Mission statement
The Environmental Education Funders Collaborative (EEFC) strengthens local philanthropy in the greater San Francisco Bay Area that is focused on equipping students with the outdoor experiences, scientific knowledge, and habits to become lifelong environmental advocates and engaged members of their communities. EEFC amplifies the impact of its members by sharing knowledge, extending opportunities for collaborative giving and field-building convenings, and tackling initiatives to move the needle on an annual thematic focus.
Core focus area
Members of the EEFC are seasoned grantmakers and active supporters of programs, nonprofits, and initiatives that connect children to nature and outdoor experiences. EEFC understands that experiences in nature create positive impacts on children, schools, families and communities. Members also understand the value of gathering together to learn and act.
Learning together
- Bi-monthly meetings in a funders-only environment allow members to ask difficult questions, express opinions with candor, and have an open dialogue.
- Outside experts present on topics or issues of interest to the group and help members stay abreast of developments in the field. Early convenings of the group consisted of “listening tours” of nonprofit providers, teachers, and principals. These allowed members to identify gaps in the field and design initiatives and co-funding opportunities that addressed issues of transportation, regular dosages of EE through a student’s educational “pathway,” and ways for teachers to connect to nonprofits.
- Ongoing reflection and assessment provides opportunities to identify the successes and challenges of the funding collaborative. Members share their “biggest wins and biggest flops” in grantmaking, which facilitates co-learning and reflection on how to improve their work.
Working together
- In EEFC’s first three years of existence, members leveraged $1,000,000 in net new grantmaking to Bay Area environmental education nonprofits. Funding from the subsequent three years has not yet been measured, but EEFC estimates that its impact has been far greater due to growth and greater collaboration in the field.
- EEFC supported a new generation of online tools (www.sciencebynature.org), which has been adopted by California’s CREEC Network and replicated by regional collaboratives in geographies from Massachusetts to Hawaii.
- EEFC members have actively participated in and financially supported ChangeScale, a regional partnership that seeks to ensure that EE is a cornerstone of lifelong learning.
- In collaboration with a school district and six nonprofits, EEFC piloted a new “pathway” approach to delivering EE in schools that is now being replicated throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
- EEFC launched the Transportation Fund, which has supported sending over 22,000 students (70% Free and Reduced Lunch eligible) on 500 outdoor and environmental education field trips.
- In an attempt to widen the umbrella of funders who understand the value of EE, EEFC has sponsored and designed EE learning sessions and field trips at broad gatherings of Grantmakers for Education, Environmental Grantmakers Association, and Northern California Grantmakers, as well as regional convenings for local science, health, and education funders on specific topics.
Funding
EEFC member organizations make annual membership contributions which enable EEFC to network with fellow grantmakers, coordinate a peer learning community, host and underwrite convenings with expert speakers, partner on field-building initiatives, and seed emerging practices.
Intended outcomes
EEFC ultimately aims to increase the number of funders that support environmental education while addressing and responding to larger, systemic challenges and opportunities within the EE field. EEFC works to pilot new solutions that increase the quality and accessibility of environmental learning for students and teachers. In doing so, EEFC also seeks to fill in critical gaps which have limited access to outdoor learning for students. Finally, by staying involved with emerging strategies and standards in environmental education and education more broadly, EEFC prepares and equips educators and funders for paradigm shifts in the field.