Deadline: 15-Jun-22
The 11th Hour Racing, funded by The Schmidt Family Foundation is seeking applications for its grant program, to advancing innovative projects that improve the health of our oceans and address the dynamic environmental challenges facing the sailing and marine communities. 11th Hour Racing fosters systemic change to restore ocean health — their vision for the future includes cleaner, healthier waterways through strong local stewardship and collective action around the world.
Focus Areas
11th Hour Racing seeks proposals that align with one or more of their focus areas:
- Ocean Literacy & Stewardship – increase the understanding and appreciation of the importance of healthy oceans and waterways to communities through experiential learning, citizen science, and powerful story-telling.
- Clean Technologies & Best Practices – advance practices and technologies in coastal communities and the marine industry that reduce waste, prevent plastic pollution, improve water quality, and assess new circular solutions
- Ecosystem Restoration – improve water quality, bolster coastal resilience, and sequester carbon through coastal habitat restoration
Funding Information
- Current grants are 1 year in length, they generally do not offer multi-year grants.
- Typical grant awards range from $10,000 – $100,000, with an average grant size being $25,000. First-time grants to new organizations are generally smaller in size.
- Their grant funding must be tied to a specific project, with measurable outcomes. They currently do not offer general funding, capital or infrastructure grants, or endowment funding.
Examples
- Further examples of potential projects include but are not limited to:
- Ocean Literacy & Stewardship: Outreach and educational initiatives for any age focused on improving knowledge of ocean health issues and best practices. Emphasis will be given to projects focused on youth-led initiatives, citizen science, and experiential education. Programs specializing in increasing stewardship, access, and ocean literacy in underserved, urban communities are of particular interest. Does not include: curriculum development; or general funding for educational programming.
- Clean Technologies & Best Practices: Efforts that advance emerging methods and/or technologies that reduce the environmental footprint of coastal communities, sailing-related activities, and the maritime industry. Activities may include improving coastal community practices regarding plastic pollution prevention or food waste such as composting; environmentally responsible vessel disposal methods or construction materials; sail making or boatbuilding material alternatives or processes. Does not include: policy development, proven technologies (such as conventional solar photovoltaic), community beach or offshore clean-ups of marine debris, or advertising.
- Ecosystem Restoration: Using coastal habitats like mangroves, salt marsh, and sea grass to sequester carbon (commonly referred to as Blue Carbon) or using nature-based solutions such as living shorelines, oysters reefs, or kelp farming to improve coastal water quality. Priority will be given to community-led projects and initiatives that involve collaborations amongst multiple organizations and stakeholder engagement. Does not include: hard infrastructure projects, conservation easements, or land acquisition.
Eligibility Criteria
- They will prioritize projects led by 501(c)(3) organizations but other types of non-profit
- 11th Hour Racing awards grants in the U.S. and globally, therefore international organizations are welcome to apply.
- Projects seeking funding for political advocacy, lobbying, litigation, fundraising, or legally mandated mitigation projects are not eligible.
For more information, visit https://11thhourracing.org/grantees/