Catalyst Fund

Special Note, Spring 2026: We are pausing the Catalyst Fund for 2026, and will not be issuing a Request for Proposals this year. From the outset of the Catalyst Fund, we have believed that targeted investments in place-based landscape collaboratives could be catalytic in enabling such collaboratives to do more, not just around delivering a single project but rather over the long term—that such investments would enable grantees to grow into the durable, adaptive, and effective collaboratives that we need if we are to actually address the complex, urgent, and interwoven challenges facing our lands, waters, and communities today. The recently released independent evaluation of the Catalyst Fund validates this thinking. As such, we remain deeply committed to strengthening collaborative capacity that is so critical to impactful landscape conservation & stewardship, and are using this year to consider what if any adaptations are warranted and to secure additional resources to sustain the Catalyst Fund moving forward. We look forward to sharing updates in the future!

*     *     *     *     *

The Network launched the Landscape Conservation Catalyst Fund Program in 2019 to accelerate the pace and practice of collaborative landscape conservation and stewardship across the United States.

The Catalyst Fund couples financial support through a competitive grant process with an in-depth Peer Learning and capacity building experience. The Fund makes strategic investments in strengthening the collaborative capacity of place-based, community-grounded Landscape Partnerships. These investments are intended to better positions Partnerships to achieve long-term conservation and stewardship success, building in landscapes across the country the enduring collaborative infrastructure and social capital needed to address systems-level challenges like the biodiversity, climate change, and environmental injustice crises.

A portion of the Fund is dedicated to supporting Indigenous leadership in landscape conservation & stewardship. Tribal-led Partnerships focused wholly on sovereign Tribal lands and/or focused on advancing and conserving Indigenous interests, territories, and rights across a broader defined landscape are encouraged to apply.

The Catalyst Fund operates on an annual grant cycle schedule, and the 2025 submission window has closed. We are pleased to announce the 18 recipients of 2025 Catalyst Fund grant awards.

See the 2025 Catalyst Fund grant recipients    

View previous recipients of Catalyst Fund grants awards:

2019 funded Partnerships           2020 funded Partnerships

2021 funded Partnerships           2022 funded Partnerships

2023 funded Partnerships           2024 funded Partnerships

Cover photo: Catalyst Fund grantees visiting the Jemez Pueblo during a peer learning retreat in 2023. Photo credit: Trees, Water & People.