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Three Years of the Get Into Nature Initiative Yields Positive Results

January 21, 2025  |  access to nature, community organizations, equity outdoors, Get into nature, grantee support, national recreation foundation, philanthropic funding, toms of maine, youth development
A group of people sit around a Brown Girls Climb flag next to a cliff
Photo courtesy of Brown Girls Climb

The National Recreation Foundation has collaborated with Tom’s of Maine since 2020 to increase access to nature for youth across the United States. The Get Into Nature initiative has allowed NRF to reach small, community organizations that are often overlooked in the philanthropic landscape. These organizations are still reeling from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and are facing long-term, structural inequities in the outdoor and environmental education sector. As this phase of the Get Into Nature initiative winds down, we’ve taken time to zoom out and reflect on our impact. We have been able to reduce barriers and affect change by increasing support for small, community-led organizations, organizations led by people of color, underfunded geographic regions, and by increasing capacity through holistic grantee services.

Young kids play in a forest, one of them looks into the camera while smiling
Photo courtesy of Backyard Basecamp

First and foremost, we’re proud of the support we’ve been able to offer to organizations and communities that often do not receive robust philanthropic backing. NRF has issued almost $2.5 million in grants to 80 organizations through our relationship with Tom’s of Maine. 100% of those organizations reach marginalized audiences and almost 85% specifically serve youth of color. Five grantee organizations exclusively serve Indigenous youth, a population that is disproportionately underserved by youth programs in the U.S. Further, almost 70% of the organizations we’ve funded are led by people of color. This is an especially important data point, because we know that mentorship from adults with similar identities and experiences is a key ingredient in positive youth development. Additionally, some studies suggest that white-led non-profits are almost 15% more likely to receive philanthropic funding than BIPOC-led non-profits. By focusing on organization led by people of color, NRF is both filling a funding gap and supporting more culturally responsive programs.

A group of teens carry surfboards on a beach
Photo courtesy of Native Like Water

Our commitment to equity goes beyond racial identity. NRF also focused on geographic diversity in our grants as part of this initiative. While our funding supported youth programming in 41 different states, we focused almost 20% of funding in the Gulf Coast and the Southeast, two regions of the U.S. that are underfunded in our field. Nationally, less than 1% of philanthropic dollars go to the Gulf Coast. NRF issued nine grants in five states in the Gulf Coast region, which represented over 11% of Get Into Nature funding. In the Southeast, NRF administered seven grants in four states. The median size of philanthropic grants to programs in the Southeast is less than $2,500. The median grant size in this region from Get Into Nature was $30,000, twelve times that amount.

A teenager surfs on a river wave using a paddle board
Photo courtesy of the Watersmith Guild

Perhaps most importantly for us, Get Into Nature helped support small, community organizations in a way that will allow them to continue to thrive and serve kids for years to come. Most of the grantees served through this initiative have annual budgets under $1 million and are working hard to bring valuable resources to the families they serve.  Following their grant cycles, 92% of grantees agreed that they were better able to provide for a community need, and 75% of grantees were able to leverage the grant from NRF to gain additional funding. This is in part because NRF support goes beyond grant dollars. We’re proud to offer holistic grantee services, like peer leadership circles, evaluation support from top researchers delivered in a cohort model, professional development workshops, and networking opportunities. These services are designed to bolster the people who make up community-based organizations doing critical, and often very challenging, work with young people. Holistic support allows NRF’s impact to continue after the financial grant cycle is over by preventing leadership burnout and creating relationships with resources and peer organizations from across the country.

A group of young people backpack through a desert
Photo courtesy of Outdoor Outreach

These numbers are one powerful way to track our impact, which is rooted in building human connections that support increased capacity for our grantees to create change in their communities. Grantees are building a connection to nature, culture, community, and action among the next generation. With this constellation of support, youth are better able to live happy, healthy lives into adulthood with increased capacity to advocate for issues they care about. NRF is proud to support these impactful programs and is grateful to Tom’s of Maine for its investment in a more hopeful and sustainable future for kids across the U.S.