Applications open for Community Grants

Deadline: 29-Feb-2024

The Global Climbing Initiative is proud to announce the second round of their Community Grants program to power climbing communities’ visions for the growth of climbing around the world.

The Global Climbing Initiative equips climbing communities worldwide with the knowledge and resources to thrive. Climbing is in a stage of unprecedented expansion, and it has massive potential to create positive economic, social, and environmental change. By developing best practices, increasing access to resources, investing in community leaders, and uniting climbing organizations, they are shaping a more globally empowered future for this sport.

The goal is to empower climbing communities to bring their unique ideas to life.

The Environmental, Creative, and Social Impact Grants provide funding for a range of initiatives, from one-time events, trainings, and projects to ongoing programs that create sustainable change.

Grant Categories

Environmental Grants
- The Global Climbing Initiative’s Environmental Grants empower climbing communities’ visions for environmental stewardship around the world.
- In their sport’s current phase of rapid growth, the global climbing community has an opportunity to support the sustainability of climbing areas through all stages of development. With an increased number of climbers comes heightened need for projects to ensure crag environments are preserved and protected into the future. They are proud to partner directly with local climbing organizations and promote responsible grassroots stewardship of their crags and wilderness.
- GCI is announcing their spring round of grant solicitations in order to provide funding for environmental stewardship and conservation projects worldwide. Each climbing community exists in a unique context and environment, and they know that your communities have a firsthand understanding of your needs. Awardees of this cycle of GCI Environmental Grants will be given support and funding to address the unique environmental needs of your community in 2024.
- What this grant supports?
  - They are looking to fund direct impact projects with clear and measurable outcomes to improve the long-term sustainability of crag environments. Project examples include:
    - Trail stewardship and erosion mitigation projects
    - Belay platforms
    - Signage
    - Trash/waste mitigation and sanitation projects
    - Parking area projects
    - Stewardship and Leave No Trace trainings
Social Impact Grants
- The Global Climbing Initiative’s Social Impact Grants empower climbing communities worldwide to create positive change through innovative social initiatives.
- As the global climbing community rapidly grows and changes, they have an opportunity to support sustainable community development at all stages. With an eye towards increasing diverse voices in climbing and a growing need for inclusive projects, they believe that it is critical to work directly with local community groups to promote responsible grassroots solutions in their crags, backyards and beyond.
- Each developing community faces unique challenges and opportunities, and they understand that you have firsthand knowledge of your community’s needs. Therefore, the awardees of this cycle of GCI Social Impact Grants will receive support and funding to address the specific needs of their community in 2024.
- What is social impact?
  - They define social impact as the positive changes that result from community-centered initiatives. These changes increase wellbeing, catalyze relationships, strengthen bonds, and counterbalance harmful patterns of patriarchy, racism, colonialism, sexism, ableism, ageism, and other forms of prejudice and oppression. They support social impact initiatives in the climbing world because they believe that climbing is a microcosm of the greater world, and that through climbing, they can change all of society for the better.
- What this grant supports?
  - They are looking to fund direct impact projects with clear and measurable outcomes to support the growth of inclusive climbing communities. Project examples include:
    - Capacity-building training events on topics such as guiding, safety, first aid, and bolting
    - Access to gyms and outdoor climbing for underrepresented climbers
    - Climbing competitions and festivals
    - Purchase of necessary equipment for climbing development initiatives focused on expanding opportunities for underrepresented climbers
Creative Grants
- GCI’s Creative Impact Grants inspire climbing communities worldwide to share their narratives through innovative projects in the arts.
- Within their global community they recognize the power of storytelling in order to highlight powerful stories, uplift economies, and provide pathways of support to local artists. GCI’s Creative Grant aims to facilitate sustainable community development by supporting and spotlighting creative initiatives that amplify diverse voices in climbing.
- They believe in the transformative potential of storytelling to bring about positive change, and to empower local groups to bring attention to the unique challenges and opportunities within their communities. They acknowledge that each community has its own distinct stories, struggles, and triumphs. Therefore, they are committed to working closely with grant recipients to ensure that the awarded funds contribute to addressing the specific needs of their community.
- What this grant supports?
  - They are looking to fund direct impact projects that seek to highlight the voices and visions of local, underrepresented climbing communities.
  - Project examples include:
    - Short films
    - Climbing photography
    - Literary projects
    - Creative clinics, such as climbing photography clinics
    - Festivals centered around climbing and storytelling

Criteria

In Spring 2024, they will be awarding grants of up to $1,000 to communities around the world that currently lack a funding pathway to support climbing area and community development, including:
- Environmental projects
- Social impact projects
- Creative projects
They welcome applications from climbing organizations who share their vision of advancing global climbing and addressing inequities and systemic challenges in the climbing world.

Proposed projects must meet the following requirements:

Requests of or under $1000 USD
Led by a local climbing organization
Implemented between April and September 2024
Clear scopes of work
Quantifiable impacts on the selected community and environment
Defined geographic area of impact
Detailed timeline and budget information
Activities that are sustainable beyond the grant term
They will be prioritizing funding for climbing communities that do not currently have avenues of financial support for projects like these. They are also specifically interested in supporting projects led by individuals who are currently underrepresented in the climbing industry, including climbers who are Black, Indigenous, or People of Color.