Have you ever wanted to start a compost pile with your neighborhood or grow community energy efficiency programs at your nonprofit? Now you can! The Community Climate Leadership Fund is designed to build community capacity at all levels working toward climate action and waste reduction through shovel-ready projects.
Whether you're a group of neighbors, a formal HOA, school, organization or individual, you are welcome to apply for funding. Both small and large projects are encouraged and must be completed within 2026-2027.
Applications Open June 16, 2026.
The City’s Our Climate Future Plan provides a community-wide framework for achieving a carbon-neutral, renewable, and zero-waste future. The plan emphasizes that achieving these outcomes requires collaboration across the community and the help of residents, businesses and institutions as leaders.
The Community Climate Leadership Fund supports the leadership and work of the individuals, neighborhood groups, nonprofits, community-based organizations and schools in our community toward those goals – the while strengthening neighborhood vitality and community partnerships.
Successful proposals must clearly demonstrate climate benefits to the community by connecting to goals established by Our Climate Future and the 2050 Climate Tax language (see bullets below). This funding is intended to strengthen the community’s sustainability efforts.
Proposals should describe the scope and reach of their project. This may include:
Projects may vary in scale. Smaller neighborhood initiatives and larger community-wide efforts are both eligible if they demonstrate meaningful environmental and community impact.
The proposal can include activities that occur within the Growth Management Area but must demonstrate benefits to communities within City of Fort Collins limits.
Proposals will be asked to describe the expected lifespan of the project, including:
Applicants will be asked to submit a project budget with estimated costs, including line items where possible. Quotes for anticipated expenses are encouraged but not required. Participants may also be asked whether the budget could be scaled up or down.
Applicants should also describe expected project deliverables, such as:
The City will provide additional guidance regarding eligible and non-allowable expenses, based on City legal and financial requirements.
Examples of non-allowable expenses may include:
The program will prioritize proposals that improve access or reduce barriers to climate solutions and resilience for communities experiencing disproportionate environmental or economic burdens.
Applicants will be asked to describe how their proposal may benefit/or support Disproportionately Impacted (DI) communities. In Fort Collins, DI communities may include low-income populations, people of color, mobile home communities, and those who are housing cost-burdened.
To reduce barriers to participation, the program may allow for flexible payment models, including:
OurClimateFuture@FortCollins.Gov