Join the Race to 100

Help Us Help Ocean Heroes.

Donate or Fundraise to help raise $100,000 in 100 days and double our PADI AWARE Grantees.

Donate Today

PADI AWARE Foundation™ Mission Hub Community Grant Program:
Funding Criteria

Meet Your Grantees GRANT PROGRAM

الصفحة الرئيسية / الحفاظ على البيئة / AWARE Community Grant Program / Mission Hub Community Grants: Funding Criteria

Funding Cycles

The PADI AWARE Mission Hub Community Grants are open to funding projects that align with PADI’s Blueprint for Ocean Action. Grantees will be selected throughout the year based on conservation need, community feedback and budget.

The PADI AWARE Foundation Mission Hub Community Grant Program is currently under review to refine and enhance the process, ensuring it's even more effective moving forward. Stay connected through our website and social media channels, where we will announce details about the next funding cycle once they are available.

PADI AWARE Project Guidelines

Grants will be awarded to ocean protection initiatives and projects that directly advance the PADI Blueprint for Ocean Action, and PADI AWARE's mission, to drive local action for global conservation. Project proposals should focus on the following areas.

Multiplying Marine Protected Areas (MPAs)
Protecting Endangered and Vulnerable Marine Species
Accelerating Coral Reef Recovery and Restoration
Ridding the Oceans of Marine Debris
Reducing and Offsetting the Dive Industry's Carbon Footprint

For inspiration on aligning with Project Guidelines, please Meet Our Grantees.

hayley Jo Carr underwater clean up survey

Funding Criteria

Community Grants are intended to assist in the development and delivery of grassroots conservation projects and support outcome-driven activities. They support the purchase of equipment and consumables, communications, travel, and project related administrative costs. Proposals to fund capital expenditures or contributions towards the purchase of fixed assets will not be considered.

PADI AWARE Foundation is open to funding non-profit ocean conservation-related organizations and/or PADI Dive Centers.
The maximum grant amount is $10,000 USD. Any request exceeding this amount may be disqualified from the review process
All non-profit organizations must submit a recent financial statement confirming your organization's annual budget is less than 1 million USD

Evaluation Criteria

Each proposal will be assessed on the following evaluation criteria:

Alignment with established PADI AWARE Project Guidelines
Ability to meet project goal and objectives
Clearly defined needs and plans with measurable outcomes
Organizational capacity and experience
Your local partners, the project's feasibility, and budget

Applications are independently reviewed by the Community Grant review panel and members of the PADI AWARE Board of Directors. Please follow the link for information regarding our Privacy Policy.

Diveness reporting marine debris to Dive Against Debris database

Reporting Requirements

All grantees are expected, as part of their funding agreement, to provide a Project Report on the outcomes of the agreed upon project at the end of the funding cycle.

Your organization will receive an email from the PADI AWARE Grants Department prior to the due date with instructions and the link to complete the online Project Report form.

The final project report will be due within 1 month of the end of the project. Please refer to your Funding Agreement for specific information. Completion of the Project Report is necessary for any future funding eligibility and for our reporting purposes.

Please do not send in the form via email.

How to Apply

All potential applicants will be required to complete an initial Eligibility Quiz. If your organization meets the requirements of the Eligibility Quiz you will be sent an email with a link to the application.

Please do not share the application link provided to you. It is specific to your organization and the project you submitted in the Eligibility Quiz.

The application must be completed in its entirety and submitted with a Project Budget online with the link that is provided to you. No applications will be accepted via email.

We have created a helpful step by step How To Guide to assist in the grant application process. Please also see links below to further resources.

APPLICATION TEMPLATE BUDGET WORKSHEET

AWARE Grant FAQs Eligibility Quiz

Funding

If your organization is granted funds through this process you will receive an email notification along with a Funding Agreement.

The Funding Agreement must be signed by an authorized representative of the organization and returned to the PADI AWARE Foundation within the provided time frame.

Grantees must provide bank details matching the name of their organization for the wire transfer of funds. No funds will be sent to an individual's bank account.