PLANET IMPACT FUND

Invest in our planet’s future

The 1% for the Planet® Impact Fund at National Philanthropic Trust combines the power of philanthropy with a robust portfolio of environmentally-focused investments to support nature-based solutions and other vital strategies for our planet and future generations.
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The Planet Impact Fund is a simple and effective way to align your money with your values and drive environmental solutions. 

Donate to the Planet Impact Fund

Impact framework

The Planet Impact Fund supports vetted environmental organizations working around the world to achieve positive, measurable outcomes for people and the planet in four impact areas:

  • Rights to Nature
  • Conservation & Restoration
  • Resilient Communities
  • Just Economies
amazont frontlines-led protest for rights to nature

Rights to Nature

Sample outcomes include:

  • Land and water rights secured for Indigenous people, women and small-scale farmers.
  • Renewable energy access increased through policy, research, infrastructure and technology development.
sunset over a bay with sea birds

Conservation & Restoration

Sample outcomes include:

  • Terrestrial ecosystems conserved and restored, including degraded forests, grasslands, deserts, tundras and their soil.
  • Freshwater ecosystems conserved and restored, including rivers, streams and wetlands.
a group of people thrashing quinoa

Resilient Communities

Sample outcomes include:

  • Climate adaptation strengthened through holistic and inclusive disaster risk and mitigation policies and programs.
  • ‍Toxics and pollution reduced, including hazardous chemicals and contamination in air, water and soil.
solar sister employees holding up solar lights

Just Economies

Sample outcomes include:

  • Sustainable agriculture advanced through practices that maintain ecosystems, improve climate adaptation and restore soil quality.
  • Decarbonization achieved through policy, subside elimination, offsetting and other strategies

Dual-impact strategy

The Planet Impact Fund allows donors to confidently do more with their money by supporting a curated portfolio of environmental impact investments and grants.

Each year, the Planet Impact Fund disburses approximately 10% of total assets to vetted environmental nonprofits. This strategic grant-making is guided by the principles of trust-based philanthropy and our four impact areas:

  • Rights to Nature
  • Conservation & Restoration
  • Resilient Communities
  • Just Economies

We designed the Planet Impact Fund investment portfolio to seek returns. All returns will be used to drive further investments and grants into innovative environmental solutions—today and into the future.

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Meet the Planet Impact Fund grantees

Planet Impact Fund grantees are 1% for the Planet Environmental Partners working across the globe to deliver proven, transformative and inclusive solutions to environmental challenges.
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Kunwarddebim landscape

Karrkad Kanjdji Trust (KKT)

supports First Nations communities in Arnhem Land, in Australia's Northern Territory.

Together they tackle some of the world's most pressing issues, preserving native biodiversity, combating climate change, creating meaningful and equal employment opportunities, and supporting the continuation of the world's oldest living culture. 

→ Impact Area: Rights to Nature

A person holding pleodendron saplings at Osa Conservation

Osa Conservation

collaborates with local communities, government officials and global leaders to establish a climate adaptive biodiversity corridor across southern Costa Rica.

They build resilience for both people and nature by implementing ecosystem stewardship, enhancing scientific understanding, providing education and training, and creating sustainable economic opportunities.

→ Impact Area: Conservation & Restoration

Groundwork USA planting a microforest

Groundwork USA

‍leads a network of people-centered environmental justice organizations—Groundwork Trusts—that are advancing strategies to increase health and well-being for all.‍

They work at the intersection of the environment, equity and civic engagement to holistically transform the natural and built environment of under-resourced communities.

→ Impact Area: Resilient Communities

a mother planting coffee with her baby on her back

Kula Project

develops entrepreneurs in Rwanda's coffee communities.

They eradicate poverty by focusing on the entrepreneurial development of female farmers through the sustainable growth of their coffee businesses and the creation of new microenterprises, while simultaneously teaching them how to care for the land they depend on.

→ Impact Area: Just Economies

Meet the Planet Impact Fund grantees

Kunwarddebim landscape

Karrkad Kanjdji Trust (KKT)

supports First Nations communities in Arnhem Land, in Australia's Northern Territory.

Together they tackle some of the world's most pressing issues, preserving native biodiversity, combating climate change, creating meaningful and equal employment opportunities, and supporting the continuation of the world's oldest living culture. 

→ Impact Area: Rights to Nature

A person holding pleodendron saplings at Osa Conservation

Osa Conservation

collaborates with local communities, government officials and global leaders to establish a climate adaptive biodiversity corridor across southern Costa Rica.

They build resilience for both people and nature by implementing ecosystem stewardship, enhancing scientific understanding, providing education and training, and creating sustainable economic opportunities.

→ Impact Area: Conservation & Restoration

Groundwork USA planting a microforest

Groundwork USA

‍leads a network of people-centered environmental justice organizations—Groundwork Trusts—that are advancing strategies to increase health and well-being for all.‍

They work at the intersection of the environment, equity and civic engagement to holistically transform the natural and built environment of under-resourced communities.

→ Impact Area: Resilient Communities

a mother planting coffee with her baby on her back

Kula Project

develops entrepreneurs in Rwanda's coffee communities.

They eradicate poverty by focusing on the entrepreneurial development of female farmers through the sustainable growth of their coffee businesses and the creation of new microenterprises, while simultaneously teaching them how to care for the land they depend on.

→ Impact Area: Just Economies

Planet Impact Fund grantees are 1% for the Planet Environmental Partners working across the globe to deliver proven, transformative and inclusive solutions to environmental challenges.
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Past Planet Impact Fund grantees

Amazon Frontlines Logo
Groundswell International logo
Indigenous Environmental Network Logo
ELAW logo
Soloar Sister Logo
Urban Ocean Lab Logo

How does it work?

When you donate to the Planet Impact Fund, your gift will simultaneously resource nonprofits addressing today’s urgent environmental issues and power investments that build a healthy, sustainable world.

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Each year, an estimated 10% of the Planet Impact Fund will be granted to leading environmental nonprofits. Learn about past recipients.
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All donors will receive annual impact reports. At any level of giving, your dollars will be working hard for the planet and people. You will also be part of a global community that is mobilizing thousands of donors, organizations and companies around the world through a powerful, impact-first collective giving model.

FAQs

How do I participate in the Planet Impact Fund?
The scale and urgency of the environmental challenges we face are monumental. These challenges—including climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution and land degradation—are interlinked and exceedingly complex. Importantly, solutions not only exist, they are being implemented around the world by communities, organizations, companies and governments. With time running short to avoid irreversible impacts, it is imperative that we invest in nature-based solutions, greenhouse gas reduction and environmental justice to drive change at scale—quickly, and for the long-term. The Planet Impact Fund is an innovative solution working to ensure that funding flows to organizations and companies at the forefront of addressing environmental challenges.

1% for the Planet is collaborating with National Philanthropic Trust and CapShift to bring the Planet Impact Fund to donors. Each partner is contributing their years of experience and specific expertise:

Founded in 1996, National Philanthropic Trust (NPT) is the largest national, independent public charity that manages donor-advised funds and one of the leading grantmaking institutions in the U.S. NPT offers philanthropic solutions, including donor-advised funds and other giving vehicles, and is committed to excellence in donor service and support. NPT serves as the fund manager, sponsor and fiduciary of the Planet Impact Fund.

CapShift, an impact investing platform and solutions provider, brings a deep knowledge of connecting capital to impact through investment. CapShift provides investment advisory services for the Planet Impact Fund, with a focus on shifting capital to work for the planet. The investments are recommended by CapShift with the goal of driving climate impact at a deeper level than what may be possible in a conventional ESG portfolio.

Together, we have created something new to the market: a fund where every dollar is invested or granted for maximum positive impact for the planet and people.

Anyone—individuals, businesses, institutions and others—can donate to the Planet Impact Fund, except individuals who are on the staff or board of investee companies or environmental partner grantees that receive funding from the Planet Impact Fund.

At this time, only U.S. donors can receive a tax deduction for a donation to the Planet Impact Fund; any other donors (without tax presence in the U.S.) will not receive a tax deduction, but are still welcome to donate. The Planet Impact Fund is a new innovation—we started in the U.S. but are looking to expand from there. We welcome your questions, since that helps us understand interest from potential donors around the world.

All donors will receive annual impact reports. At any level of giving, your dollars will be working hard for the planet and people. You will also be part of a global community that is mobilizing thousands of donors, organizations and companies around the world through a powerful, impact-first collective giving model.
No. Neither individual donors, nor 1% for the Planet, earn any returns through the Planet Impact Fund. Contributions to the Planet Impact Fund are irrevocable and tax-deductible; all returns will be used to drive further investments and grants into innovative environmental solutions—today and into the future.
Absolutely. You can make a transfer from your existing donor-advised fund to the Planet Impact Fund. This will not be a new tax-deductible donation, as you will have already received a tax deduction for your initial DAF contribution; instead, it is like recommending a grant from your DAF to any other 501(c)(3) organization. Simply recommend a grant to National Philanthropic Trust and specify "Planet Impact Fund" in the notes field. Donors giving $25,000 or more have the additional option to open their own donor-advised fund (DAF) account on the Planet Impact Fund investment platform.
A donor-advised fund, or DAF, is a giving account established at a public charity. It allows donors to make a charitable contribution, receive an immediate tax deduction and then recommend grants from the fund over time. Before they are granted, the funds can be invested for impact.
A blended fee will be applied to the balance of the Planet Impact Fund to support the administration of, and advisory on, the fund. Net fees are estimated at 2.5% in the Planet Impact Fund’s first years and are projected to decrease to below 2% per year as the fund reaches scale. The fee structure includes a philanthropic advisory fee that will go to 1% for the Planet (a nonprofit), for researching and recommending grantees; an investment advisory fee paid to CapShift for managing the investment portfolio; and a charitable administration fee to NPT for the ongoing management and administration of the charitable assets. We encourage donors interested in the individual DAF account option to contact us for more information at impact@onepercentfortheplanet.org.
The Planet Impact Fund’s investment strategy is fully aligned with our grantmaking strategy. We will invest in companies developing innovative solutions to combat climate change, protect resources and drive environmental stewardship, while screening out companies that have heightened exposure to climate-related risks or fossil fuels. We will also actively engage with companies to drive more environmentally responsible business practices, with a particular focus on greenhouse gas emission reduction.