The Hawaii Community Foundation is accepting applications for its Holomua Marine Initiative Strengthening Community Advocacy Program.
Donor Name: Hawaii Community Foundation
State: Hawaii
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 10/24/2025
Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
The purpose of this funding opportunity is to strengthen the capacity for effective advocacy in community organizations and programs in Hawaiʻi that make meaningful contributions to achieving the collective goal of the Holomua Marine Initiative, which focuses on effectively managed nearshore marine resources in Hawai’i with strong community co-management.
Grant Focus
The primary focus of this opportunity is to provide capacity support and training for communities in Hawaiʻi on a range of topics that will help to further their abilities to advocate for policy goals that underpin effective management of marine resources and ecosystems. The types of training support to be provided may include but are not limited to:
- Exploring and identifying community and organizational advocacy goals;
- Understanding of the legislative process and opportunities therein to have positive impact on local and state decision-making;
- Strengthening advocacy knowledge and skills, including the preparation and delivery of testimony, understanding the rules related to advocacy and lobbying, etc.;
- Agreeing on advocacy pathways to support community-identified advocacy goals;
- Collaborating with partners to support community-identified site-specific and state-wide advocacy goals; and,
- Articulating how place-based advocacy priorities connect to collective efforts to achieve effective nearshore marine management.
Funding Information
Grant requests for up to 10% of current annual operating budgets or no more than $10,000 USD will be considered.
Grant Period
Grant requests for a duration of 12 months (1 year) will be considered.
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must fall into one of three (3) following categories:
- a nonprofit organization in the State of Hawai‘i with a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status;
- a community group with a geographically delineated area of responsibility, i.e., residents of a community, lineal descendants of a moku or ahupuaʻa, concerned citizens of an area, etc. in the state of Hawai‘i;
- or a community group with a marine use or activity focus, i.e., fishers group, limu hui, dive association, etc.
- Existing and former HCF Holomua Marine Initiative grantees, partners, and applicants who are engaged with the Holomua Marine Initiative network will be prioritized for award.
- Groups that are not an organization with 501(c)(3) status must have valid fiscal sponsors with 501(c)(3) status to submit the application and manage the grant funds on their behalf. Fiscal sponsors must be based in the state of Hawai‘i.
- Organizations with any past due HCF final reports are not eligible to apply. To ensure eligibility, submit any outstanding final reports to HCF, or request a no cost extension, no later than the submission deadline for this funding opportunity.
- Matching resources of a minimum 50% are required and may consist of cash or other grants, in-kind services and/or volunteer time. Sources of match need to be identified in the proposal and in progress or final reports.
For more information, visit Hawaii Community Foundation.
