In 2020, iCS made 136 grants relating to our mission, which is to strengthen the conditions that leverage long-lasting practices of mitigation and resilience to climate change. There was a 39% increase in the number of grants given in relation to the previous year: in 2019, there were 98 grants.
The funds received grew even more, reaching over R$ 73 million in 2020, which is a 149% increase over 2019. We are extremely grateful to the 21 funders who supported us in 2020, providing the conditions to increase our grantmaking so much.
With more funds, it was possible to increase the number of benefited organizations: 103 institutions received grants from iCS, of which one half (52) received a grant from iCS for the first time in 2020. It is extremely positive to see how iCS is managing to renew its supported institutions, establishing new partnerships, including starting to operate in some states in which, until recently, we had no partner. The graph below shows the evolution in the number of iCS grantees since the beginning of its grants in 2016:
We know that longer grants are very beneficial for our partners, providing them with more security, stability and planning capability. For years, our intention was to give more medium- and long-term grants. In 2020, we finally managed a breakthrough in this respect: 26% of the awarded grants will last more than 12 months. This is exactly double the percentage of 2019, which was only 13%.
The graph below shows the distribution of the grants by portfolio. The Land Use portfolio, created in 2019, had significant growth, with 48 grants in 2020.
In addition to the above, we also provided 32 grants specifically related to the crisis caused by Covid-19. The grants were to support vulnerable communities in Rio de Janeiro and the Amazon, in order to ease the consequences of the pandemic, including helping to guarantee food security. These emergency grants were not counted with other grants because they were given exceptionally, due to the crisis, and are not related to the iCS mission.
