Since last year’s Wildseeds Grants open call, we’ve been connected with so many incredible grassroots organizers who are uplifting frontline stories, building power, and emboldening transformative food and farm systems change. These are folks who, like wildseeds, are adapting to the ever-rising needs of our community in a way that speaks directly to climate, land and labor justice.

That being said, we have some important news about our Wildseeds Grants. Typically, in February we would announce our application cycle. This year, however, we have decided to do something different. In 2024, we received $16 million in requests for Wildseeds Grants. This was phenomenal and much more than we expected or were capable of responding to that year. To us, the increase in applications really spoke to the significant moment of narrative shift we are in. We believe this bold, visionary and growing community of farmworkers, farmers and frontline leaders need to be supported.

As a growing philanthropic intermediary, we invested $1.21 million in 2024, $981k of which were Wildseeds Grants to 17 projects across the U.S., including U.S. islands. We are proud of these numbers, of our capacity to reach often overlooked rural communities and our organization's ability to continuously fund so many groups–many who received their very first grant from us–over these last 13 years. We also recognize that the demand remains great. We are striving to not only meet the needs of emergent frontline organizations, but maintain support to our grantee community and long term movement support.

For this reason, in 2025, we have decided to revisit our initial pool of eligible 2024 applicants and give them another opportunity to receive funding. We will also extend invitations to current 2024 one-year grantees, and because we are continuously learning about organizations doing dynamic work, we will ensure there is still an opportunity to identify new partners (organizations that have not previously received a Wildseeds grant and who align with Wildseeds Grant Program priorities).

This adjusted process allows us to balance supporting previous applicants and grantees, as well as growing our pool of potential grantee partners at a pace that is sustainable for us.

We have made this decision with deep consideration of our partners and community members. You all inspire us and give us hope. We want to be reciprocal and honor your visions, labor and stories. That means being responsive to the reality we are in. Wildseeds Fund always aims to be responsive to the needs communicated to us. This, we believe, is part of our commitment to being movement accountable partners. And this also means listening to the needs on the ground as well as those of our grants advisors, grantee partners and broader network.

We want the Wildseeds Grant program to serve you in the best way possible. In the spring, we will be announcing new recipients for 2025.

If you applied for a Wildseeds Grant in 2024, we are considering your application for our grantmaking program this year. If we decide to move forward with your application, we will reach out for updates about your project.

If you have not yet had a chance to apply, we invite you to remain in touch with us. Follow us on social media and check out our newsletter to learn about future opportunities. To our funder community, we invite you to spread the word about our work and continue to give to Wildseeds Fund. Our team has the ability to process more applications and give to more groups. With increased support we can expand our impact, together.