About the Trust for Conservation Innovation

What We Do

The Trust for Conservation Innovation (TCI) helps environmental leaders fulfill their visions by providing nonprofit status and fiscal sponsorship services for innovative conservation projects. Because we take care of the financial, administrative, and legal aspects of managing a nonprofit for you, you can focus on what's really important — your mission.

As fiscal sponsors, we provide structure for your vision:

  • An administrative infrastructure so that your project can start up and focus immediately on strategy and programs.
  • Tax-exempt nonprofit status so you can get the type of funding you need.
  • A comprehensive suite of back-office support and consultation services, along with the assurance that your project is adhering to current legal and financial regulations.
"Having a fiscal sponsor who can effectively fulfill so many of the support and accounting functions is huge for us because we can just focus on the work at hand."—Kevin Starr, Founder and Director of the Rainer Arnhold Fellows Program

Who We Are

Our staff focuses exclusively on environmental projects. We have a broad range of experience managing environmental nonprofits and providing a structure for environmental leaders to build on. Because we only accept a select group of projects, we have the time to offer you prompt, personalized attention, customized solutions, and the support services you really need, so you are free to do what you do best: Lead. Fulfill your vision. Grow.

Working under our umbrella and sharing resources with other projects is a cost-effective solution whether you are just starting out, or you are not in a position to incorporate as a nonprofit organization. TCI can manage a wide range of legal and administrative issues as you move towards your goal. You can be confident that we have the skills and expertise to handle any issues you encounter, quickly and efficiently.

Read more about our leadership team.

Who We Help

The Alto Purus River and tributary

TCI supports a wide variety of sustainable environmental initiatives in areas as diverse as water and energy conservation, marine and fisheries conservation, sustainable food systems, environmental education and land conservation. Here are just a few examples of how TCI projects are making a positive impact on the environment:

  1. Upper Amazon Conservancy is trying to save the last large-leaf mahogany forest in Peru.
  2. Envaya is helping nonprofit organizations in Africa create a web presence and update their websites through their telephones because they don't have computers.
  3. Roots of Change is developing a new sustainable food and farming system in California by the year 2030.
  4. Olazul is helping coastal communities transition from overfishing practices by exploring new ecological aquaculture methods.

TCI projects are doing work like this all over the globe with support from foundations, corporations, individual donors and many other types of funding, and we accept and help more projects like these every year. You can help our projects succeed by making a donation today.

Our History

California Environmental Associates, a San Francisco-based environmental consulting firm, created the Trust for Conservation Innovation in 2002 as a nonprofit alternative in the marketplace for low-cost, high-value fiscal sponsorship services to other nonprofit projects. TCI has grown significantly since 2002, and we are continuing to look for new opportunities to help environmental visionaries accomplish their goals.

Do you have a project that's right for TCI? We want to know. Learn more about our services and how TCI can help, or find out how to become a TCI project.