Grants for wildlife protection organizations

623 wildlife conservation and protection organizations received at least $31.3 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 1,585 grants made from 994 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 994 foundations, 76% made just a single grant to wildlife orgs, and 4% made grants to four or more wildlife orgs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$31,269,877
Total grant dollars given to wildlife protection organizations
1,585
Number of grants made annually to wildlife protection organizations
994
Number of grantmakers funding wildlife protection organizations
$1,000
Median grant size to wildlife protection organizations

Foundations that support wildlife conservation and protection organizations

Out of all grants made to wildlife protection organizations, 80% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 92% of the dollar-value of grants to wildlife orgs. Foundations funding wildlife orgs also made grants to animal shelters, wildlife sanctuaries, natural resource conservation nonprofits, multiservice human service organizations, and water and wetland protection organizations.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
794
Medium
 
114
Large
 
83
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
 
24
Private
 
870
Corporate
 
59
Other
 
41

Grants made

Grants made to wildlife orgsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
761
2-3
 
184
4-10
 
38
11+
 
11

Top 10 foundations supporting wildlife conservation and protection organizations

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to wildlife orgsNumber of grants made to wildlife orgsMedian grant size
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.1%33$200
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.0%26$347
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.1%24$500
Westrock FoundationGANational0.0%23$20
Carmax FoundationVANational0.4%20$1,000
Salesforce Com FoundationCANational0.0%19$50
Community Foundation of Collier CountyFLNational0.1%15$1,250
BaxterILNational0.0%13$25
PC Fund for Animals Charitable TrustFLNational9.1%12$1,000
Seattle FoundationWAState0.0%11$1,000

Wildlife conservation and protection organizations grantees

Wildlife protection organizations with more than $5 million in total revenues received 87% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 41% of all wildlife orgs.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
1,580
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
5

Grant amount by grantee size

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

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
California
 
243
District of Columbia
 
169
Virginia
 
149
Florida
 
139
Other
 
885

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
Washington DC
 
329
New York City
 
126
San Francisco
 
70
Los Angeles
 
66
Other
 
852

Top 25 grants made to wildlife protection organizations

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Global Wildlife Conservation (GWC)$11,272,126General PurposeThe Sheth Sangreal Foundation
Ducks Unlimited$8,513,338PolicyThe Pew Charitable Trusts (Pew)
Trout Unlimited$3,403,051Various ConservationNational Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
Ducks Unlimited$2,989,922Various ConservationNational Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
Philadelphia Contemporary$2,500,000General SupportClaws Foundation
California Wildlife Center (CWC)$5,000Environment and AnimalsSanta Barbara Foundation
National Wildlife Federation$5,000Public Support of Organization's MissionYing Cai and Wann S Lee Foundation
Sea Turtle Preservation Society$5,000General OperationsHastings Community Foundation
The Marine Mammal Center$5,000Charitable Contribution Through the Matching Gifts ProgramAnnie E Casey Foundation (AECF)
Backcountry Hunters and Anglers$5,000Operating ExpensesThe Albany Foundation
Wolf Haven International$5,000General OperatingSeebe Frances Tuw
Sea Turtle Adventures Incorporated$5,000Icare ProgramThe Jim Moran Foundation
The Ocean Foundation (TOF)$5,000General Support To Carry Out the Mission of the OrganizationJewish Federation of Palm Beach County
St Francis Wildlife Association$5,000General SupportAppreciation of Earth and Animal Foundation
The Wilds$5,000ConservationThe Columbus Foundation
Ducks Unlimited$5,000General SupportJustGive
Oceana$5,000EnvironmentalThe Fine and Greenwald Foundation
Ducks Unlimited$5,000Environment & AnimalsNorth Carolina Community Foundation (NCCF)
Ducks Unlimited - Greenville Dr Ray D Minges Chapter$5,000Environment & AnimalsNorth Carolina Community Foundation (NCCF)
Ducks Unlimited$5,000General SupportSpartanburg County Foundation
Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center (CWWC)$5,000Donor Advised-For Unrestricted UseCommunity Foundation for the Greater Capital Region
Blue Ridge Wildlife Center$5,000General SupportMonomoy Fund
Louisiana Fur and Wildlife Festival$5,000Support Local Fundraiser That Provides High School ScholarshipsCheniere Foundation
Walden's Puddle$5,000AnimalsCommunity Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)
Coastal Conservation Association$5,000Environ/conservCommunity Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)
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 "Wildlife protection organizations" category for this page is determined by the "D30: Wildlife Preservation, Protection" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.