The time to fund climate cultural transformation is NOW
By Marisa Mathó
Left: Marisa at the sculptural installation and performance by Gabriela Salazar Low Relief for High Water—her first in-person Climate Museum event. Right: Marisa guides visitors in taking action, sending postcards to Washington DC.
In winter 2021, I joined the Climate Museum as a development intern during my senior year in college. Logging in everyday in the middle of the pandemic from a one bedroom in the snowy Chicago suburbs, the philanthropic work and mission of the Museum quickly became the anchor of my day. I was fueled by my new colleagues’ strength, vulnerability, and committed optimism, and I was excited to be living my values, supporting meaningful work towards climate action.
After I graduated in May, I was hired as the Museum’s Development and Responsible Partnerships Fellow. In this role, I research grants and conduct due diligence on prospective partners to ensure alignment with our governance policy, which stipulates that we’ll only forge partnerships with mission consistent funders—starting with avoiding the fossil fuel industry and its infrastructure.
I’ve come to see my role as a tremendous opportunity to connect the public with pathways to climate engagement and difference making. I recently read that out of philanthropic gifts totaling $750 billion in 2020, only $6-10 billion—less than 2%!—was focused on climate change mitigation.* For a moment this took me aback...but, one thing I appreciate about the Museum’s growth mindset and commitment to collective action is that we see these kinds of systemic challenges as opportunities.
Donations to the Climate Museum help to deepen understanding, build connections, and advance a culture for action through climate programming. To help the Climate Museum kickstart it’s GivingTuesday fundraising, please click here to make your donation today.
Left: Marisa meets a colleague for the first time in person after collaborating for months online. Right: Marisa joins in collecting sculpture fragments at the end of the performance.
I see the Climate Museum as an opportunity for donors to shape for themselves what the future can look like, and to feel empowered by funding the future they want. When donors support an organization that brings cultural activism to climate like the Climate Museum, they are heightening its transformational potential as a place where visitors can connect and imagine a sustainable and just future. They are recognizing the Museum as an essential public discourse igniter. They are supporting the creation of accessible pathways for more and more people to engage culturally and civically.
Next week, GivingTuesday offers us all the opportunity to emphasize our commitment to our values and priorities. We can recognize the power our donations have (at any level) to mobilize the causes that resonate most with us. For those who are ready to respond to the urgency and gravity of the climate crisis, climate philanthropy offers the chance to play a critical role as an architect in safeguarding our collective future.
At the Climate Museum I have seen firsthand the lasting, positive impact of generous philanthropy in sustaining our operations; supporting excellent exhibitions, youth programming, and interactive dialogue events; and promoting community engagement and civic action. I have worked alongside my colleagues, including our awesome development department interns, Mary and Gabby, to dedicate ourselves to educating, empowering and activating the public. We invite your support to continue this meaningful and essential work.
As I look ahead to another snowy winter, despite the challenges we all face, I remain filled with hopeful and determined optimism. I know that I now share the mission of the Climate Museum with a dedicated and ambitious community of Climate Museum supporters. So, thank you for your commitment and for your generosity.
Marisa Mathó, Development & Responsible Partnerships Fellow
Marisa's passion for creating connections, sustainable futures, and bioeconomy are the ideal foundation for her work expanding the Climate Museum’s network of donors and supporters. She earned a BA in International Studies with a Minor in Latin American Studies and focus in Sustainable Development from the University of San Francisco.
P.S. Please click here to make a donation to the Climate Museum today.
*According to the ClimateWorks Foundation’s Funding trends 2021: Climate change mitigation philanthropy, less than 2% of global philanthropic spending in 2020 was dedicated to climate change mitigation.