NEW YORK (JTA) — Thirteen Israeli nonprofit environmental organizations will receive a total of $1.5 million in grants as part of a matching program.
The 24 grants from the Jewish Funders Network and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund are part of a program initiated by the Goldman fund, which put up $750,000 to match gifts of $25,000 to $50,000 from donors who were giving to Israeli environmental projects for the first time.
In total, the Jewish Funders Network found 35 philanthropists to make first-time donations to environmental causes, according to a news release from the organization.
The recipients of the grants, of $50,000 to $250,000, are Bustan, Derech Hateva, EcoOcean, Ecopeace/Friends of the Earth Middle East, Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership, Israel Green Building Council, Link to the Environment, Movement for Israeli Urbanism, Project Wadi Attir, Shahaf Community Development Center, Sviva Israel, The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies and The Sheli Fund.
“For many years, few other funders took an interest in Israel’s environment,” said Richard Goldman, president of the Goldman fund. “We saw this matching gift as a means to energize funders to consider environmental projects in Israel and draw attention to the innovation that is driving new solutions there.”
