Climate information reaches everyone, or it doesn't work.
Climate Cardinals is one of the world's largest youth-led climate organizations. We break language barriers in the climate movement so every community can take action and protect their future.
Payments are processed securely by Raisely. Card details never touch this page.
We'll tell you the price of everything.
These are the real annual figures from our programs page. Nothing here is a marketing round number, and every amount on this page is measured against them.
Runs the whole program at our current capacity: platform management through Phrase and a part-time translation manager.
Regranting, workshops, production of materials, professional development, the software we use to keep costs low, staff time, and external validation.
Based on a cohort of 30. Covers the fellow's stipend, workshop facilitation, materials, microgrants, professional development, software, and staff time.
Six routes to the same place.
Every one of these lands in the same account and funds the same work. They differ in what they cost you: in tax, in paperwork, and in how far your dollar stretches once someone else is matching it.
Donor-advised fund
You've already taken the deduction and the money is sitting there. Recommending a grant takes about two minutes.
How to recommend a grant
- Sign in to your DAF sponsor: Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable, Vanguard Charitable, National Philanthropic Trust, or your community foundation.
- Search for our fiscal sponsor's legal name: Future Incubator, EIN 33-3913132. Searching “Climate Cardinals” will not find us.
- In the grant purpose or special instructions field, write For Climate Cardinals. That line is what routes the funds to our program.
- Choose to share your name and email. DAF grants often arrive anonymously, and we'd like to thank you properly.
Stock & securities
Give shares held longer than a year and you avoid the capital gains tax while deducting the full market value.
How to start a transfer
- Email [email protected] and tell us the ticker and roughly how many shares. We'll send you the receiving instructions to pass to your broker.
- We'll set the transfer up in the name of Future Incubator, our fiscal sponsor, and confirm before anything moves.
- When you transfer, don't sell the shares first. Selling triggers exactly the tax you're avoiding.
- Tell us the date you sent them. Broker transfers arrive with no donor name attached, so this is how we know the gift is yours, and we'll receipt it at the mean market value on the day the shares land.
Employer matching
Thousands of companies match employee donations dollar for dollar. Most of that budget is never claimed.
How to claim a match
- Open your company's giving portal, usually Benevity, YourCause, Bright Funds, or an internal HR page.
- Register the charity as Future Incubator, EIN 33-3913132, and put Climate Cardinals in the designation field.
- Upload your receipt and submit. Most programs have a deadline, often calendar year end or 90 days after the gift.
- If your employer can't verify us, forward the form to [email protected] and we'll handle it.
IRA distribution
Give directly from an IRA. It counts toward your required minimum distribution and never enters your taxable income.
How to make a QCD
- Ask your IRA custodian to send a qualified charitable distribution to Future Incubator, EIN 33-3913132.
- Ask them to put your name in the transfer memo. Custodian checks routinely arrive with no donor attached.
- Add For Climate Cardinals to the purpose line.
- Tell us it's coming so we can acknowledge it correctly for your records.
Bank transfer or check
For larger gifts, an ACH transfer carries no card fee at all, so every dollar arrives intact.
Transfer and mailing details
- ACH transfer: available on request — email [email protected] and we’ll send the transfer details.
- By check: payable to Future Incubator, with Climate Cardinals in the memo line.
- Mail to: Climate Cardinals, c/o Esther Pang, 712 H St NE STE 1841, Washington, DC 20002.
- Email us the amount and date so we can match your gift to a receipt.
Legacy & planned giving
Name us in a will, trust, or beneficiary designation. Nothing leaves your account now, and translation stays funded past your lifetime.
Suggested bequest language
- Share this with your attorney: “I give ___ to Future Incubator, EIN 33-3913132, to be used for the benefit of Climate Cardinals and its successor organizations, should it separate from Future Incubator.”
- Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts and life insurance do the same job without rewriting a will.
- Tell us if you've included us. We'd like to thank you, and it helps us plan.
- Ask about naming a translation fund or a chapter region at [email protected].
Your employer may double this before you finish reading.
Most large employers run a matching gift program, and a great deal of that budget goes unspent every year simply because staff don't know it exists. A $100 monthly gift becomes $2,400 a year instead of $1,200, for the same $100.
The catch, for us specifically: your employer's portal knows us as Future Incubator, not Climate Cardinals. Search that name, then write “Climate Cardinals” in the designation field.
Also worth asking: many of the same companies pay volunteer grants: a cash donation for every hour an employee volunteers. If you translate with us, those hours may be worth money to Climate Cardinals on top of anything you give.
Search for Future Incubator, not Climate Cardinals.
Climate Cardinals is a fiscally sponsored project of Future Incubator, a registered 501(c)(3). Every DAF portal, matching platform, and brokerage will find us under that name. Add “Climate Cardinals” to the memo or purpose field and the funds route straight to our work.
Washington, DC 20002
Before you give
Is my donation tax-deductible?
Yes. Gifts are received by Future Incubator, a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 33-3913132), and are deductible to the extent allowed by law. Climate Cardinals has also incorporated independently as Climate Cardinals, Inc. in New York (EIN 42-4291522), with 501(c)(3) recognition pending. Until that comes through, please continue to give through Future Incubator.
What does my money actually pay for?
Three programs, and we publish what each one costs.
Translations: “Climate information, in the languages communities actually use.” We
combine machine translation with human review and local knowledge across 100+ languages, free for grassroots
organizations and at reduced rates for institutions. A flat $17,200 a year at our current capacity.
Chapters: “Youth-led teams, led by the people who know their communities best.” Teams
in schools, universities, and local organizations design climate projects that match local priorities,
supported by funding, training, mentorship, and quarterly regranting. About $1,630 per chapter a
year.
Fellowship: “Invest early, in the people usually invested in last.” A one-year program
for emerging leaders aged 16–22 from underrepresented backgrounds, who receive stipends, mentorship, a
place on one of our core teams, and 14 modules on running climate work. About $6,077 per fellow a year,
based on a cohort of 30.
A full breakdown of program, fundraising, and administrative spending is available on request.
Can I direct my gift to a specific language, chapter, or region?
Beyond the three program designations above, larger gifts can usually be restricted further, to a particular language, country, or named chapter, with reporting back on what it produced. Email [email protected] and we'll tell you what's possible at the level you're considering.
Can I change or cancel a monthly gift?
Any time, with no explanation needed. Use the link in your receipt email to change the amount, pause, or cancel. Or email us and we'll do it for you the same week.
I'd rather give time than money.
We'd welcome that. Email [email protected] to talk about mentorship, workshop opportunities, or translating climate information. Tell us what you're good at and how much time you have, and we'll find the place it fits.
Are there other ways to support the work?
Merchandise through our Bonfire store, corporate and project sponsorships, and in-kind support such as translation software, legal help, or cloud credits. Financial documents are available on request.