We’re thrilled to share that The Carmack Collective has made our first round of grants for 2025, distributing $1.45 million in grants. Our total budget this year is $1.5 million, up from $1 million in 2024. The remainder of funds will be distributed throughout the rest of 2025. We are excited by this milestone as it reflects not only an increase in resources but also a deepening of our strategy, rooted in ongoing learning and relationship-building over the past several years.
From Exploratory to Catalytic
In previous years, we offered Exploratory Grants: one-year, $10,000 commitments designed to initiate relationships and better understand where our support could spark the most impact. That phase was instrumental in shaping our approach. Through conversations, collaborations, and the insights of grantee partners, we recognized a need for more flexible, responsive funding to meet the urgency and creativity of this moment.
In response, we’ve launched the Catalytic Fund: a strategic mechanism designed to support time-sensitive, high-impact opportunities in climate justice. Catalytic Fund grants:
- Seize emerging opportunities through rapid response support
- Scale proven solutions that are ready to expand
- Strengthen ecosystem infrastructure through coalition and capacity investments
- Center frontline leadership and bold vision
Unlike previous models, Catalytic Fund grants are tailored to need and potential – offering one-time support, larger investments, and a streamlined process that removes traditional application barriers.
Strengthening Our Core and Expanding Our Reach
We’ve also continued our commitment to long-term partnership through Multi-Year Grants, which provide sustained primarily general operating support to leaders and organizations advancing the movement building and cultural change strategies needed for a just climate future.
And we’re proud to continue our Flow Fund – a participatory grantmaking process led by our Advisory Board of movement and culture leaders. This model allows funding decisions to be guided by those who are proximate to the work, ensuring that resources flow toward trust-based, community-identified priorities. It’s a joyful and relational part of our grantmaking that reflects our values of collaboration and collective care.
Our 2025 Grantees
We’re honored to support a new cohort of grantees advancing narrative change, frontline organizing, cultural storytelling, and climate action. These grantees are building power, disrupting harmful narratives, and helping all of us imagine and move toward a future beyond fossil fuel extraction.
Flow Fund Grantees
Building Power Resource Center
Building Stories
Cooperativa de Trabajo Lawen Limitada / La Vida Fracturada
No Dumping
Catalytic Fund Grantees
Fairbanks Climate Action Coalition
New Multi-Year Grantees
Beaver County Marcellus Awareness Community
Entertainment + Culture Pavilion
Sunrise Movement Education Fund
Each of these partners embodies the belief that culture change and movement building are essential to confronting the deeply entrenched and powerful fossil fuel industry. You can view our full grantmaking history on our website.
More Updates
2023 Core Grantees
The Carmack Collective is excited to announce our 2023 Core Grantees. This $515,000 round of grants is our first since launching in January 2023. Our Core Grants program consists of Exploratory Grants and Multi-Year Grants.
How The Carmack Collective Funds Climate Narrative Change
This article originally appeared in Impact Entrepreneur on August 23, 2026, written by Dmitriy Ioselevich. You can read the original article here. A trust-based philanthropy model for culture changeA trust-based philanthropy model for culture change A $10 million family endowment is testing whether flexible grants can help climate movements compete not only in policy and […]
Reflections From Our Director On The Carmack Collective’s Inaugural Core Grantmaking Cycle
As we complete this first round of grantmaking and reflect on our approach, it is becoming clearer to us what our role is as a funder and we will shift our approach going forward.