Challenge Overview
In February 2024, Invest in Our Future and What Works Plus launched Philanthropy’s 500/1500 Challenge to further implementation of federal climate and clean energy investments.
The Challenge, which concluded at the end of May 2024, galvanized philanthropy to raise awareness about projects, increase coordination among key entities, and support communities across the country to learn about, access, and implement funds.
The two-part Challenge was designed to track:
500 places: Philanthropically-funded education and awareness activities in cities, counties, regions, states, and tribal nations.
1500 projects: Philanthropically-funded efforts to help stand up and implement projects (e.g., technical assistance, gap/match funding, and workforce development). In response to a remarkable number of Project submissions from philanthropy, this goal was increased tenfold from its initial target of 150 to 1500.
Ultimately, the Challenge tracked:
>$231M
in grantmaking
1722 Places
/500 goal
1979 Projects
/1500 goal
Readout: Philanthropy’s 500/1500 Challenge
Philanthropy’s 500/1500 Challenge Readout — available by clicking here or on the cover to the left — spotlights some of the Challenge’s participants and their qualifying activities, and summarizes some of the Challenge’s key outcomes and takeaways.
Some highlights from the readout include:
Analysis of key geographies and communities impacted by philanthropic investments,
A spotlight on philanthropic and nonprofit organizations leading initiatives to increase awareness of federal climate and clean energy funding in places, and to help stand up federally funded projects.
Opportunities for the field to fill in resource gaps and ensure effective and equitable implementation.
Published in August 2024, this document describes activities captured between February 2024 - May 2024. For any questions regarding this report, please reach out to the What Works Plus team through our contact page.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy highlighted this readout in an article, available here.
Philanthropy’s Investments
This map represents submissions received through the Challenge for education and awareness activities – recently supported by philanthropy – in specific cities, counties, regions, states, and tribal nations. Access the interactive version of the map at this link.
Ultimately, the Challenge tracked 1,722 activities spanning across all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico.
Participating Organizations
The below organizations conducted Challenge-eligible, philanthropically-supported activities that were captured as part of the Challenge. Some participating organizations requested to remain anonymous and are not included in this list.
Questions?
This information was developed in mid-2024 to facilitate broader knowledge sharing and increased coordination between philanthropy, nonprofits, government, and the broader federal funding implementation ecosystem.
Please feel free to reach out to the What Works Plus team using our contact page if you have any questions.