Elephant Conservation & Research Funding Support Program

Deadline: 02-Aug-2024

The International Elephant Foundation’s Elephant Conservation and Research Funding Support Program is now open for submissions.

The International Elephant Foundation (IEF) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation of individuals and institutions dedicated to the conservation of African and Asian Elephants worldwide.

IEF is interested in supporting effective, sustainable conservation projects that will make a positive impact for elephants, habitats and the communities that share their land. The application must show that the project goals, methods and intervention are perceived to be or known to be functionally effective, ethically and culturally appropriate, feasible, and the relevant stakeholders are included in the project development and activities.  IEF will not fund activities or interventions that have been proven to be ineffective. Therefore, make sure you research the methods you are proposing to see what has already been tried and how it has been tried.

Funding Information

• On average IEF funds 20 to 25 projects annually. The average Grant Award is $15,000 per year.

Criteria for Funding

• IEF will support:
  • Projects that propose prevention of damage from Human-Elephant Conflict mitigation
  • Habitat conservation and management;
  • Conservation education and community outreach;
  • Transfrontier or transboundary elephant conservation;
  • Elephant protection programs including anti-poaching patrols, infra-structure development, security, investigation and prosecution;
  • Reducing and preventing the ivory and bushmeat trade; and
  • Research into elephant diseases.
• Before you begin to write your proposal, consider that IEF prefers to fund:
  • Community-based programs that show promise for future growth;
  • Projects that have an immediate and measurable effect on elephant conservation;
  • Projects that can be accomplished and their success initially evaluated within a year, or two years if the proposal indicates a longer timeframe;
  • Project investigators’ CV demonstrates experience or a strong indication of their ability to be successful; and
  • Project investigator has established field-based operations in the project area.

For more information, visit IEF.