Get Involved
We validate the voice of the people and act accordingly.
Unlike other tourist destinations eroded by gentrification and uncontrolled growth, Monteverde maintains a community base and fabric that seeks to balance development and well-being.
There are many ways to get involved with Monteverde Community Fund.
Help us to continue building community sustainability.
Donate to our general fund and we will assign your donation where it is needed most.
Or, choose a fund or program you wish to support and let us know in the payment description.
Donate from Costa Rica:
Tel: 8983-9493
100-01-127-001279-4
IBAN:Â CR48015112710010012791
Donate from the USA, Canada, UK, and others:
Your donation is tax-deductible in the US through Amigos of Costa Rica, our 501(c)(3) partner.
Volunteer
Lend us your skills and talents while enjoying our community in the cloud forest. We’re always grateful for your interest in volunteering with us. As a small team, we have limited capacity and can’t accept every application. We focus on opportunities that align with our current work and priorities. Please note that we’re unable to provide accommodation, meals, or financial support. Although we’re based in Monteverde, Costa Rica, some roles can be done remotely.
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We are looking for individuals with one or more of the following skill sets:
• Graphic Design
• Photography and Videography
• Community Outreach
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• and more!
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If you are interested in volunteering or interning with the Monteverde Community Fund, please email us at info@monteverdefund.org.
Partner with us
Since 2012, we’ve mobilized +$1.5M to support:
✔ +10 projects, including Emprende Rural, parks, and emergency response.
✔ 61 grants supporting local economic, youth initiatives, conservation efforts, and culture.
We are partners to local organizations, providing financial, technical, and administrative resources—and more. We believe supporting community projects is more critical than ever!
💚 Want to be part of the change? Becoming a Partner of the Monteverde Community Fund means collaborating to build a better Monteverde—together.
Fill the following form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScocyWWqyJ5Zx_Wsv5o6tZbMWmaUX4cBZxQlwEfUiRjtSuYqw/viewformÂ
Membership
By becoming a member of the Monteverde Community Fund, you will be actively supporting the change and betterment of the community. Every time you pay an annual fee, you are helping the Community Fund's team in our efforts to empower the different groups of people that exist in the community while promoting solidarity, inclusion and participation of people in the community.
Why become an associate of the Monteverde Community Fund?
You will be invited to participate in our yearly assemblies, where you will have to opportunity to hear about community initiatives first hand, share your thoughts and concerns and meet other like minded people from the Monteverde region.
You may eventually be invited to share your knowledge or advice with ongoing projects in the area, so we may support the creation of a stronger community network.
You will be invited to all of the Fund’s community events and stay up to date through a monthly newsletter with all the latest information.
What are my responsibilities as a member?
- Attend the meetings to which you are summoned. This consists of one annual meeting, and being open to sharing your knowledge or interests with others when relevant to community projects.
- Help to maintain the association and its assets and help with organization and participation in its activities.
- Support the efforts made by the Monteverde Community Fund to fulfill its objectives.
How much is membership?
Standard Fee
â‚¡50,000 / $100
It consists of a single annual payment. Individual members have the option of paying up to 50% in kind.Â
Students
50% discount for full time students.
â‚¡20,000 / $50
Senior Citizens
50% discount for senior citizens (over 65 years old).
â‚¡37,500 / $50
Families
25% discount per member if there are 2 or more active members from the same family.
â‚¡37,500 / $75
How do I join?
- The person interested in being part of the Monteverde Community Fund must first complete this quick form. You will also need a letter of recommendation from a member of the Board of Directors, you can see an example of the letter here. If you don’t know a member of our Board personally, email us at info@monteverdefund.org and we will gladly help with this step.
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- This request will be submitted to a vote at the next ordinary session of the Board of Directors, and you will receive a reply in the following eight days.
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- Upon receiving the approval of the Board of Directors, the new associate must pay the amount of the membership fee, which corresponds to the payment of an active member annuity.
When is the membership fee due?
The membership fee can be paid in the following time frames:
- In its entirety upon being approved by the Board of Directors as a member of the association.
- In two payments, half when approved by the Board of Directors as a member of the association and the other half within 6 months of affiliation or before the closure of the fiscal year.
- If there are less than 6 months until the close of the fiscal year, you must pay only 50% of the amount of the fee at the time of approval.
Learn More about our Small Grants and Program Areas
Monteverde Community Fund has developed areas of funding for local organizations, in the following four areas. Scroll down to learn more.
Society, Youth, and Culture DEVELOPMENT FUND
This fund offers financial resources for projects in the areas of public recreation, the arts, youth empowerment, public health and civic participation.
The goal of this fund is to support local groups with the seed funds that will enable them to meet current challenges with their own ideas and methods. Also, our contribution provides an opportunity to leverage more funding from other sources, be they national or international.
The goals of this fund are prioritized by the community through the Human Development Plan for the Monteverde Municipal District (2010-2020) and other related initiatives.
Environmental FUND
This fund offers financial resources for projects in the areas of forest connectivity, protection of water resources, urban sanitation, and more.
The purpose of our Environmental Fund is to support local grassroots groups with seed funds that will allow them to meet the existing challenges with their own ideas and methods.Â
​The goals presented below represent the environmental issues prioritized by the communities as part of the strategic planning process of the BBBC and other open consultations.
Local Economy FUND
This fund offers financial resources for projects in the areas of clean production, economic inclusion and integration, sustainability of local trades, and more.
This Fund is a complementary tool to promote a smart economy in accordance with the local vision. In this way, we can fill this void and generate opportunities to leverage additional resources from other sources.
The goal of this program is to finance projects that succeed in:
Strengthening the basis in knowledge and participatory planning that inform decision-making and that allow the coordination of strategic actions between organizations that promote a smart economy;
Reducing the ecological and social footprint of productive activities through sustainable practices, either by means of the raw material used, processes used in production or rendering of services, operational norms or the distribution of final products;
Encouraging cooperation and linkages between businesses, associations and sub-regions that increase or improve the production of local products and services;
Increasing the capacity of new enterprises and actors in the “informal sector” to participate in the regional economy in a fair, dignified, legal and sustainable manner; and
Adding value to the products or services generated by a specific group in our region while generating social and environmental benefits at the local level.
Climate Crisis FUND
This fund offers financial resources for local projects that address local challenges brought about by global climate change and/or by actions within our region which emit greenhouse gases.
Grant Application FAQs
What are the application guidelines?
Please check each fund above for their descriptions and goals.
- Updated guidelines will be available during the grant application period in “Resources for Grantees.”
- It is important that you read the guidelines carefully, answer each question, and provide all requested documents.
What are the amounts of the grants and frequency of awards?
The maximum grant for each project will be defined each year according to the available budget. The amounts assigned to projects will be in US dollars. If the donee prefers to execute the project in colones, the exchange rate on the date of disbursal of funds will be used.Â
No project may receive more than three (3) grants in a five-year period or may receive more than one grant at a time.
The MCF will finance projects for a maximum period of 18 months which may be extended for justified reasons.
Are these grants matching funds?
Monteverde Community Fund grant amounts must be matched by the applicant organization, either through cash or in-kind resources.
The applicants must supply an equivalent amount or more to the contribution of the MCF, whether in cash or in goods or services valued at market prices. The maximum amount to be supplied by MCF will be defined each year. (Example: ‘Organization A’ has a project that costs $5,000 and the maximum available from MCF is $2,000. Therefore, MCF would only contribute $2,000 and the applying organization would contribute $3,000 resources (in cash or in kind) or from other sources).
What is the geographic area you fund?
Projects financed by MCF through this fund must be located in one or more of these communities:
Cañitas, Cebadilla, Cerro Plano, Guacimal, La Cruz, La Lindora, La Guaria, Las Nubes, Los Llanos, Los Olivos, Los Tornos, Cabeceras, Monteverde, San Luis, Santa Elena and San Gerardo.Â
Priority will be given to projects located communities within the Municipal District of Monteverde.
How do you decide which organizations are awarded a grant?
The project selection process contains two initial stages:
- Your presentation and our review of the Letter of Intent, and, if moving forward,
- Our invitation of full proposals, during which you submit your full proposal by the date we indicate.
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Final projects will be evaluated and selected via a competitive process organized by MCF staff and an Evaluation Committee.
The Evaluation Committee will be made up of five (5) people—2 representatives of the MCF, 1 local leader, 1 representative of the academic sector and 1 expert in subjects related to community development—and will be responsible for:
- determining the general eligibility of proposals;
- evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the project, the budget and the proposing entity;
- presenting the results of their evaluation to the MCF Board of Directors.
What/who are direct beneficiaries?
To participate in the Small Grants Program, community groups must be formed by a group of people committed to a common interest. These, along with the people in the region who receive direct support from the project, are considered direct beneficiaries.
To date, over 10,000 people have benefited directly and indirectly from our annual calls.
What are permitted uses that my organization may use these funds?
Monteverde Community Fund resources may be destined for the acquisition of equipment, machinery, training sessions, consulting, materials, supplies, activities and remuneration of human resources as long as they represent the principal goal of the proposed project and not general funds for the organization.
Are there grant restrictions?
Monteverde Community Fund will NOT award SGP grants to:
proposals presented or directed by governmental entities;
proposals presented by individuals or by for-profit companies;
proposals presented by groups that do not contribute financial or in-kind resources to the proposed activities;
the proposals related to political parties or partisan movements;
purely religious or sectarian activities;
pure research;
social assistance projects of any kind;
projects that are the direct responsibility of the local or national government;
requests for donations in excess of the maximum amount defined for this fund; or
projects whose objectives do not work toward a shared self-help capacity.
What are my responsibilities as fundee?
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How are grants dispursed?
Funds will be disbursed in installments according to what has been negotiated previously between MCF and the donee.
The donee must have presented a progress report and a financial report in order to receive disbursements of remaining funds.Â
Once the progress reports have been presented, the Follow-Up Committee will analyze the achievement and scope of the objectives.
What if my question is not answered here?
Come See Us!
We have many events throughout the year.
Offset Your Footprint
Traveling? Through our Offset Your Footprint Fund, your donation will be used to plant and protect trees, which captures carbon from the atmosphere, and conserves biodiversity and water in the Bellbird Biological Corridor.
Calculate Your Emissions and Offset Your Footprint
Planting trees is not enough. Â
While protecting forests is an essential climate action, to combat climate change and preserve life on earth we need to cut global emissions in half by 2030. After you offset your trip here, please take action to lower your emissions. While in Monteverde and at home:
- Use green mobility – walk and use collective transportation
- Reduce and separate your waste
- Buy local, environmentally friendly products.
- Find joy in climate action in your life and beyond at corclima.org
