Grants for colleges

Name: Top 25 grants made to undergraduate colleges
Creator: Cause IQ
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

418 undergraduate colleges received at least $171.8 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 2,938 grants made from 1,774 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,500. Of these 1,774 foundations, 77% made just a single grant to colleges, and 4% made grants to four or more colleges. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.

$171,757,818

Total grant dollars given to colleges

2,938

Number of grants made annually to colleges

1,774

Number of grantmakers funding colleges

$1,500

Median grant size to colleges

Foundations that support undergraduate colleges

Out of all grants made to colleges, 82% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 72% of the dollar-value of grants to colleges. Foundations funding colleges also made grants to universities, religious organizations, theaters, high schools, and historical societies.

Foundation size

Foundation size	Number of grantmakers
Small	1,456
Medium	158
Large	160

Small foundations have <$10M in assets. Medium foundations have $10M to $50M in assets. Large foundations have >$50M in assets.

Foundation type

Foundation type	Number of grantmakers
Community	46
Private	1,549
Corporate	84
Other	95

Grants made

Grants made to colleges	Number of grantmakers
1	1,373
2-3	318
4-10	65
11+	18

Top 10 foundations supporting undergraduate colleges

Grantmaker	State	Geographic focus	Percent of grant dollars to colleges	Number of grants made to colleges	Median grant size
Fidelity Foundation	MA	National	0.2%	66	$1,050
Shell Oil Company Foundation	TX	National	0.5%	66	$850
Chubb Charitable Foundation	PA	National	0.5%	50	$225
Abbvie Foundation	IL	National	0.2%	48	$380
Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines	IA	State	0.2%	45	$2,000
Baird Foundation	WI	National	0.5%	29	$500
Johnson Controls Foundation	WI	National	0.5%	28	$838
The Columbus Foundation	OH	State	0.1%	24	$5,000
Tulsa Community Foundation	OK	National	0.1%	19	$5,000
The Richard M Schulze Family Foundation	MN	Metro	0.2%	18	$5,000

See all grantmaking to colleges

Undergraduate colleges grantees

Colleges with more than $5 million in total revenues received 99% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 98% of all colleges.

Grant amounts

Size of grant	Number of grants
<$10k	2,913
$10k-$25k	0
$25k-$100k	0
$100k+	25

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenue	Median grant size
<$100k	$150
$100k-$500k	$1,000
$500k-$1M	$2,500
$1M-$5M	$1,000
>$5M	$1,500

Grantee states

State of grantee	Number of grants
New York	343
Pennsylvania	295
Massachusetts	282
Michigan	257
Other	1,761

Grantee metros

Metro area of grantee	Number of grants
New York City	99
Boston	92
Albany, NY	70
Charlotte	64
Other	1,841

Top 25 grants made to colleges

Grantee	Grant size	Purpose	Grantmaker
University of Vermont and State Agricultural College	$24,130,462	See Part Iv	University of Vermont And State Agricultural College FOUNDATION
Berry College	$20,924,016	General Support	Lettie Pate Evans Foundation
Washington and Lee University	$15,693,012	General Support	Lettie Pate Evans Foundation
Gustavus Adolphus College	$10,283,587	General Support	Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
President and Trustees of Colby College	$10,000,000	Athletics Center	Harold Alfond Foundation
Grinnell College	$7,964,606	Cash Contribution	Donald C Rockola Charitable Trust
College of the Ozarks	$6,363,474	General Purposes	Lewis W Hyer Trust
Kansas City Art Institute (KCAI)	$6,226,471	Education	Greater Kansas City Community Foundation
Bowdoin College	$5,752,000	Education	California Community Foundation
Berea College	$5,280,000	To Support Economic Mobility	Blue Meridian Partners
Barnard College	$5,213,275	Tow Foundation Public Service Internship and Research Fellows Program	The Tow Foundation
Pomona College	$5,200,000	Family Interest Grantmaking	Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Claremont McKenna College (CMC)	$5,048,563	Unrestricted	Robert Day Foundation
Marywood University	$4,878,000	To Expand the Higher Education for Sisters in Africa (Hesa) Initiative Through Which 858 Sisters in 10 Countries Will Receive Support To Acquire Higher Education Credentials, Both Through Online Distance Learning and Onsite in Africa, Through 23 Partners.	Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
San Diego Christian College (SDC)	$3,515,000	General Support	WaterStone
University of the Ozarks	$3,375,910	Int'l Scholarships	Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation
University of the Ozarks	$3,375,910	Board Decision	Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation
Spelman College	$3,100,000	Daf - Education	Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston
Bennington College Corporation	$3,000,000	All Contributions Made for the Intent Established By the Various Charities	Scanlan Family Foundation
Hillsdale College	$3,000,000	Education	Steve and Amy Van Andel Foundation
Bethany Lutheran College & Seminary (BLC)	$2,872,500	Religious Land and Buildings	Marvin M. Schwan Charitable Foundation
Davidson College	$2,836,811	General Charitable Purpose	Impetus Foundation
Hillsdale College	$2,679,600	General	Dorothy D. & Joseph A. Moller Foundation
Marywood University	$2,500,000	To Expand the Sisters Leadership Development Initiative (Sldi) Current Work in the Ten Focus Countries in Africa.	Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
President and Trustees of Colby College	$2,500,000	Main Street Hotel Development Project	Harold Alfond Foundation

See all grants to colleges

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 "Colleges" category for this page is determined by the "B42: Undergraduate College (4-year)" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.