Grants & How to Apply
Types of Grants
The Foundation offers two kinds of grants, yearly.
Our Conservation Priority Grants ** seek to fund and help develop projects that can create measurable, positive change for communities in these focus areas: Coral Reefs: Restoration & Resilience, Ocean Pollution: Public Awareness & Action, Threatened Species & Habitats. These grants range from $5,000 to $20,000 per year and are generally by invitation based on a completed and reviewed pre-proposal.
Our Pre-Proposal Form Is Available HERE.
Conservation Priority Grant applications are accepted, generally by invitation, between January – October of the year proceeding the beginning of funding requested. Approved grants are awarded in January/February of the project year. Preliminary inquiries should be sent to grants@seaofchange.com.
Our “Reef Rescue and Rapid Response” Grants seek to empower the dive community to act as first-responders to localized, anthropogenic and acute impacts to coral reefs. These grants range from $500 to $5,000 per project and are available on a rolling basis and as funds are available.
Has your reef suffered a recent human-caused impact? Do you have a plan to address the problem directly? If so, please fill out this one-page application and submit it to grants@seaofchange.com.
The fund helps support the immediate response to coral reef damage from anchor drops, vessel groundings, entanglement, oil spills and acute pollution that impact coral reefs. The grants will support divers and their communities in responding quickly to a reef-damaging incident by helping cover immediate costs such as boat fuel, staff time, video cameras, lift bags, transect tapes and handheld GPS units. Anticipated responses may include damage assessment and documentation for future litigation and restoration, and/or collection of coral fragments for regrowth, and/or up-righting of larger corals that may recover in situ.
For more information, download Reef Rescue and Rapid Response PDF> 
How to Apply
Conservation Priority Grants
- These grants, ranging from $5,000 to $20,000 yearly, are generally awarded by invitation only. However, after reviewing our past projects, here, an initial inquiry with a one-paragraph proposed project summary may be sent to: grants@seaofchange.com for initial consideration.
- Projects that are selected for consideration are invited to submit a pre-proposal based on a form the Foundation provides to including description of conservation out-comes, deliverables, and matching funds. The Foundation may work with the applicant to guide and develop a pre-proposal to best fit with our conservation priorities and deliver the best possible outcome. All funded projects will be required to submit short quarterly reports with photos and video.
NEW: Reef Rescue & Rapid Response Grants
- These grants, ranging from $500 to $5,000 per project are available on a rolling basis and as funds are available.
- A short-form, one-page application is required that describes the date and cause of the reef-damaging incident, along with photos, and the planned response.
- To begin the application process, please send an initial email inquiry to grants@seaofchange.com. All funded projects will be required to submit a follow-up report and photo-documentation.
** The Sea of Change Foundation funds a maximum of 10% indirect/overhead costs for approved Conservation Priority grant-funded projects. The Board of Directors reserves the right, at their discretion, to increase funded overhead costs for emergency grants such as the Reef Rescue and Rapid Response grants.
