Climate Smart Communities Initiative

Climate Smart Communities Initiative is sponsored by Kresge Foundation. Grants and technical assistance for community-based climate resilience projects in vulnerable areas, prioritizing historically disinvested populations at risk from climate impacts. This program should be reviewed carefully against your organization's mission, staffing capacity, timeline, and compliance readiness before you commit resources to a full application. Strong submissions usually translate sponsor priorities into concrete objectives, clear implementation milestones, and measurable public benefit.

For planning purposes, treat rolling deadlines or periodic funding windows as your working submission target unless the sponsor publishes an updated notice. A competitive project plan should include a documented need statement, implementation approach, evaluation framework, risk controls, and a realistic budget narrative. Even when a grant allows broad program design, reviewers still expect credible evidence that the proposed work can be executed within the grant period and with appropriate accountability.

Current published award information indicates $60,000 - $115,000 Organizations should verify the final funding range, matching requirements, and allowability rules directly in the official opportunity materials before preparing a budget. Finance and program teams should align early so direct costs, indirect costs, staffing assumptions, procurement timelines, and reporting obligations all remain consistent throughout drafting and post-award administration.

Eligibility guidance for this opportunity is: Nonprofits partnering with local/regional governments and climate adaptation practitioners If your organization has partnerships, subrecipients, or collaborators, define responsibilities and compliance ownership before submission. Reviewers often look for implementation credibility, so letters of commitment, prior performance evidence, and a clear governance model can materially strengthen the application narrative and reduce concerns about delivery risk.

A practical approach is to begin with a focused readiness review, then build a workback schedule from the sponsor deadline. Confirm required attachments, registration dependencies, and internal approval checkpoints early. This reduces last-minute issues and improves submission quality. For the most accurate requirements, always rely on the official notice and primary source links associated with Climate Smart Communities Initiative.

Funding Opportunities – Climate Smart Communities Initiative Registry of Adaptation Practitioners Training & Workforce Development Opportunity | Grant Process | How to Apply | Resources The Climate Smart Communities Initiative (CSCI) is pleased to announce the launch of the 2026 CSCI grants opportunity for US-based climate resilience projects.

CSCI awards provide funding and technical assistance to advance community-based climate resilience in US communities or regions that are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The total grants budget is $1. 5-2 million, and grants typically range from $75,000 to $115,000 based on the scope of work proposed in the application.

CSCI anticipates awarding between 16-20 grants for the 2026 cycle. The program prioritizes funding for communities that include historically disinvested populations at increased risk to climate-related impacts. It is open to US-based project teams composed of a climate adaptation practitioner and representatives from a local or regional government entity and a community-based organization.

Applicant Webinar Recording Timeline & Key Dates November 13, 2025 : Watch the informational applicant webinar recording .

February 1 : Due to the high number of applications to join the Registry of Adaptation Practitioners, in order to assemble all partners by early February 2026 we encourage: Adaptation practitioners to apply to join the Registry by February 1 Community partners to find a practitioner already listed in the Registry Early February 2026 : Recommended time by which all three required applicants partners should be assembled to allow sufficient time to complete the application.

Learn more in Step 1: Assemble Partners . March 12, 2026 : Grant Application deadline. CSCI grants are designed to be flexible to meet the unique needs of each community.

Grant funds can be used to support new climate resilience effort\s or build on previous work as well as fund a range of activities. In addition to funding, awarded project teams have access to CSCI’s comprehensive cohort support program , which is designed to provide capacity building support, including training and peer-to-peer learning opportunities from CSCI’s growing network of funded partners.

CSCI also offers technical assistance on an as-needed basis. Supplemental funding may be available to grantees to support access to topical experts and technical resources throughout the grant period.

Finally, award recipients are automatically included in CSCI’s learning and evaluation program , which aspires to refine our collective understanding of best adaptation practices, identify replicable resilience strategies, and establish common metrics of success to accelerate climate resilience efforts across the country. View our glossary of terms here and under “Applicant Resources” below.

Location : Projects and project partners must be based in the United States, inclusive of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa,, as well as the Tribal nations that share these geographies.

Climate impacts : Applicant communities must be facing significant impacts from climate change-related hazards based on environmental as well as socioeconomic considerations. Climate resilience : Activities and work proposed must be strictly focussed on climate adaptation and resilience.

Applications with a primary focus on, climate mitigation actions, emissions reduction, carbon sequestration, or energy efficiency will not be considered. Community size : The population of the community (number of people within the geographic area that is the focus of the proposed climate resilience project) should be less than 300,000 residents.

However, applicants representing geographies with populations up to 500,000 residents will be considered for projects that are regional in scope. Partners : CSCI grants support climate resilience-building efforts that include three types of partners: 1) Adaptation practitioner, 2) Community-based organization, 3) U. S.

local or regional government. All applications must include at least one partner of each type. Partnerships can be new or a previous or ongoing collaboration.

If you are in need of one of these partners, l earn more about How to Apply and how the Registry of Adaptation Practitioners can help you connect with other interested applicant partners. Explore examples of previously funded CSCI projects on our award list page .

Climate Change Vulnerability: CSCI funds projects designed to help communities that are vulnerable to climate change-related hazards to build their capacity to plan for climate impacts and to increase their resilience to those hazards. Equity : CSCI prioritizes projects that center equity in climate resilience planning and implementation.

Equity is a core value of the program and an important component in any effort aimed at increasing the effectiveness and sustainability of a climate resilience plan or project. Nature : CSCI also prioritizes the consideration of climate impacts on nature and nature-based solutions (NbS) in climate resilience plans and projects.

NbS are often more adaptive and cost-effective alternatives to standard gray infrastructure-based solutions and provide many co-benefits to people and to nature. While consideration of nature and NbS are required, their inclusion is not as they may not be the best fit or in scope for every project.

Readiness to increase climate resilience : CSCI requires applicants to demonstrate that the work they propose is aligned with the needs of, and conditions present in, the community or region in question.

Unless the project team is in the earliest phase of their planning process, the proposed activities must be informed by or build on prior work that broadly aligns with the sequence of the Steps to Resilience (StR) Framework (see graphic ) . See definitions of each StR phase in the glossary of terms to learn more.

The goal of the proposed work must be clearly linked to the cited climate change-related hazards and the proposed activities must aspire to enable the community to increase its resilience to those hazards. Capacity building : CSCI awards are limited to 12-month grant periods, but climate change impacts will remain an ongoing challenge in all communities.

To help extend the impact of the technical and financial support provided, the initiative will prioritize investment opportunities that explicitly address or indirectly increase capacity of the applicant community to pursue their climate resilience goals beyond the grant period. CSCI will evaluate complete applications and make awards on a competitive basis.

A panel of expert reviewers drawn from a set of diverse organizations, from different sectors and a range of geographies will evaluate applications using a scoring rubric based on the following criteria.

Community vulnerability to climate change-related hazards Presence of and focus on historically disinvested populations Incorporation of diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice principles and practices Consideration of nature-based solutions Community readiness to make measurable progress on climate resilience Capacity-building potential Potential impact of the work and opportunity for learning Requirements & Deliverables If awarded, Community-based Organizations and Local/Regional Government Partners commit to : Co-create a detailed budget with project partners.

Attend a 1. 5-hour CSCI orientation and a 1. 5 StR orientation at the start of the grant period (one community or government representative required at each, but others are welcome).

Be available to work directly with an adaptation professional to develop or advance a proposed climate resilience plan or project over the 12-month grant period. Complete a survey one year after the close of the 12-month grant period. If awarded, Adaptation Practitioners commit to: Co-create a detailed budget with project partners.

Attend a 1. 5-hour CSCI orientation and a 1. 5 StR orientation at the start of the grant period (the adaptation practitioner is required to attend both, but other colleagues are welcome).

Complete a grant kickoff survey (1-2 hours) by the end of the first month of the project. Join a 30-minute progress check-in call by the end of the 6th month of the grant period. Complete an end-of-grant survey (1-2 hours) by the end of the 12-month grant period.

Complete portions of a project case study template (3-6 hours) by the end of the grant period.

Funding can be used to cover a range of expenses and resources depending on the needs of the community and the ‘step’ at which the community is along the StR (see the Applicant Resources section) including: Complete a climate vulnerability and sensitivity analysis, Facilitation of planning processes Resilience project prioritization Obtaining financing for the implementation of planned climate resilience efforts One grant agreement or contract will be generated for each project with one of the project partners, typically the adaptation practitioner, as the recipient.

Funds may be passed-through to local governments partners, community-based organizations, and other project participants. CSCI does not have requirements for how subcontractors or subgrants or stipends are paid from the CSCI award are managed. However, the application does ask how the applicant team intends to allocate project funding across partners.

Project partners should decide on the distribution of awarded funds that is appropriate to their project goals and objectives. (This allocation can be changed in the post-award budgeting phase.) Funds must be spent by the end of the 12 month grant period.

Therefore, applicants must propose work that can be completed within one year (CSCI is unable to approve no-cost extensions absent extreme circumstances). Eligibility is limited to communities and regions within the 50 United States, inclusive of the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, American Samoa,, as well as the Tribal nations that share these geographies.

CSCI is unable to make grants directly to government agencies. Overhead rates for CSCI awards are capped at 10% of the total direct expenses. Grant recipients must review and sign a grant agreement or contract within 6 weeks of receipt.

CSCI will only consider applications that propose the creation of a new position if there are clear plans to finance the position after the grant period. CSCI will only consider applications that propose relocation if there is information provided about the climate resilience of the proposed relocation site. CSCI awards cannot be used to make competitive subgrants.

CSCI awards cannot be used to support public policy lobbying activities. CSCI awards cannot be made to projects proposing climate mitigation activities, including renewable energy, energy efficiency, electrification, emissions reductions, and other related activities.

Disaster preparedness will be considered only as a component of a project that is largely focussed on climate resilience but not as the standalone focus of a proposed project. Disaster preparedness efforts must also target vulnerabilities to future climate impacts, and not determined solely by past or current events or circumstances. Hover over and click the graphic elements to explore the application process.

Step 1: Assemble Partners All applications must include at least one of each of these three partners: The adaptation practitioner must be from an organization, or a sole practitioner, that has applied and been accepted into the Registry of Adaptation Practitioners before the application deadline , March 12, 2026 .

The adaptation practitioner provides technical expertise to help actualize a community’s climate resilience vision or goals and can align a community’s project with the Steps to Resilience or other best practices and standards in the field.

Community-based Organization The community-based organization can be any non-governmental, community serving organization, including nonprofit organizations, local universities, or other community groups or alliances. The community-based organization role is envisioned, in part, to ensure the perspectives and priorities of the broader community are well-represented throughout the process, especially historically disinvested populations.

Local/Regional Government The government partner must be a town, city, county, district, regional or Tribal government, or a special planning commission. The government partner must have the ability to authorize the implementation of projects aimed at advancing the climate resilience of the community.

The government partner’s participation ensures that there is official commitment to efforts undertaken or planned during the grant period to support continuity and sustainability beyond the grant period. Step 2.

Submit an Application Once all partners have been assembled (Adaptation Practitioner + Community-based organization + Government) and the adaptation practitioner is listed in the Registry, you are ready to submit a grant application! Grant applications must be submitted by 8:00pm ET, Thursday, March 12, 2026.

CSCI grants are designed to fund the time and capacity of an adaptation practitioner to help communities turn their climate resilience vision and goals into actionable plans and projects. Typically, the adaptation practitioner is the lead applicant and takes the lead on the submission of the grant application (in collaboration with the other partners).

Should the application be selected for a grant, the lead applicant will be the recipient of the award (with funds passed through to partners as needed and determined by the scope of the work proposed), and will take on the grant administration responsibilities throughout the grant period. If a different member of the project team is the preferred lead applicant, please reach out to info@climatesmartcommunity.

org before submitting your application. Registry of Adaptation Practitioners Due to the high number of Registry applications we are receiving, we encourage adaptation practitioners to apply to join the Registry by February 1, and encourage community partners to find a practitioner already listed in the Registry in order to assemble all partners by early February 2026.

The Registry of Adaptation Practitioners is a directory of vetted organizations that offer climate adaptation and resilience services. It is designed to connect communities with qualified practitioners whose expertise aligns match needs. Adaptation practitioners must apply and be accepted into the Registry to be eligible for CSCI funding.

Practitioners who are already listed in the Registry don’t need to re-apply. Once listed, practitioners seeking a community-based organization and local/regional government partner can be found by prospective partners to co-apply for a CSCI grant.

Community-based organizations and local/regional governments seeking an adaptation practitioner should search the Registry to find vetted practitioners that are available to co-apply for a CSCI grant. We recommend joining and searching the Registry as soon as possible, and encourage you to find a partner already listed in the Registry in order to assemble your partners by early February 2026 .

This should leave sufficient time to complete the grant application together. Explore the Registry Tutorial for step-by-step instructions. Still have questions?

Contact info@climatesmartcommunity. org Project Planning and Development Resources Previously Funded Projects Practitioner’s Guide Get the latest updates about CSCI in your inbox. Registry of Adaptation Practitioners Training & Workforce Development © 2026 Climate Smart Communities Initiative