Grants for civic environmental organizations

385 civic environmental and open space organizations received at least $6.7 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 683 grants made from 553 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 553 foundations, 88% made just a single grant to civic enviro orgs, and 2% made grants to four or more civic enviro orgs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$6,656,321
Total grant dollars given to civic environmental organizations
683
Number of grants made annually to civic environmental organizations
553
Number of grantmakers funding civic environmental organizations
$1,000
Median grant size to civic environmental organizations

Foundations that support civic environmental and open space organizations

Out of all grants made to civic environmental organizations, 78% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 84% of the dollar-value of grants to civic enviro orgs. Foundations funding civic enviro orgs also made grants to land conservation groups, universities, animal shelters, homeless shelters, and theaters.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
432
Medium
 
68
Large
 
53
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
 
12
Private
 
484
Corporate
 
31
Other
 
26

Grants made

Grants made to civic enviro orgsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
492
2-3
 
48
4-10
 
11
11+
 
2

Top 10 foundations supporting civic environmental and open space organizations

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to civic enviro orgsNumber of grants made to civic enviro orgsMedian grant size
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)TNMetro0.0%14$565
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.0%11$719
Salesforce Com FoundationCANational0.1%7$200
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)NJNational0.0%7$250
Carmax FoundationVANational0.0%7$500
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.0%6$675
The O-I Charities FoundationOHState0.3%5$200
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.0%5$100
Chubb Charitable FoundationPANational0.0%5$80
Keep America BeautifulCTNational1.9%4$4,250

Civic environmental and open space organizations grantees

Civic environmental organizations with more than $5 million in total revenues received 48% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 24% of all civic enviro orgs.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
681
$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
 
$500

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
New York
 
75
California
 
74
Nebraska
 
54
Texas
 
47
Other
 
433

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
New York City
 
93
Lincoln
 
51
St. Louis
 
37
Houston
 
29
Other
 
439

Top 25 grants made to civic environmental organizations

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Hermann Park Conservancy$3,000,000Toward Implementing the First Phase of Hermann Park's 20-year Master PlanHouston Endowment
Lake Cunningham Development Trust$2,500,000Capital CampaignWalter Scott Family Foundation
Friends of the High Line$5,000GeneralRed House Fund
Greater Newark Conservancy$5,000General UseThe Ryan Family Foundation
Scenic Lafayette$5,000DonationLafayette General Health System (LGH)
Emerald Necklace Conservancy$5,000UnrestrictedThe Slater Foundation
Southwest Renewal Foundation of High Point$5,000To Assist With Building Capacity SupportThe Foundation for A Healthy High Point
Boulder Climbing Community$5,000General Operating SupportThe Community Foundation
New York Restoration Project (NYRP)$5,000General SupportDavid Geffen Foundation
Lincoln Park Conservancy$5,000Public and Societal Benefit Program SupportGreater Green Bay Community Foundation (GGBCF)
Keep Indianapolis Beautiful$5,000Community Improvement and Green InfrastructureSalesforce Com Foundation
Friends of the Urban Forests (FUF)$5,000Plant and Care for Trees and Sidewalk GardensSalesforce Com Foundation
Keep PCB Beautiful$5,000Community OutreachThe St Joe Community Foundation
Kalamazoo in Bloom$5,000Community PlantingsDorothy U Dalton Foundation
Hermann Park Conservancy$5,000In Honor of Laura Wareing WhelessScurlock Foundation
Friends of Old Westbury$5,000General Operating FundRobert and Roni Lemle Family Foundation
Kalamazoo in Bloom$5,000Bronson Park PlantingJim Gilmore JR Foundation
Friends of the Chicago River$5,000Programs for TeachersDr. Scholl Foundation
Lincoln Park Conservancy$5,000North Pond Nature SanctuaryDr. Scholl Foundation
Greensboro Beautiful$5,000Project GrantsKeep America Beautiful
Keep Blount Beautiful$5,000Project GrantsKeep America Beautiful
New River Gorge Trail Alliance$5,0001 Mini-Grant Award for Communications Activity Through Power ProgramWest Virginia Community Development Hub
Up With Trees$5,000General FundSherman E Smith Family Charitable Foundation
Forest Park Forever$5,000General SupportThe Kranzberg Family Charitable Foundation
Save Our Canyons$5,000Central Wasatch National Conservation & Recreation Area Project Annual Food RunsLawrence & Janet Dee 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 "Civic environmental organizations" category for this page is determined by the "C50: Environmental Beautification and Open Spaces" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.