Episode 131: The Shark Tank-Style Fix for Climate Philanthropy with 1.5°Climate

Molly Wood Voice-Over: Welcome to Everybody in the Pool, the podcast where we dive deep into the innovative solutions and the brilliant minds who are tackling the climate crisis head on. I'm Molly Wood.

This week we're talking about a piece of the climate economy that doesn't get nearly enough attention, climate philanthropy. Because while we spend a lot of time on this show talking about new technologies and new business models, a huge amount of climate progress is still being driven by nonprofits, movement-building, policy work, and donors. But there is a lot of room for improvement in that space and climate donating can be extremely complicated.

So this week's guest is borrowing the vibes of venture capital to make climate philanthropy more accessible to smaller donors, and to make it more exciting with Shark Tank-style pitch competitions. Let's dive in.

Greg Rock: My name is Greg Rock. I'm an executive director of an organization called 1.5 Climate.

We are a national donor collaborative that, uh, works with members of all different size capacities across the country. Have a little over 600 members currently, and basically we're bringing them a curated list of high-impact climate philanthropy opportunities every few weeks. Uh, and we help them understand what those opportunities are through a virtual quick pitch event.

So members get to join a virtual webinar where they learn about high-impact opportunities to move the needle on climate through climate philanthropy, uh, and ask their questions directly to the organizations, meet the leaders, and really get to understand the projects that they're funding. And we try to foster those direct contributions from donors to organizations and, and memberships completely free.

So we're making the service available to the community, uh, to just help make climate philanthropy easier and more rewarding and impactful for donors.

Molly Wood: This is so interesting because, I mean, we talk a lot about different funding mechanisms for climate on the show. We rarely talk about nonprofits, but this is such an interesting approach because it's sort of nonprofit, but like, behaves a little like a VC.

Greg Rock: Yeah, I think we definitely borrowed from what we would typically consider as a VC-style quick pitch. Um, which you see a lot of organizations, uh, organizing those and, but we really wanted to make something that was of the same kind of energy level and fun and excitement, where you get to learn and meet an organization, but have it focused on those non-profits. So the C3, C four and PAC entities.

Molly Wood: Right to use VC language, is there a general kind of check size or like amount that that goes into, you know how as you're vetting these, like what are you looking at in terms of potential investments?

Greg Rock: Yeah. We highlight organizations of all different sizes, um, from very small, quite large. If there is a specific project at that large organization where we feel our, our contributions can be impactful in moving the needle.

Typically, our events are we will arrange matching funds as well, so there'll be a pool of true matching funds that get unlocked by our members' contributions. And typically, we'll be posting between 50 to a hundred K in matching funds. Some event would raise, you know, between a hundred thousand to $200,000 for the organization.

Molly Wood: Got it. And then are the members themselves, like, it sounds like, because it's sort of you're, it's free, you're meaning to democratize it. It sounds like donors could be coming in at lots of different levels. They don't have to necessarily be ultra-high net worth.

Greg Rock: Absolutely. Yeah. We've had, uh, individual contributions that range from $5 all the way up to a million dollars for specific events. And so, um, a, a nice mix of different donors, a different size and capacity can all participate in our events. I'd say our average donation size is around $2,000, uh, to $5,000, depending on the event. We're trying to pool together as a lot with some of the larger donors as well.

Molly Wood: Um, before I get too further into the organization itself and the structure, tell me a little bit about yourself. You came from policy before joining 1.5 Climate. Like what made you make that switch and go from policy to nonprofit?

Both. Both. Not the easiest.

Greg Rock: Yeah.

Molly Wood: Both like a lot of work.

Greg Rock: I started as a energy engineer and really focused on the technology of what it takes to move the needle. And climate pretty quickly realized that we have technology solutions. What we're lacking is the policies to really implement them, um, and make them the most cost effective option on the table.

So then did a number of years, uh, working in the policy arena, lobbying the Washington State legislature, and really scratching at what are the policy solutions and realized there, we also have a lot of good policy solutions, uh, that are out there as well.

And started learning that it really is, um, needing to motivate the legislators, uh, both at the state and federal level is really a key, key challenge and shifted into more of the electoral landscape and figuring out how we can get more climate champions elected and then realize how important it is to fund the types of organizations that are doing this work of movement building and power building.

And policy advocacy at all the different levels. And when I saw this opportunity arising at 1.5 Climate, I really jumped at it as a way to really foster more contributions into the spaces where we need the most, which is shifting all the time.

So, you know, we did a lot of federal policy work and implementation work when the Inflation Reduction Act was, was implementing. Um, and then with the recent presidential election, we shifted to state policy work. And so it's fun how nimble and quick moving 1.5 Climate has been able to be as we're changing our priorities and where we're driving resources based on what the, the moment in time calls for.

Molly Wood: Yeah. We'll, we'll come back to the changing landscape, uh, in both policy and sort of philanthropy in general.

But, um, then tell me about the idea behind 1.5 Climate. You know, we sort of touched on the idea that it's like a little bit of a different financing mechanism modeled after VC. Like, where did that, where did this idea come from?

Greg Rock: Yeah, so our founder, Ning Mosberger-Tang is a philanthropist in her own right.

And, um, she passionately cares about climate. It's a priority for her. She's done lots of research and evaluated lots of different organizations, but recognized that she had a lot of philanthropist friends that equally cared about climate, but didn't have the time to really do the research and figure out how to effectively spend the resources. And as a result, they just weren't doing anything.

And so we kind of call that, uh, donor paralysis, uh, where they were, you know, they felt too complicated, too complex. Uh, and so they were choosing not to make any investments, which is the worst possible thing you can do for climate.

Molly Wood: Mm-hmm.

Greg Rock: Like, we need to be moving quickly on this issue. We're running outta time and we need philanthropy stepping up to the moment.

And so she really wanted to develop a program that would make climate philanthropy, high-impact line philanthropy easier. And so she's actually sponsored the, the organization, she's helping fund all the operations that, that make this actually free for philanthropists to join and the donor collateral without any fees.

Um, and really the goal is, is to evaluate and find these high impact organizations where they look for things that are catalytic, creating a high leverage ratio or otherwise filling a gap that others are ignoring and get those pre-vetted opportunities in front of a group of philanthropists so they can understand it at a cursory level and, and know what resonates with them and choose what they wanna invest in, but know that essentially everything they're seeing on our quick pitch stage has been pre-vetted to have a high impact and make a, and be in a position to move the needle on climate.

Molly Wood: And then that part, the programming and the vetting, that's your job, right?

Greg Rock: Yes. Um, yes. So Ning recruited me, uh, in 2022 to help build up this program. And a large part of my contribution is the, the vetting of the organizations. Uh, we have built out over the years, we now have, uh, a team growing around me with, uh, led by Paige Atcheson, who's a program director and, and a couple other staff that are supporting the organization as a whole.

Molly Wood: So, what makes… and then just to clarify then, the funding is also for climate nonprofits, right? You're a nonprofit funding nonprofits?

Greg Rock: Yes. Um, we…

Molly Wood: They're not necessarily commercial investments?

Greg Rock: Yeah. There's no for-profit investments. Some of the organizations will not be what you would consider a typical climate organization, but are doing a climate project.

And so, you know, it's not like we're just funding the Sierra Clubs of the world. Uh, we are looking for organizations that are strategically positioned to move the needle on important issues. And so, um, you know, some of these are organizations working to advance solar siting, um, projects and, and move the needle on what it takes to, to move past the regulatory barriers.

Other organizations are looking at generic, you know, methane emissions from cows and are really tackling that from a trade association standpoint. But there's a really important efforts to try to change enteric methane emissions. And so a lot of the organizations are not climate brand in their mission, uh, but they're taking on a project that is critical for the climate mission.

Molly Wood: Interesting. So then what does the process look like for you? You know, what's the, the research, are, are organizations applying? Like what is, what's your day to day?

Greg Rock: Yeah. So we do have a way, uh, that organizations can apply through our intake form. Um, we also have a steering committee that is setting our agenda of what are the different research topics we're focusing on.

So that steering committee is built up some technical experts as well as some philanthropists. And once they set an agenda, um, like right now we're doing state and local climate action. Uh, then we are honing in on the geographies that we want and then building out what we call a landscape assessment. Who are the different organizations that are working in this space and doing meaningful work?

And so our steering committee helps populate that list. Interview work populates that list. We talk to different stakeholders in the space. And then a big part of our diligence is a lot of interviews. So, uh, we will interview hundreds of organizations over the calendar year, and then we're evaluating their programming, um, their finances, their gaps, and determining within that landscape of all the different organizations that we interview, who seems to be running the most effective and impactful programs.

And then we bring those back to our steering committee for consideration. Uh, typically they're considering a few organizations at a time and then selecting amongst that limited kind of the best of the best that we have found, which are the ones that we wanna elevate to the pitch stage, 'cause we only have a limited number of events each year.

Um, and so we do, you know, host about 20 events over the calendar year. Uh, so there are a fair number of events, but when you're interviewing hundreds of organizations, it's obviously just a small fraction of the groups we get to talk to that we actually elevate to, uh, the fundraising stage.

Molly Wood: You know, it's funny because what you're describing is, I mean, that's, it's some version of how nonprofit donation would work, like, philanthropy would work in general, but it feels so painful to hear. It must be sort of painful. There must be times when you're like, oh, I wish I didn't have to let this go.

Greg Rock: So it's really rewarding work because you get to meet and learn about so many amazing programs and that's really inspiring, 'cause there is so many groups doing great work.

Molly Wood: Yeah.

Greg Rock: But it is also painful that we only get to select a small portion of them. So we do have to let a lot of groups know that, you know, this isn't gonna work out now we'll keep you in our pipeline and evaluate is as our priorities shift or opportunities change.

Molly Wood: Yep.

Greg Rock: Um, and so we are. Well connected to hundreds of organizations and we also do a lot of work to try to connect the groups that we talk to, to other people that may be able to benefit them on the backend. Um, so we are able to serve a role as a connector, 'cause often we'll be talking to one organization like, oh, do you know these three other groups that I've talked to recently?

Molly Wood: Right.

Greg Rock: They're working in a line space and they don't know them. And then we can serve as a connecting link. But yes, uh, you know, one challenge of only selecting the best of the best is there's a lot of really, really great organizations that don't quite get to the presentation stage.

Molly Wood: Yeah, of course. Um, how are you, how do you, I, I imagine there are multiple metrics here, but when you think about measuring impact and when you think about determining that something is impactful, like what are some of the criteria that go into that?

Greg Rock: As an organization, we've successfully moved about $35 million to over a hundred different organizations. That's a, a, a significant amount of money, but in any individual event it's, you know, a hundred to 200,000 dollars.

So we're often trying to evaluate where can that relatively small amount of money, it's a lot of money, but you know, compared to the need in these spaces relatively small, where can we find opportunities for that relatively small amount of money can create outsized impact?

And so we're looking for catalytic effects. Maybe this is a startup organization that really needs to go over that first hurdle, so where they can go out and raise larger money from institutions. Maybe there's an opportunity to leverage federal or state resources or other donors resources by, by getting a project launch or also looking at gap filling investments. Is this something that is getting left behind that other philanthropists are ignoring, but there's a tremendous need here and our resources can really fill a gap that others have not been, uh, supporting.

And so those are the three main criteria we focus on. You know, catalytic opportunity, high leverage and gap filling.

Molly Wood: Mm-hmm.

Greg Rock: And then within that context, looking at what is the overall impact of this project? Is it going to, you know, maybe move a policy that could serve as a, an example for other states to replicate, um, or do something that would otherwise create a ripple effect down the road, rather than just being a one-off success.

Molly Wood: Right. Well, and speaking of impact, you, you mentioned that you're looking at state and local opportunities, um, and hyper-local and even decentralized climate solutions, which is certain, certainly an obsession of mine, but could, can feel like maybe counterintuitive. To people, you know, talk about the, the reasoning behind that focus.

Greg Rock: You know, obviously in this current environment, it's very difficult to move climate policies to the federal landscape. Um, but we are seeing a tremendous opportunity to, and it's always been state leadership, uh, on climate.

And so there are a lot of blue trifectas that have opportunities to move really aspirational policies, and we're seeing good forward progress, uh, in, in a number of states.

And then there's also opportunities in red states as well, where actually our next event we're gonna be highlighting Iowa, an effort to really, uh, pass a policy that will streamline the permanent of solar and wind and other renewable energies across the state. And it's exciting to see that policy making forward movement in a red trifecta state.

Uh, and then outside the policy ran, there's also projects and so you can look at projects that are local based, but maybe are testing and proving out, you know, a perennial grain or a nitrogen management system that then could really be replicated and carry over to other geographies, even start influencing the National Farm Bill and things along those lines. And so…

Molly Wood: Yeah,

Greg Rock: You can't discount how a local project may have ripple effects on other geographies, especially in this day and age where there is so much information exchange. And so we are often looking at those types of projects could have really big impact if they're successful in a geography at the state or local level, and then translate into more regional other states adoptions or even federal adoption.

Molly Wood Voice-Over: Time for a quick break. When we come back, we'll talk about how the pitch competitions work, how to narrow down the options for potential funding and the climate philanthropy landscape at large.

Welcome back to Everybody in the Pool. We're talking with Greg Rock from 1.5 Degree Climate.

Molly Wood: And then okay, talk about the presentation. Talk about the, the events, the, the Pitch Fest events themselves. Are they in person? Are you coaching, you know, these organizations on how to do the best presentations?

Like how Shark Tank does it get?

Greg Rock: Yeah. Um, we, we do some in-person events. Uh, this year we're actually doing quite a bit more than we've done before, but a lot of that is more networking and community building. And so we are also a donor community, and so we are building that community amongst our members.

Molly Wood: Mm-hmm.

Greg Rock: So they have other philanthropists in, engaging in the space that they can communicate with.

But our main events are virtual quick pitch events. So every three weeks or so we're hosting an event on Zoom and we will typically kick off the event with an bit of an educational presentation from someone that isn't the pitch organization, but can speak to the importance of this, of this effort and why, um, they're supporting it or why they think it's important for donors to be supporting the effort.

And then we'll move on to the formal presentation from the organization, which, uh, really hones in, you know, it's a quick pitch, so it's seven to 10 minutes, you know, what are they doing, why is it impactful? What will the resources go and kind of what tactics are they going to be deploying? And really hone in on that.

And so, yes, we do kind of coach the organizations on the format. Uh, what are the key elements that our donors are gonna be most interested in hearing and learning about? And then after that quick pitch, we go into a more open format Q and A. So donors are able to directly ask their questions of the organizations, and we try to foster, you know, a fairly good conversation between the donors that are interested in the topic and the, the leader of the organization. And that really becomes more of a conversation base.

And so, um. I, I would say that it, it's, we have a format that follows a quick pitch stage, like a VC-style Shark Tank. However, it's a much nicer room, a warmer conversation, uh, between donors and the organizations on, on, you know, just kinda trying to better understand their project and, and what they're going to achieve with resources that the donors consider moving.

Molly Wood: Right. And then does every, and then the organization, they, they each just sort of get what they get at the end of that, there's not like a winner.

Greg Rock: Yeah, no. We, uh, we used to do a bit more of like multiple organizations per event, but we've leaned more into now just typically one or two organizations per event. And we never want to create an environment where it feels competitive in terms of which organizations get funds.

So typically for fundraising for multiple organizations at the same time. It'll have like a shared fundraising meter and we're just showing overall progress, uh, towards a fundraising goal rather than a competitive fundraising effort.

Molly Wood: Right. I mean, I like that better.

Greg Rock: Yeah. The organizations generally do get what they get. Um, we certainly pound the pavement after the event as well to try to close the gap.

As they've mentioned, we are posting true matching funds, so these are funds that only get unlocked if donors contribute. And so if those matching funds have not been fully unlocked, we'll spend a lot of time following the event, reaching out to other donors that may not have engaged.

And that's another important element. We have a member info portal, so once you're a member, you gain access to a repository of all of our pitch events. And even if you can't join the event live, you can still access that pitch card, watch the recording, access other diligence documents like their, their project narrative, uh, their pitch deck, and there's ways to engage after the, after the event and learn about the, the project as well.

And we actually have a lot of donors that end up contributing that did not attend the live event. And so there's a fairly active engagement with those pitch cards.

Molly Wood: Yeah. Um. And then I guess sort of last thing on this, before we move to the philanthropy landscape at large, you've given us like a bunch of great examples, but are there other things that you funded recently that you're particularly excited about?

Greg Rock: So last year, we focused a lot more on the deployment of renewable energy and one of the technologies that I was really blown away with, uh, is next gen geothermal.

Molly Wood: Yeah.

Greg Rock: It is a, a really exciting development. We've had geothermal electricity for a long time, but it's been very limited to specific hotbeds, um, which are fairly limited across the United States.

And with new advancements in horizontal drilling and fracking, there's actually the ability to make geothermal resources much, much more readily available. And cheaper, uh, to produce. And so, um, there's an exciting project that we highlighted in Utah, which is the first utility-scale next-gen geothermal plant that'll come online later this year.

This really offers the potential to dramatically change the landscape for firm, continuous renewable generation of electricity. There's another, a group project interspace that we highlighted that's kind of nationally trying to raise the awareness about the opportunities for next-gen geothermal. So I think in terms of a technology, that's one that I'm the most optimistic about, of how it will change the dynamic.

This year, we've shifted into a bit more policy work. Uh, there's state legislative sessions underway, and so we've been focusing on some of those legislative campaigns that are occurring across the country. And a lot of them are actually been some defensive, uh, but with offensive potential around data center policy.

And you've probably heard that data centers are creating this massive new surge of energy. Um. That is really threatening a lot of the climate goals that we have achieved in state legislatures across the country and is also driving at the cost of electricity for consumers. And so there's a lot of growing momentum to have these data centers pay their own way in terms of the grid and infrastructure improvements that it takes for them to be supported.

Molly Wood: Mm-hmm.

Greg Rock: Uh, and we've been working hard on getting some policies that will also have them bring their own new clean energy as part of their expansion. And if we can get data centers to rely on building out clean energy as they create this massive growth, energy demand that could really turbocharge the transition to clean energy, uh, in a way that could dramatically, there's things called learning curves that the more you produce of a thing like solar panels, the cheaper they become to produce for each new marginal cost.

And so if we can get data centers to adopt renewable energy as their go-to source of energy, which is the fastest and cheapest form of energy on the planet right now. And so there's a lot of other market reasons why they would choose to do that. Um, that could really dramatically accelerate the clean energy transition. And so we've been working on policies across the country, try to build out regulations that require data centers to bring new, clean energy, uh, and capacity to the grid when they come into a marketplace. And I'm excited about those policy opportunities.

Molly Wood: Yeah. You made it sound like you do, do you typically have kind of like a theme year after year, like an area of focus like that?

Greg Rock: Yeah, we, we talk about these being thematic pitches and so we'll work on a certain theme for sometimes three months, sometimes a year and a half, uh, depending on what the, the landscape determines.

And so we've been working on state and local policy actions, um, for the first half of this year. And the second half this year we'll be shifting to investing in elections for climate, again, with a focus on state power building. And so we'll be looking at places where we can create new pro climate trifectas, uh, as well as advanced important elections around utility commission races.

Uh, 'cause there's a lot of these down-ballot races that have outsized impact in what they can have in terms of climate and often receive, you know, very small amount of attention. And so, uh, a relatively small amount of resources can really move the needle on some of these utility commission races.

Molly Wood: Yeah, totally. Interesting. Plus it makes it, it's, I mean, I love a theme 'cause it makes it easier to sort of focus. You could just say, we're doing this, it narrows the giant pile of, of research that you probably still already end up with. Um…

Greg Rock: Yeah. And that's one of the great advantages of our steering committee is that they are made up, as I said, technical experts as well as philanthropists in their own right.

And so they're, they're feeling very, they help us get a pulse of what people are interested in right now. Yeah. And so we're trying to build things around what the current, uh, interest is from our, like, you know, likely interest is from our donor group.

Molly Wood: Um, let's talk about philanthropy writ large. Like, only about 2% of philanthropic giving goes toward climate already.

Do you feel, do you personally feel like the biggest barrier is the kind of complexity around, like, does that, you know, is that I, obviously that is a big part of your pitch, but it is, what else do you think is holding back climate money?

Greg Rock: Yeah. I, I mean, it's complex. Um, if you think about the scale of climate in terms of the challenge that we're facing as, as a, a world, um, certainly as a community, and it transects with everything else that we're doing, you know, healthcare, um, you know, education is all actually impacted by climate.

Molly Wood: Mm-hmm.

Greg Rock: Um, and, and we see so many more resources going into these other arenas in terms of philanthropic expenditures.

And so it's kind of mind boggling to me to see that something that is so important to our livelihood as humans getting such a small portion of the philanthropic investments, especially since it affects all those other categories that are getting much larger philanthropic investments.

And I do think it does boil down to the complexity, as well as potentially some of the perceived partisanship. Unfortunately, somehow climate has become something that is perceived as being partisan, which it should not be. This is affecting all of us, uh, I say all of us equally, although a lot of the traditionally more conservative geographies are, are being impacted even more so.

Molly Wood: Mm-hmm.

Greg Rock: Um, when you look at farm-based communities and agricultural sectors are gonna be feeling the brunch force of the changes that we're seeing from climate change. Um, and, but I think there are some elements of that perceived partisanship that may dissuade some philanthropists from getting involved in the arena.

Molly Wood: Mm-hmm.

Greg Rock: But I do think it is more the complexity of this is, you know, a worldwide issue with thousands of different solution sets. And to understand where it makes sense to invest is more complex than being like, oh, well I wanna support the arts and I like this theater.

Molly Wood: Right. Children's hospital, check.

Greg Rock: Exactly. And so, um. I do think it is important that organizations like 1.5 are creating a medium that helps cut through that noise and provide an opportunity for philanthropists to get involved without having to spend a lot of time figuring out what is an impactful investment for them to make.

Molly Wood: Right. And certainly we're in a moment where there has been a pullback in climate, philanthropy, at least at those kind of ultra-high-net-worth individual levels. Are you seeing the same thing or do you feel that like, you know, people with a few thousand dollars here and there might be doubling down because there's been a larger pullback?

Greg Rock: I think it's fair to say that, um, we have seen a general pullback in philanthropy over the past year and a half, and I think some of that maybe just a result of a lot of people investing a lot in the last presidential election cycle, uh, disappointment potentially around that, uh, outcome.

And then, you know, just seeing all the negative things that are happening in the climate arena can be a little disheartening.

Molly Wood: Mm-hmm.

Greg Rock: But I think this is really the moment where we need to be doubling down. And I think a lot of our donors have certainly been, uh, maintaining pace, which is exciting to see. And recognizing the importance of investing in these local, uh, climate actions. Um, and, and you know, there is so much that can be done at the state and local level, and there's a lot of progress continuing to be made, and that's how we keep moving the needle forward in these, you know, difficult federal times.

Molly Wood: Yeah, I mean, I, I have to imagine that… it's funny like when, when my friends are feeling overwhelmed or when I'm feeling overwhelmed, like it is sort of like the local small actions that you can take and control are often the thing that makes you feel a lot better. Like I would imagine that you and your team and your donors see these really concrete, specific things that can have real impact immediately or very soon, and feel better. Right? Is it like some optimism?

Greg Rock: No, I think, uh, an event comes to mind. We did a, a highlight of agrivoltaics, which is this really cool effort to actually do, uh, grazing underneath solar photovoltaic. So you're combining an agricultural production with photovoltaics.

And I had so many members after that event, it was fairly close following the election, um, saying, wow, this was just so inspiring and like exciting, 'cause I saw a solution set that, you know, both the right and the left to get behind and was creating co-benefits.

Uh, you know, so, you know, there, there was a, a, a palpable excitement and energy level. People needed to have that, that kind of kick in the pants. Oh, there's still something that we can do here.

Molly Wood: Mm-hmm.

Greg Rock: There's still an opportunity to move the needle. There's still really productive ways to work with both sides of the aisles and make, make a project move by finding ways to make it work for farmers and ranchers and the solar companies at the same time. And it was a great mixture of having kind of right and left interest coming together and promoting a project.

And so I do think there's a lot of energy that gets generated through our events as people start seeing solutions and realizing that there is really positive things that can be done even in these challenging times.

Molly Wood: Yep. And then finally, how are you recruiting donors other than, other than this interview?

Greg Rock: You know, honestly, that's partly one of the things…

Molly Wood: Dear everyone.

Greg Rock: Yeah. That, that's one of the things we need to do more of. We have our website, uh, spelled out onepointfiveclimate.org. Uh, you can click join on the website and, and you'll get, uh, onboarded into our, our membership that way. As I said, membership is free.

As we built this out, I think it was, uh, envisioned, I don't know about envisioned, but it was, has been to date more of a, if you build it, they will come model.

Molly Wood: Yeah.

Greg Rock: Uh, you know, we, we started with 60 members and it has grown over 600 members through organic spread of people. Really enjoying the platform and telling other friends and colleagues about that.

Um, but I do think to get where we need to go, we need to expand our membership to like 6,000 members. And so we do need help in figuring out strategic ways to let more people know about the tremendous opportunity that Ning has created here for free membership in our donor collaborative, and being able to regularly learn about these high impact, prevented climate philanthropy opportunities.

Molly Wood: Love it. Greg Rock is the executive director of 1.5 Climate. The website again, all spelled out, onpointfiveclimate.org.

Greg Rock: That's correct.

Molly Wood: Check it out. Thanks, Greg. I appreciate the time.

Greg Rock: Thanks.

Molly Wood Voice-Over: That's it for this episode of Everybody in the Pool. Thank you so much for listening.

And hey, if you wanna talk to people just like you, we have a fun new Discord server for Everybody in the Pool listeners and fans and any other interested people who want to talk to me and each other about whatever climate issues are on our minds.

It's super fun in there. There are lots of people giving each other advice about level two EV charging versus level one charging induction ranges, sharing inspiring new tech and occasional ranting, that kind of thing. It's free, it's fun, it's just for community. If you'd like to join, please click the link in the description right here in your podcast app of Choice, or you can find it in the weekly newsletter, which you can subscribe to at everybodyinthepool.com.

If you would like to support this show directly, you can become a paying subscriber to the podcast or the newsletter or both. To subscribe to the podcast for an ad free version, there is a link in the description right here in your podcast app of choice. Thanks to those of you who already have.

Together we can get this done. See you next week.