Grants for amateur sports clubs

3,940 amateur sports clubs and leagues received at least $170.7 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 3,194 grants made from 1,904 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 1,904 foundations, 82% made just a single grant to amateur sports clubs, and 3% made grants to four or more amateur sports clubs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$170,654,940
Total grant dollars given to amateur sports clubs
3,194
Number of grants made annually to amateur sports clubs
1,904
Number of grantmakers funding amateur sports clubs
$1,000
Median grant size to amateur sports clubs

Foundations that support amateur sports clubs and leagues

Out of all grants made to amateur sports clubs, 78% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 96% of the dollar-value of grants to amateur sports clubs. Foundations funding amateur sports clubs also made grants to food banks, multiservice human service organizations, scholarship organizations, youth development programs, and boys and girls clubs.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
1,484
Medium
 
230
Large
 
187
Small foundations have <$10M in assets. Medium foundations have $10M to $50M in assets. Large foundations have >$50M in assets.

Foundation type

Foundation typeNumber of grantmakers
Community
 
56
Private
 
1,524
Corporate
 
114
Other
 
210

Grants made

Grants made to amateur sports clubsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
1,572
2-3
 
263
4-10
 
40
11+
 
29

Top 10 foundations supporting amateur sports clubs and leagues

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to amateur sports clubsNumber of grants made to amateur sports clubsMedian grant size
Carmax FoundationVANational1.5%132$550
NRA FoundationVANational0.2%78$2,556
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.1%62$140
Baird FoundationWINational1.1%60$500
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)TNMetro0.1%46$1,000
Westrock FoundationGANational0.2%42$18
Sempra Energy FoundationCAState1.7%41$500
Salesforce Com FoundationCANational0.0%29$100
Alliant Energy FoundationWIState0.4%28$400
Celanese FoundationTXNational0.5%25$260

Amateur sports clubs and leagues grantees

Amateur sports clubs with more than $5 million in total revenues received 97% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 5% of all amateur sports clubs.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
3,181
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
13

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$1,000
$100k-$500k
 
$1,000
$500k-$1M
 
$1,500
$1M-$5M
 
$1,300
>$5M
 
$1,500

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
California
 
373
New York
 
219
Texas
 
158
Virginia
 
147
Other
 
2,297

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
New York City
 
185
Los Angeles
 
126
Chicago
 
100
Minneapolis
 
96
Other
 
2,292

Top 25 grants made to amateur sports clubs

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Big Ten Conference (B1G)$37,673,305To Enhance the Quality of Intercollegiate AthleticsPasadena Tournament of Roses
PAC-12 Conference$37,673,305To Enhance the Quality of Intercollegiate AthleticsPasadena Tournament of Roses
Big Ten Conference (B1G)$22,386,375Scholarships/grantsNational Collegiate Athletic Association
Southeastern Conference (SEC)$17,393,802Scholarships/grantsNational Collegiate Athletic Association
PAC-12 Conference$14,476,159Scholarships/grantsNational Collegiate Athletic Association
USA Hockey$8,000,000NHL GrantUSA Hockey Foundation
Southeastern Conference (SEC)$5,250,000To Support the Conference As Part of A Payout for Participating in the Annual Allstate Sugar Bowl.Allstate Sugar Bowl
Summit League$4,470,763Scholarships/grantsNational Collegiate Athletic Association
PAC-12 Conference$4,036,115See SCH I, Part IvSan Antonio Bowl Association
Naval Academy Athletic Association$3,849,789Funding for Athletic ProgramAmerican Athletic Conference
Southeastern Conference (SEC)$3,264,170Support Student AthleticsGator Bowl Sports
Big Ten Conference (B1G)$3,200,000Team PayoutOutback Bowl
Southeastern Conference (SEC)$3,100,000Team PayoutOutback Bowl
New Canaan Mounted Troop (NCMT)$5,000Grant To Support the Super Troopers and Adaptive Riding Therapeutic ProgramsNew Canaan Community Foundation
Otsego County Hockey Association$5,000William and Linda Muzyl FundOtsego Community Foundation
Belmont Rowing Center$5,000Operational SupportGaston Memorial Hospital Foundation
Ben Hair Just Swim for Life Foundation$5,000General PurposeCharlottesville Area Community Foundation
The First Tee of the Virginia Blue Ridge$5,000General PurposesCharlottesville Area Community Foundation
First Tee of Atlanta$5,000To Support the Mission of Ftma To Develop Chirldren Through the Game of Golf in the Gwinnett County AreaGwinnett Championship Foundation
Sheridan Athletic Association$5,000Support Junior AthletesJohn and Helen Ilsley Family Foundation
East Palo Alto Tennis and Tutoring$5,000Human ServicesSanta Barbara Foundation
Jackson Youth Hockey$5,000General UseThe Robert and Colleen Grady Foundation
Prospect Meadows$5,000Baseball/softball ProgramsThe Kernels Foundation
Sports for Exceptional Athletes (S4EA)$5,000GeneralJewish Community Foundation of San Diego
Junior Orange Bowl Committee$5,000General OperatingRuth Anderson Foundation
Methodology: To determine grants and grantees, Cause IQ analyzes electronically-filed Form 990, Form 990-EZ, and Form 990-PF financial disclosure documents, matching grantees to specific organizations using EINs and fuzzy matching logic. The "Amateur sports clubs" category for this page is determined by the "N60: Amateur Sports Clubs, Leagues" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.