Agua Fund
/OVERVIEW: The Agua Fund’s areas of giving invest in the environment, social services, civic engagement, social justice, disaster relief, food and agriculture, arts and culture and education. This funder works internationally, nationally and locally in select geographic regions of the U.S. The environment and Native American causes account for more than half of its grantmaking.
IP TAKE: With grants adding up to about $2.5 million each year, Agua supports innovative work in its areas of interest. Recent priorities include land and water conservation, Native American rights and disaster relief in the U.S. and abroad. This funder does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding, which makes it a tougher nut to crack; however, reach out to the foundation by email or phone to see if your work aligns with its vision, as well as to get on its giving radar. Grants that are conducted through a social justice or environmental lens have an edge here.
PROFILE: The Agua Fund, established in 2002, is a private foundation based in Washington D.C. The fund aims to “improve the quality of life through support of work to protect the natural environment and to help the poor, disadvantaged, and underserved.” This funder maintains a low profile, and little is known about its financial origins or the individuals behind it. Agua is a member of several national and regional grantmaking associations, including the Consultative Group on Biological Diversity, the Funders’ Committee on Civic Participation, Grantmakers in Aging, the Health and Environmental Funders Network and the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers. The fund awards grants totaling about $2.5 million each year. Its giving areas include the environment, social services, civic engagement, food and agriculture, Native Americans, military and veterans, and arts, culture and education.
Grants for Environmental Conservation, Freshwater Conservation and Sustainable Agriculture
Environmental funding is Agua’s largest area of grantmaking, accounting for just over 50 percent of its annual giving. This program operates at both the national and local levels with programs focused on this geographical difference. The Agua Fund’s national program supports research, advocacy and action in the areas of water conservation, sustainable farming and the protection of natural resources from mining and fracking. Past grantees in environmental space include the Clean Water for All Campaign, the National Coalition for Sustainable Farming and the National Resources Defense Council, supports “communities [...] engaged in the fight to defend themselves from the risk of unconventional oil and gas development.” In the area of sustainability, the fund has supported a clean water distribution program at Haiti’s Hôpital Albert Schweitzer and Solar Cookers International, which works to reduce communities’ needs for wood and fossil fuels for cooking.
Agua’s local environmental program prioritizes Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, greater Washington D.C., and the states of Colorado and Utah. In all three geographic areas, the fund focuses on land and water conservation, but has also funded projects in the areas of wildlife preservation, education, advocacy and agriculture. Past grantees include the Mesa Land Trust, which works with landowners to protect more than 58,000 acres in Colorado and Utah, and the Western Colorado Congress, which works in the areas of land management, sustainable agriculture and protecting lands from oil, gas and uranium mining projects. In Virginia and greater Washington, D.C., the fund has worked extensively to protect and rehabilitate the Anacostia, Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. One Grantee, the Potomac Riverkeeper’s Network aims to “restore clean water in the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers and tributaries through enforcement and community engagement.” Other past grantees include the Virginia Conservation Network, the Virginia League of Conservation Voters Education Fund and the Piedmont Environmental Council.
Grants for Disaster Relief
Agua conducts grants for disaster relief through its national and international service program, which essentially supports social service funding. One supports national and international organizations, and the other works locally in specific geographic areas of the U.S. The national and international service program works in the fields of disaster relief, women’s rights, sustainability and veteran’s causes. In the area of disaster relief, the fund has given to Doctors Without Borders, Télécoms Sans Frontières, which provides emergency communication services to areas in times of crisis, and Farm Aid, which helps small farms recover from disasters with small grants, training and assistance.
Grants for Women and Girls
The Agua Fund conducts women and girls’ rights through its national and international service program, which invests in an array of focus areas. Related grants benefitting women and women’s rights prioritize education and economic stability for women who are underserved, at-risk or living in politically unstable situations. Past women-related grantees include Women for Women International, the Global Fund for Women and the Feminist Majority Foundation, which has worked in Afghanistan to provide education, job training and basic healthcare to women and girls.
Grants for Military and Veterans, and Food
Agua has also funded former military and veterans organizations, including the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and Rebuilding Together, through its wide-ranging national and international service. Agua’s local social services funding works in Hawai’i, the Shenandoah Valley and Washington D.C. This latter program mainly works with organizations that support the elderly and hunger alleviation. In Hawai’i, Agua supports Hale Lulu Mamo, which works to meet the “social, creative, cultural and physical needs” of seniors at adult day care centers. Elder service grantees in Virginia and Washington, D.C. include the Medical House Call Program, Emmaus Services for the Aging and Legal Counsel for the Elderly. Past grantees in hunger alleviation include the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and Bread for the City of Washington, D.C.
Grants for Civic Engagement and Racial Justice
Agua’s civic engagement grants work “to increase the participation in public life of underrepresented groups and to protect voting rights.” One area of focus is the rights of Native American groups. In this area, the fund has supported the Native American Rights Fund and Native Vote, a project of the National Congress of American Indians. Other past civic engagement grantees include Virginia Organizing, the Voter Participation Center and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which works to secure equity for “African Americans and other racial and ethnic minorities.”
Grants for Arts, Culture and Education
Arts, culture and education make up Agua’s smallest giving area, accounting only for about one percent of its total annual grantmaking. Past education grantees focus on Native American equity, including grantees like the American Indian College Fund and Adopt-A-Native-Elder, which provides basic needs to Elders living in remote areas of the Navajo Nation. Arts and culture grants are minimal, but tend to address established arts organizations, such as the D.C. Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative, in the Fund’s geographic priority areas.
Grants for Native Americans and Agriculture
Agua Fund funds Native American and Indigenous causes through its related giving area, Native Americans and Health, as well as through its culture and education program. Much of grantmaking related to Native American equity is conducted through an agricultural sustainability lens that overlaps with some of the fund’s grants for the environment; however, other grants benefitting the Native American community also consider Native American economic development, education, housing, and human services. Past grantees in this space include the Model Food and Agriculture Code, which is a project of the Indigenous Food and Agriculture Initiative at the University of Arkansas School of Law. Others grantees include Adopt-A-Native-Elder, American Indian College Fund, and First Nations Development Institute.
Important Grant Details:
The Agua Fund’s grants range from a few thousand dollars to about $100,000, with an average grant size of about $20,000. This funder supports some large international and national organizations, but gives to many smaller, grassroots organizations as well. The environment and Native American causes constitute a sizable portion of its grantmaking. Call the foundation at (202) 342-2482 or email it at info@aguafund.org.
The Agua Fund does not accept unsolicited proposals. Bios of its staff members, however, are available at the foundation’s website, as is a list of philanthropic organizations with which it regularly collaborates.
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