Grants for botanical and horticultural nonprofits

455 botanical nonprofits and horticultural societies received at least $13.6 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 1,367 grants made from 1,077 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 1,077 foundations, 86% made just a single grant to horticulture orgs, and 2% made grants to four or more horticulture orgs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$13,637,231
Total grant dollars given to botanical and horticultural nonprofits
1,367
Number of grants made annually to botanical and horticultural nonprofits
1,077
Number of grantmakers funding botanical and horticultural nonprofits
$1,000
Median grant size to botanical and horticultural nonprofits

Foundations that support botanical nonprofits and horticultural societies

Out of all grants made to botanical and horticultural nonprofits, 77% 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 horticulture orgs. Foundations funding horticulture orgs also made grants to botanical gardens, art museums, historical societies, universities, and land conservation groups.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
836
Medium
 
144
Large
 
97
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
 
25
Private
 
964
Corporate
 
55
Other
 
33

Grants made

Grants made to horticulture orgsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
932
2-3
 
123
4-10
 
18
11+
 
4

Top 10 foundations supporting botanical nonprofits and horticultural societies

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to horticulture orgsNumber of grants made to horticulture orgsMedian grant size
Community Foundation of Greater Des MoinesIAState0.1%34$1,000
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.0%12$312
Greater Worcester Community FoundationMAMetro0.4%11$1,379
Seattle FoundationWAState0.0%11$1,000
Community Foundation of North Central WiWIMetro0.6%10$2,095
Community Foundation of Collier CountyFLNational0.1%9$1,500
Clif Bar Family FoundationCANational0.8%8$3,750
Community Foundation for the Greater Capital RegionNYMetro0.6%7$5,000
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.0%7$850
Baird FoundationWINational0.1%7$100

Botanical nonprofits and horticultural societies grantees

Botanical and horticultural nonprofits with more than $5 million in total revenues received 90% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 46% of all horticulture orgs.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
1,365
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
2

Grant amount by grantee size

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

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
New York
 
222
Illinois
 
118
Florida
 
110
California
 
92
Other
 
825

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
New York City
 
210
Chicago
 
119
Richmond
 
44
Naples
 
42
Other
 
850

Top 25 grants made to botanical and horticultural nonprofits

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
New York Botanical Garden (NYBG)$6,187,500Support for Scientific Research, Horticulture and Living Collections, Audience Development, and Visitor Services and To Add To the Recovery and Restoration Fund.LuEsther T Mertz Charitable Trust
And Sculpture Park$5,000,000Capital CampaignMeijer
Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens Corporation$5,000Annual Grant for General Operating SupportCommunity Foundation of Mendocino County
Tower Hill Botanic Garden$5,000Education ProgramsRockwell Foundation
Desert Botanical Garden$5,000Research FundingKittay Foundation
Mcintire Botanical Garden$5,000General PurposesCharlottesville Area Community Foundation
Mcintire Botanical Garden$5,000Donation for General FundCharlottesville Area Community Foundation
The Bloedel Reserve$5,000Unrestricted SupportLenore Hanauer Foundation
Holden Arboretum$5,000GeneralCorinne L Dodero Foundation for the Arts and Sciences
New York Botanical Garden (NYBG)$5,000CharitableThe Steven M Feldman Family Foundation
Old Westbury Gardens$5,000Environmental PreservationAinslie Foundation
Chicago Botanic Garden$5,000UnrestrictedSanborn Family Foundation
San Antonio Botanical Garden Society$5,000For Program SupportSan Antonio Area Foundation Group Return
Bartram's Garden$5,000Fight HungerWhyHunger
South Texas Botanical Gardens$5,000General PurposeBuilding Bridge Foundation
Ste Genevieve County Master Gardeners$5,000General Operating SupportCommunity Foundation of the Ozarks (CFO)
Cecil County Extension Advisory Council$5,000EducationThe Columbus Foundation
Inniswood Garden Society$5,000ConservationThe Columbus Foundation
Portland Japanese Garden$5,000To Establish and Maintain A Formal Japanese Garden in the City of Portland for Educational, Scientific, Cultural, Literary & Charitable PurposeCollins Foundation
New York Botanical Garden (NYBG)$5,000EducationThe Fine and Greenwald Foundation
Crown Community Garden$5,000To Assist the Entity During the Covid-19 PandemicMethodist Health System Foundation (MHSF)
Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden$5,000Grant DistributionCommunity Foundation of Greater Des Moines
Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden$5,000Grant DistributionCommunity Foundation of Greater Des Moines
Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden$5,000Grant DistributionCommunity Foundation of Greater Des Moines
Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden$5,000Grant DistributionCommunity Foundation of Greater Des Moines
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 "Botanical and horticultural nonprofits" category for this page is determined by the "C40: Botanical, Horticultural, and Landscape Services" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.