FAQs

Application Process

  • We encourage grantees to move “through” their climate action journey with the FCI.

    • Grantees who have received three FCI grants are ineligible for the 2026 cycle.

    • Grantees must be up-to-date with their reporting requirements.

    • Grantees must not apply for the same grant type and same project. Grant requests may be for the same grant type but a different project or for a different grant type for the same project. For example:

      • A Scoping grant to identify the highest impact areas in energy use could be followed by a Technical Assistance grant to specify a chiller replacement project recommended during the first grant project.

      • An organization may have self-funded and conducted an ASHRAE Level II audit and have plans for two implementation projects: both would be eligible over two different application cycles.

  • Ineligible organizations

    • Have received three FCI grants in the 2021–25 cycles.

    • Are not located in the United States and its territories.

    • Are not a 501(c)(3) organization or cannot demonstrate a relationship with a vetted fiscal sponsor. 

    • Cannot demonstrate that a significant portion of their mission and programming relates to visual art.

    Refer to the Eligibility Guidelines and Eligibility Quiz for more information.

  • The FCI does not fund for-profit entities. If you are a newly established nonprofit, or if you work with a fiscal sponsor, pass-through, or nonprofit partner for gifts and grants, please include this information in your application.

    Note: For some Universities, this may mean that the Foundation associated with your University must apply for the grant.

    If you are a municipally-owned entity, you are eligible.

    Please contact us if you have questions about eligibility and applying with a pass-through.

  • New buildings, existing buildings, and building expansions are all eligible.

  • Yes. Check with your landlord or building owner—many owners are enthusiastic about sustainable tenant improvements and may offer free rent in return! Note that government or municipal buildings must provide evidence of their nonprofit status or a demonstrated commitment from a fiscal sponsor.

  • Applicants may only apply to one funding category per grant cycle.

  • No, please apply for the category for which you are most qualified and which makes the biggest difference for your institution and the climate.

  • It is fine to pursue one without the other.

  • Projects must begin June 1–August 31, 2026. This means that work toward the intended goals of the project has begun (e.g., kickoff meeting). We understand that projects may occur in tandem with or within a larger initiative. Those related or other initiatives do not need to fit into this timeline.

    Projects must be completed by:

    • Catalyst: December 31, 2026

    • Scoping and Technical Assistance: December 31, 2027

    • Implementation: December 31, 2028

  • Yes, the gallery is eligible to apply.

  • Yes.

Organization and Project Eligibility

  • Join us for the January 22 Information Session to learn about writing a strong application. Refer to the example applications and application evaluation criteria on the FCI website. The following high-level characteristics make a strong application.

    • Demonstrated need

    • Organization is in strong financial health

    • Reasonable scope

    • Clear goals

    • Significant potential climate impact

    • Feasible implementation

    • Sound technical project design

    • Appropriate consultants and team members

    • Complete project documentation

    • Specific budget

  • No. We understand that you may be in the process of selecting consultants. If a vendor is not selected, applicants should share where they are in the decision process, what companies they are waiting to hear from and the criteria they are using for selection.

  • You will need to provide a building performance estimate with an estimated Energy Use Intensity and Greenhouse Gas Emission MTCO2e.

    For the energy use form, you will need to apply these estimates demonstrating how the building is expected to perform compared to, for example, a conventional version of the same building.

  • Yes, you are still eligible, and the data you have since it was opened is acceptable.

Budget + Costs

  • No.

    A match of demonstration of investment internal to organizations or from external funds is strongly encouraged for Implementation grants.

  • Applicants must submit applications in alignment to the FCI Grant Categories and their funding limits.

    However, applicants can use FCI funding to catalyze, match, or otherwise support projects with budgets exceeding our funding limits.

    Please include the full cost of your overall project in the Budget section of your application. You may indicate any matches or funding partner opportunities, even if they are uncommitted at the time of application.

    Your submitted Budget should be accurate to the best of your knowledge at the time of submission.

  • No. Please refer to the Policy below.

    The Helen Frankenthaler Foundation is a 501(c)(3) private operating foundation that provides charitable grants to support visual arts programming, educational activities, and related operations. These awards are structured as philanthropic grants, not sponsored research or externally funded projects.

    Accordingly, the Foundation does not permit indirect costs (F&A) or institutional overhead to be charged to its grants, and grant funds may not be reduced, assessed, or reallocated for such purposes. When a university requires a designated receiving entity, the Foundation’s grants may be routed through the institution’s affiliated 501(c)(3) foundation or advancement office, which is the appropriate internal pathway for charitable contributions and where federal indirect-cost rates do not apply.

    This policy is consistent with standard practice among private foundations and ensures that grant funds directly support programmatic, educational, or operational needs as intended.

  • Only Implementation grants may include contingency funds. No more than 10% of the requested total may be designated to Contingency.

  • Only Direct Supervision of the project is allowed (e.g., Facilities Managers joining walk-throughs, additional staff present to protect the collection, etc.)

  • These can be quite varied, but we imagine the preparation of a case study is a strong example.

  • No.

  • FCI limits spending on certain kinds of project costs. FCI funds will not cover:

    • Overhead/indirect fees/operating costs.

    • Previously purchased services, equipment, or materials.

    • Re-grants.

    • Lobbying or advocacy.

    • Reusable equipment.

    • Food, travel, lodging, conference, entertainment, event registration fees or event fees.

    • Implementation applicants only: no more than 2 percent can be allocated to communications.

  • FCI projects which support development of curricula in art schools or higher education arts departments must be supplemental to an FCI project. Direct staff or consultant time are the only eligible expenses.

Grantee Reporting

Application Content

  • If you submitted a draft application:

    Close your application to editing. We will receive a notification, and your application is considered "submitted. Your application will remain in the “In Progress” status until a decision is conferred.

    If you did not submit a draft application: After submitting your application, you should receive an application submission confirmation email. If you do not receive a submission confirmation email, please email info@frankenthalerclimateinitiative.org.

  • Follow the instructions here.

  • Follow these instructions.

    In addition:

    If you do not receive a verification code, safelist the email address, notifications@email.auth.submittable.com, with your email provider to ensure you receive the code to verify your email. Here are the instructions: How Can I Safelist Notification Emails From Submittable?

    Once you have safelisted notifications@email.auth.submittable.com, please request the verification email again.

    If Submittable emails still do not reach your inbox after you have safelisted the email address, a network or firewall setting may prevent them from reaching your email filters. Contact your IT department or network administrator and inform them of the issue; they should have options to diagnose and solve the problem.

    Alternately, you can email submittersupport@submittable.com. They will be able to help activate your account.

  • Yes. Materials will be available on the website within 2-3 business days following the webinar.

  • Potential applicants should first determine eligibility by completing the Eligibility Quiz.

    The guidelines and instructions listed on this website are designed to help you plan what information to share.

    Potential applicants—and especially first-time applicants—are strongly encouraged to attend both information webinars.

    The FCI will provide feedback on application drafts submitted by the draft deadline of February 27, 5pm ET.

    Basic and/or specific questions about eligibility or the potential suitability of your project may be submitted via email to info@frankenthalerclimateinitiative.org.

  • No. Organizations may only submit one application per grant cycle. Select the grant category that best aligns to your project.

  • Yes. Please contact the FCI Team, info@frankenthalerclimateinitiative.org to discuss the project.

  • Yes. multiple organizations and/or entities under a single umbrella organization may apply. Only one application is accepted per entity.

  • Submission of an application draft is required for Implementation grants and optional for Catalyst, Scoping, and Technical Assistance grants. Prospective implementation grantees will not be allowed to begin an application on or after February 27.

    The deadline to submit a draft application is 5pm ET, Friday, February 27.

    Drafts will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

  • No. Only some questions are required for submitting a draft and thorough responses are not requested nor expected. Provide as much information to the FCI team to be able to understand your project’s design, team, and anticipated impacts and be able to provide feedback.

  • Final applications for the 2026 grant cycle are due by 5pm ET, Fri, March 27, 2026.

    Note: Implementation grant applicants are required to submit a draft by 5pm ET, Friday, February 27 to be considered.

  • Payment will occur in May/June as they are issued within two weeks of receipt of a signed grant agreement. Grant agreements are issued within five business days of award. Funding is issued as one lump-sum.

  • Yes.

  • Catalyst grants come with up to 5 hours of coaching. Other grant categories may opt-in to coaching. Coaching is offered in a group setting with other grantees, and one-on-one.

    As a group, opportunities to network and have peer-to-peer learning will occur virtually.

    One-on-one coaching can include:

    • Detailed feedback and/or consultation calls on project design or next steps

    • Consultation calls with sustainable construction experts on a specific topic, or as open discussion

    • Help getting started with monitoring energy in Portfolio Manager

  • Please read the Eligibility Guidelines for detailed descriptions of each Grant Category. However, a good shorthand for this is:

    • Scoping : what is the extent of the opportunity here?

    • Tech Asst: If we moved ahead, what is the design?

    • Implementation: We have the design, and are ready to do the intervention.

  • Using Energy Star® Portfolio Manager® (ESPM) for reporting is required. The FCI team will provide instructions and support for setting up and using ESPM for reporting.

    In addition, Implementation grant applicants are required to submit a Progress and Goals report reflecting calendar year 2025 energy use as part of their application.

    Review the Grantee Reporting section of the Eligibility Guidelines for more information.

  • Yes. This is required as part of your application. Please review the Eligibility Guidelines for more information.

  • For Prospective applicants, we suggest reviewing these resources:

  • The most recent announcement from EPA suggests ESPM will remain active. Please begin by using ESPM. We will support you in downloading information if the system should be threatened, and work with you to translate those CSV files into a reporting format.