Grants for food and agriculture nonprofits

5,176 food and agriculture programs received at least $199.8 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 12,322 grants made from 5,762 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 5,762 foundations, 69% made just a single grant to food nonprofits, and 6% made grants to four or more food nonprofits. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$199,786,244
Total grant dollars given to food and agriculture nonprofits
12,322
Number of grants made annually to food and agriculture nonprofits
5,762
Number of grantmakers funding food and agriculture nonprofits
$1,000
Median grant size to food and agriculture nonprofits

Foundations that support food and agriculture programs

Out of all grants made to food and agriculture nonprofits, 84% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 64% of the dollar-value of grants to food nonprofits. Foundations funding food nonprofits also made grants to food banks, multiservice human service organizations, food distribution programs, christian organizations, and emergency assistance programs.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
4,870
Medium
 
540
Large
 
342
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
 
113
Private
 
4,984
Corporate
 
245
Other
 
420

Grants made

Grants made to food nonprofitsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
4,019
2-3
 
1,381
4-10
 
280
11+
 
82

Top 10 foundations supporting food and agriculture programs

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to food nonprofitsNumber of grants made to food nonprofitsMedian grant size
Land O'Lakes FoundationMNNational2.8%211$600
Carmax FoundationVANational1.9%185$500
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.1%177$425
Westrock FoundationGANational0.5%141$30
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.3%133$260
The Rhode Island FoundationRIMetro0.5%128$1,000
Community Foundation of Greater Des MoinesIAState0.4%116$1,000
Chubb Charitable FoundationPANational0.8%114$100
Seattle FoundationWAState0.2%109$1,000

Food and agriculture programs grantees

Food and agriculture nonprofits with more than $5 million in total revenues received 69% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 55% of all food nonprofits.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
12,286
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
36

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$1,000
$100k-$500k
 
$1,500
$500k-$1M
 
$1,500
$1M-$5M
 
$1,250
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
California
 
1,133
New York
 
1,000
Illinois
 
675
Texas
 
632
Other
 
8,882

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
New York City
 
1,000
Chicago
 
604
Washington DC
 
497
Seattle
 
363
Other
 
8,780

Top 25 grants made to food and agriculture nonprofits

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
National Dairy Council$26,371,144Advertising ProgramDairy Promotion
Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo$8,949,016Agricultural DevelopmentBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Feeding America$8,041,342Covid 19:covid 19 America's Food FundGofundmeorg
World Central Kitchen$7,859,000Covid 19:covid 19 America's Food FundGofundmeorg
Three Square Plan Giving$7,635,100NMTC Cash TransactionThree Square
METROPOLITAN New York COORDINATING COUNCIL ON Jewish Poverty$6,077,000Caring / Jewish LifeUja-Federation of New York
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank$5,638,290Fight HungerFeeding America
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley$5,323,239Food SecuritySilicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
Child Development Associates$5,050,000For Covid Response for Childcare, Food and Supplies Per Grant Agreement LetterThe San Diego Foundation
Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture$5,000,000ResearchFoundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR)
Collaborative for Fresh Produce$4,719,303Produce Acquisition and DistributionFeeding Texas
The North Carolina Agricultural Foundation$4,577,245Scholarships, Faculty Support, Departmental Support and Facility SupportNC State Investment Fund
North Texas Food Bank$4,508,281This Grant Is Designated for General Support.Communities Foundation of Texas
Second Harvest Food Bank Greater New Orleans and Acadiana$4,259,009Fight HungerFeeding America
Agricultural Development Fund$4,226,072To Provide Means for Agricultural Youth To Further Educational / Vocational Opportunities.Fort Worth Stock Show Syndicate
Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin$4,198,046Advertising ProgramDairy Promotion
Greater Chicago Food Depository$4,101,825General SupportFulk Family Foundation
CCOF Certification Services LLC$4,006,156ContractCalifornia Certified Organic FarmersInc
One Acre Fund$4,002,000International DevelopmentSilicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
Cnfa$3,858,210To Stimulate Economic Growth and Improve Livelihoods By Cultivating Entrepreneurship.Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance
Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo$3,704,254Agricultural DevelopmentBill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Share Our Strength$3,665,000To Provide Covid-19 SupportBlue Meridian Partners
United Dairy Industry of Michigan$3,643,323Promote the Sale of Milk and Milk Products and Increase Consumer Awareness of Milk Products Through Promotion, Research, and Nutrition Education.Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA)
Meals on Wheels by ACC$3,599,382Senior ProgramsArea 4 Agency on Aging
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)$3,509,441Agricultural Development; NutritionBill & Melinda Gates 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 "Food and agriculture nonprofits" category for this page is determined by the "K00: Food, Agriculture, and Nutrition: General" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.