Grants for homeless shelters

2,056 homeless housing programs received at least $61.1 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 5,202 grants made from 2,933 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,200. Of these 2,933 foundations, 77% made just a single grant to homeless shelters, and 4% made grants to four or more homeless shelters. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$61,097,847
Total grant dollars given to homeless shelters
5,202
Number of grants made annually to homeless shelters
2,933
Number of grantmakers funding homeless shelters
$1,200
Median grant size to homeless shelters

Foundations that support homeless housing programs

Out of all grants made to homeless shelters, 82% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 83% of the dollar-value of grants to homeless shelters. Foundations funding homeless shelters also made grants to multiservice human service organizations, emergency assistance programs, christian organizations, food banks, and religious organizations.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
2,427
Medium
 
274
Large
 
229
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
 
60
Private
 
2,485
Corporate
 
151
Other
 
237

Grants made

Grants made to homeless sheltersNumber of grantmakers
1
 
2,271
2-3
 
526
4-10
 
98
11+
 
38

Top 10 foundations supporting homeless housing programs

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to homeless sheltersNumber of grants made to homeless sheltersMedian grant size
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.0%101$500
Seattle FoundationWAState0.2%99$1,000
Baird FoundationWINational0.8%83$60
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)TNMetro0.2%74$826
Community Foundation of Greater Des MoinesIAState0.2%68$586
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.1%56$255
Carmax FoundationVANational0.6%53$500
Chubb Charitable FoundationPANational0.3%47$240
The Rhode Island FoundationRIMetro0.2%41$1,000
Synchrony FoundationCTNational0.3%41$260

Homeless housing programs grantees

Homeless shelters with more than $5 million in total revenues received 81% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 43% of all homeless shelters.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
5,191
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
11

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$1,160
$100k-$500k
 
$2,000
$500k-$1M
 
$1,701
$1M-$5M
 
$1,500
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
California
 
589
Washington
 
398
Illinois
 
269
Texas
 
259
Other
 
3,687

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
Seattle
 
335
New York City
 
289
Los Angeles
 
283
Chicago
 
246
Other
 
3,813

Top 25 grants made to homeless shelters

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Covenant House New York (CHNY)$7,938,500CostCovenant House International
Covenant House New York (CHNY)$7,938,500Program SupportCovenant House International
Homeaid Houston$5,137,007Housing, ShelterGreater Houston Community Foundation
Covenant House Pennsylvania$4,592,280Program Support/ National Sleepout EventCovenant House International
Covenant House New Jersey$4,490,810CostCovenant House International
Covenant House New Jersey$4,490,810Program Support/ National Sleepout EventCovenant House International
Atlanta Mission$4,000,000Development of Low-Barrier Shelter for Women and Children at the Atlanta Day Shelter Facility on Ethel Street.Joseph B Whitehead Foundation
Christ-Centered Ministries$3,496,826Healthy Individuals and CommunitiesTides Center
United States Veterans Initiative$3,007,000To Assist Local CharitiesThe Home Depot Foundation and Homer Fund
247 Gateway LLC$2,787,535Community BenefitUnited Way of Greater Atlanta
247 Gateway LLC$2,787,535Expense IncurredUnited Way of Greater Atlanta
The Homeless Alliance$5,000General SupportLove Meyer Family Foundation
Tabor Community Services$5,000Support Beth Shalom HouseReese Foundation 47F055017
My Sisters' Place$5,000Mary Townsend Seymour SocietySandra and Arnold Chase Family Foundation
Family Promise of Beaufort County$5,000General Operating SupportKathryn Davis Grado Foundation
The Lord's Place$5,000To Break the Cycle of Homelessness By Providing Innovative, Compassionate and Effective Services To Men, Women and Children in Our Community.The Orchard Farm Foundation
Culpeper Community Development Corporation$5,000Shelter for HomelessCulpeper Wellness Foundation
Prescott Area Shelter Services$5,000Women's ShelterJoseph and May Winston Foundation
Haven for Hope$5,000Program ExpensesThe Phyllis L Schoener Foundation
Time Is Now To Help the Children and Elderly$5,000General Use of CharityWilliam H and Lois J Mcessy Foundation
Interfaith Community Shelter Group$5,000General And/or Educational PurposesSeed Corn Foundation
Bridge House$5,000General SupportSanta Barbara Foundation
Joseph's House and Shelter$5,000To Support Ongoing Programs.The Seymour Fox Memorial Foundation
Homeless Veterans Fellowship$5,000Support the HomelessWeber County Homeless Charitable Trust Fund
Bowery Residents Committee (BRC)$5,000General OperatingSarah I Schieffelin Residuary Trust#
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 "Homeless shelters" category for this page is determined by the "L41: Homeless, Temporary Shelter" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.