How we work
We are led by our donor board and rely on the expertise of our team, advisory board and networks to develop our strategy and grant making.
We fund in two ways: by supporting partners to run grant programmes on our behalf, and by making direct grants to organizations. We don’t accept applications for funding but individuals and organizations can apply to our grant programmes.
Our grants
Grant programmes
Our grant programmes help us to support effective local work around the world, where we believe our funding can make the greatest difference.
Each programme has a defined theme and is run by a partner organization with specialist knowledge in that area. Our programmes invite applications for funding. Independent expert panels assess applications and make grant decisions. Our partners manage and support the grants.
Direct grants
We make a limited number of direct grants in our three funding areas: nature, culture and open access. Our boards and team identify grant recipients through our research.
We sometimes give outside our funding areas. Our discretionary grants support organizations and causes that members of our donor board have a personal ongoing commitment to, or interest in. See discretionary grants.
Our grants are often based on long-term relationships with organizations. We prefer to support organizations’ core costs but also support projects or, on occasion, endowments. Occasionally we make smaller, shorter-term grants to test a new idea or relationship. We also work with other foundations on collaborative funding initiatives.
We do not accept applications for direct grants.
Our principles and policies
We make few, multi-year grants. We limit the number of decisions we take each year so we have time to consider each one carefully. We fund core costs, existing projects and develop partnerships to create new programmes. We replicate and expand successful projects and award repeat grants to continue outstanding work. We try not to impose strict conditions on grant recipients and instead build relationships of trust.
As an environmental and open access funder, we operate with these ideals in mind, and encourage grantees to follow best practice in these areas. We ask that all materials resulting from our grants be made freely available online.
Annual summaries
Read our recent annual giving overviews with highlights from our grants and programmes.