Accelerating the legal actions of today
Give your contribution the potential to keep making a difference long after your initial gift.
WHEN awards Pay-It-Forward Grants to support high-impact legal actions with the potential to recover litigation costs through a court award or settlement.
When an outcome includes reimbursement of eligible costs, recovered funds return to the NOW Fund. If the case is unsuccessful, the grant is forgiven.
WHEN reinvests recovered funds into future legal actions, creating a cycle of funding that helps sustain accountability efforts over time.
Applicants can apply for grants by reaching out to WHEN below. All applications are reviewed during the initial screening process and remain confidential, accessible only to the WHEN team.
WHEN reviews applications to assess eligibility, alignment with grant criteria, and potential conflicts of interest. Promising applicants are invited to discuss their proposals with our team before undergoing a final review and funding decision.
Applicants will be notified of funding decisions and, if approved, receive a grant agreement for review and signature. Funds will be disbursed shortly after the agreement is finalized.
Grantees submit annual reports detailing how funds have been used. For ongoing cases, WHEN also conducts quarterly check-ins to track case progress and developments.
For grants eligible for recovery, funds are returned to the NOW Fund within 10 days of a monetary settlement or judgment, allowing them to support future legal action.
Legal actions that seek to ensure compliance with existing environmental and public health protections.
Citizen suits and other private enforcement actions against entities violating environmental law, including under the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, RCRA, Safe Drinking Water Act, and EPCRA, including suits to enforce existing permit terms.
Legal actions that seek to establish responsibility for causing harm to people and the environment.
Common law and statutory claims seeking redress for harm to health, property, or consumers, including nuisance, trespass, negligence, product liability, medical monitoring, and consumer protection claims, brought individually or as class actions.
We rigorously evaluate every application to ensure our resources are allocated thoughtfully and effectively.
We assess the strength of the legal claims, likelihood of success, and potential for scientific testing to support future litigation.
We consider the potential to deliver meaningful outcomes, establish precedent, influence policy, or enable further legal action.
We assess the scale and severity of harm, prioritizing communities disproportionately affected by environmental and health risks.
We prioritize opportunities where our resources can address critical funding gaps, strengthen legal action, and advance our mission.
