whole membership,whether it be an upcoming event, aninteresting publication, a question youwant answered, a job posting or the like. To have your email distributed via the EFC listserv, please send it tomembers@lists.environmentfunders.ca. Weusually release these for distribution rightaway!ME M B ER LIST S ER V
K N O W L E D G E M O B I L I Z A T I O NPAGE | 07EFC is embarking upon a new initiative tofacilitate deeper insights about fundingwithin the environmental sector in Canada.The Open Data and Transparencyproject aims to utilize grants data to enhanceour understanding of funding for differenttypes of environmental initiatives, trends andgaps in this funding, and demographics fororganizations receiving funding. In short, weaim to, at a high level, answer two keyquestions - what is getting funded and who isgetting funded by EFC members (and wehope over time, other philanthropic fundersas well!). By collecting this data, we will beable to get a more comprehensive picture ofour sector, identify gaps and opportunitiesfor investment, and help you improve yourfunding impact.Watch for a request coming soon to provideEFC with your grants data for the 2022. Thiswill then turn into an annual request, likelyaligned with your EFC membership renewaleach year. We will use this data to create anopen knowledge hub where, over time,members will be able to use keywordsearches to explore the database and seewho is funding different types ofenvironmental initiatives, where the gapsare, and how this is changing over time. Weare also partnering with New Power Labs tofacilitate analysis of grantee data through adiversity, equity and inclusion lens. OP EN D ATA &TR ANS P ARE NCY
T H O U G H T L E A D E R S H I PPAGE | 08Advancing theFIELDEFC periodically undertakes or commissionsresearch to advance thought leadership toidentify funding gaps and opportunities forour members to consider. Past undertakingshave included research on buildingCanada's low carbon future, leveragingtechnology for a healthy planet, andexploring the state of responsible investingin Canada. These reports can be foundhere.In the coming year, EFC anticipatesundertaking a research initiative on ‘socialmovement ecology’ to support the workof the emerging “mobilizing power”collaborative and exploring the feasibilityof attracting more philanthropicsupport from new sources toCanada's environmental movement..We look forward to sharing these and otherknowledge products with our members asthey emerge. RE S E AR CH IN I TI ATIVE SEFC recognizes that issues andopportunities sometimes emerge quicklyand require a swift response fromfunders and other partners in the sector.EFC keeps ‘ear to the ground’ on suchissues and, where appropriate, bringskey parties together to share, strategizeand act. Over the past few years, we havefacilitated convenings around the publicinquiry into anti-Alberta energycampaigns (the Alberta Inquiry) andmore recently, the Ontario government’sopening of the Greenbelt, and willcontinue to do so so that our membersconnect with leaders in the field andwith one another on key issues as theyarise. TI M E -S ENSIT I VECO N V EN INGS
P A R T N E R S H I P SPAGE | 09PAR T NER S HIPINI T IAT I VESCurrent partnership initiatives include:Building First Nations – Funder Relationships – EFC and the Assemblyof First Nations (AFN) are in the formativestages of a partnership to buildrelationships between our members andultimately increase the flow of funding insupport of First Nations-led environmentalinitiatives. Our emerging workplanincludes understanding our baseline,learning and unlearning, and conveningopportunities to build ‘connective tissue’between us. Indigenous-ENGO Research andKnowledge Mobilization Initiative –In partnership with The Circle onPhilanthropy, this initiative aims to betterunderstand the state of relationshipsbetween Indigenous Nations and ENGOsthrough a lens that centres Indigenousexperiences and makes them more visibleamong each other, and within the ENGOand funder communities.Canadian Philanthropic Commitmenton Climate Change – This joint initiativeof CFC, EFC, PFC and The Circle calls onfunders to commit to implementation acrossseven pillars of action, and is intentionallydesigned to include all funders, regardlessof their focus or stage on their climateaction journey. Learn more here.
C O M M U N I C A T I O N S T O O L SPAGE | 10Spreading theWORDEFC’s main website contains generalinformation about our organization, ourmembership list and guidelines, informationabout programs, back-issues of ournewsletter, EFC publications, and more.We also maintain a list of memberemployment opportunities, so feel free tosend yours in for posting. We hope to do acomplete overhaul of it as well this year! EF C WE BSITE ME M B ER S-ONL Y W EBPAG EEFC issues a monthly newsletter to keep youup to date on recent happenings, events,reports, articles, member news and more.Watch for it in your inbox at the beginningof each month. Within EFC’s main website, you’ll find atab for “Members only” that leads to apassword protected site. Of particularinterest within this members-only site is amember directory with contact information,access to recordings of past webinars andconference sessions, and dedicatedresource pages for each of our FunderInterest Groups. Please contact EFC staff ifyou require login credentials. MO N T HL Y NEW S LE TTEREFC currently maintains a social mediapresence on LinkedIn and Twitter(@EnviroFundersCA) so be sure to followus! We are also happy to share or retweetour members’ posts to help spread theword! EF C SOCIA L M ED IA
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