Grants for economic development organizations

1,851 economic development organizations received at least $207.6 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 871 grants made from 651 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $2,500. Of these 651 foundations, 86% made just a single grant to economic devel orgs, and 2% made grants to four or more economic devel orgs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$207,573,554
Total grant dollars given to economic development organizations
871
Number of grants made annually to economic development organizations
651
Number of grantmakers funding economic development organizations
$2,500
Median grant size to economic development organizations

Foundations that support economic development organizations

Out of all grants made to economic development organizations, 63% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 90% of the dollar-value of grants to economic devel orgs. Foundations funding economic devel orgs also made grants to multiservice human service organizations, youth development programs, scholarship organizations, educational service providers, and community development corporations.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
412
Medium
 
98
Large
 
141
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
 
39
Private
 
437
Corporate
 
55
Other
 
120

Grants made

Grants made to economic devel orgsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
561
2-3
 
72
4-10
 
15
11+
 
3

Top 10 foundations supporting economic development organizations

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to economic devel orgsNumber of grants made to economic devel orgsMedian grant size
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational8.4%31$250
Chubb Charitable FoundationPANational0.0%27$31
Arkansas Community FoundationARState0.1%12$1,000
The Rhode Island FoundationRIMetro0.1%10$1,769
Carmax FoundationVANational0.1%7$1,000
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.0%7$40
The Columbus FoundationOHState0.0%6$5,000
Land O'Lakes FoundationMNNational0.1%6$1,485
Greater Green Bay Community Foundation (GGBCF)WIState0.2%5$5,000
The Boston Foundation (TBF)MAMetro0.0%5$2,500

Economic development organizations grantees

Economic development organizations with more than $5 million in total revenues received 78% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 15% of all economic devel orgs.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
848
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
23

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$2,000
$100k-$500k
 
$2,000
$500k-$1M
 
$2,350
$1M-$5M
 
$2,500
>$5M
 
$3,013

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
New York
 
78
Pennsylvania
 
68
Virginia
 
61
Ohio
 
59
Other
 
605

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
New York City
 
55
Boston
 
32
Virginia Beach
 
31
Chicago
 
31
Other
 
595

Top 25 grants made to economic development organizations

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
San Diego Tourism Authority / San Diego Convention and Tourist Bureau$35,614,292Psa 1San Diego Tourism Marketing District (SDTMD)
Self-Help Ventures Fund$29,149,282CostCenter for Community Self-Help
North Carolina Rural Center$20,227,608See Part IvGolden LEAF Foundation
Self-Help Ventures Fund$12,720,675Highest Balance in 2019Center for Community Self-Help
Local Initiatives Support Corporation$12,500,000Support Community DevelopmentNational Equity Fund
Citywide Development Corporation$11,977,086Community DevelopmentMiami Valley Hospital
Mission Asset Fund (MAF)$9,000,000To Provide Covid-19 SupportBlue Meridian Partners
Community First Capital Corporation$8,806,260Amt Due on Note-Yr EndCommunity First Fund
Community First Capital Corporation$8,806,260Amt Due on Note-Yr EndCommunity First Fund
JobsOhio$7,235,270RevenueJobsOhio
JobsOhio$7,235,270RevenueJobsOhio
Bridgeway Development Corporation$6,760,000GuaranteeBridgeway Capital
Local Initiatives Support Corporation$4,624,000Community Preservation and DevelopmentEnterprise Community Partners
The national Development council$4,000,000Support General OperationsNDC HOUSING and ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT corporation
Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA)$3,840,000In Support of Neighborhood RevitalizationJP Morgan Chase Foundation
The Real Estate Council Community Fund$3,500,000In Support of Neighborhood RevitalizationJP Morgan Chase Foundation
Pittsburgh Regional Alliance$3,336,896CashAllegheny Conference on Community Development
Hope Enterprise Corporation$3,175,000Community DevelopmentSilicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
Pittsburgh Regional Alliance$2,904,239Operating SupportAllegheny Conference on Community Development
Ohio Capital Finance Corporation$2,500,000In Support of Neighborhood RevitalizationJP Morgan Chase Foundation
Local Initiatives Support Corporation$2,500,000In Support of Neighborhood RevitalizationJP Morgan Chase Foundation
Cinnaire Lending Corporation$2,500,000In Support of Neighborhood RevitalizationJP Morgan Chase Foundation
Cleveland Development Advisors Community Reinvestment Fund$2,500,000In Support of Neighborhood RevitalizationJP Morgan Chase Foundation
Junior Achievement of Greater Hampton Roads$5,000DonationMonarch Charities
Tulsa Dream Center$5,000Outreach To Families in NeedOpenness 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 "Economic development organizations" category for this page is determined by the "S30: Economic Development" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.