Last week, at the women’s singles semi-final match at the U.S Open, climate protesters from the group Extinction Rebellion halted play for 49 minutes, shouting “no tennis on a dead planet” and “end fossil fuels.” One protester even glued his bare feet to the floor so it would be harder to remove him.

The incident generated nearly as much news coverage as Coco Gauff’s victory.

Many people assume the annoyance factor of such stunts makes them counterproductive. For example, the activists at the U.S. Open were booed and denounced on social media. As a result, disruptive activism rarely receives philanthropic funding. But it should. Arguably, it has a higher return on investment than almost any other type of climate philanthropy.

Climate giving over all has increased significantly in the past few years but still accounts for no more than 1.5 percent of all philanthropic funding. Of that, such a small fraction goes to grassroots climate activism that it isn’t even included as a grant-making category in the ClimateWorks Foundation’s 2022 report on climate philanthropy.

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Yet social movements that embrace disruptive activism, including sit-ins, roadblocks, hunger strikes, and other high-visibility actions, have historically led to large-scale change in public opinion and policy. Among the most notable: women’s suffrage, civil rights, and action on AIDS. Philanthropists who are willing to support movements like these, particularly their disruptive wings, can help shape history. 

Research has shown little evidence that nonviolent actions have led to backlash. Disruptive activists are almost always unpopular. They are, after all, a small group of people telling a much larger group that they need to change. Martin Luther King Jr. was unpopular his entire activism career. But movements aren’t popularity contests. When people go to the polls, the question is whether climate change is critical to their vote, not whether they like climate activists.

Movements need many functions to succeed, such as electoral work, lobbying politicians, and legal strategies. Disruptive activism boosts all of these through what’s known as the “radical flank effect.” The disruptions push climate into the headlines, and people’s heightened awareness leads them to engage in the movement in some way, such as by supporting a nondisruptive climate organization or calling their political representatives. People can dislike disruptive climate activism but still be motivated by it.

Measuring Impact

The effects of disruptive actions are, of course, indirect so quantifying their impact is challenging. But early research makes a strong case for the effectiveness of this approach.

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Giving Green conducted an analysis of the efficacy of funding activism and found that “donating to climate-change activism could be highly cost-effective in reducing CO2-equivalent emissions … [comparing] favorably with estimates of the most cost-effective charities.”

James Ozden, founder of the Social Change Lab, extended that analysis to argue in the Stanford Social Innovation Review that the highly disruptive Extinction Rebellion had a higher return on investment than the top-rated climate charity, Clean Air Task Force, by up to 18 times. (It should be noted that Ozden has also been involved in creating strategy for Extinction Rebellion — which speaks to the need for more objective research on the effectiveness of these groups.

Recent victories by climate activists demonstrate the power of their methods in bringing attention to a cause. Activism targeted at Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, including confronting him on his houseboat, in front of his Maserati, and at the West Virginia coal plant that enriched him, drew widespread media attention and at one point led him to engage in a conversation with the protesters, seemingly taking their side on some issues.

Some of these activists came from the Sunrise Movement, but many were from smaller groups or unaffiliated. The organization I lead, Climate Emergency Fund, supported several of them and their deployment in West Virginia. Our view is that the relentless protests and the visibility they brought to Manchin’s position contributed to his eventual support of the Inflation Reduction Act and its approximately $340 billion in climate measures.

Disruptive activists have also helped support an impressive and growing list of policy victories elsewhere in the world.

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Insulate Britain, for example, blocked roads for six months in 2022 demanding government-funded home insulation to lower energy use — resulting in some 250 media stories about the protests and driving the issue to the top of the national conversation. At the end of the year, Britain’s government said it would provide $1.2 billion for home insulation projects.

In the Netherlands, climate activists calling for a ban on private jets held six months of regular protests at airports throughout the country, including riding bikes on the tarmac at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport so the planes couldn’t take off. In April, the airport announced plans to ban private planes.

And last year, the local Extinction Rebellion group in Washington, D.C., launched a protest campaign that included disrupting city council meetings and chaining themselves to a boat outside of Washington Gas headquarters. Soon after those incidents, which generated wide attention, the city announced a ban on natural gas hookups in new construction.

Activist groups are often informal and receive 501(c)(3) funds through fiscal sponsors. They are composed of ordinary people — mothers, grandparents, children — doing extraordinary things. Activists volunteer tremendous amounts of their time, work collaboratively with strangers who become friends, and put their bodies on the line.

These activists contend with increasingly harsh repercussions, including long jail sentences. For example, protesters who smeared paint onto the glass case of Edgar Degas’s “Little Dancer” at the National Gallery of Art to draw attention to the climate crisis are now facing five years in prison and $250,000 fines. The sculpture itself was untouched and undamaged. Two of the U.S. Open protestors were charged with criminal trespassing, which carries a sentence of up to seven years.

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Key Funding Needs

Philanthropy needs to have their backs. That means stepping up funding of grassroots activism, especially  when that activism disrupts norms and challenges power. The core funding needs are for modest salaries for a small group of people to coordinate, recruit, and train volunteers. Money for public relations, travel, and supplies is also critical. Funding these types of activities is fully legal and well within the nation’s democratic tradition.  

Supporting activism is different from giving to more traditional organizations and activities. For example, most activists have little familiarity with fundraising. They have never spoken with a major donor and typically don’t know how to create an annual budget. While this may seem off-putting to grant makers, it’s actually a sign of something special. These are volunteers from all walks of life who are willing to take on the unfamiliar and challenging work of fundraising for something they care about deeply.  

To help them succeed, donors need to educate themselves and be willing to step out of their comfort zones. A good place to start is with the Ayni Institute’s Funding Social Movements guide, which provides an in-depth look at these movements and how to support them.

To help bridge the divide, foundations could also consider hiring a staff member who was previously a climate activist. If that isn’t possible, they could bring in advisers who are currently engaged in such work.

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One popular option is to use intermediaries, such as the Climate Emergency Fund, Equation Campaign, Global Greengrants, or the Movements Trust. Intermediaries offer expertise and on-the-ground knowledge of what is happening in the movement. They also fully insulate grant makers from any legal or reputational risk, including by accepting anonymous donations.

Another option is funding more traditional organizations that support movements. These include Climate 2025, a social movement incubator, Social Change Lab, which publishes research showing the efficacy of movements, and Global Climate Legal Defense, known as CliDef, which offers activists legal support. All these groups play critical roles in the larger social movement ecosystem.

More than anything, donors need to get over their fear of disruptive activism and recognize it as the heroic and critical work it is. The simplest way to do that is to attend protests and meetings of activists to learn more about what they do and what will help them become more effective. These are people willing to do whatever it takes to save the planet. They need all the help they can get.