Grants for disaster relief organizations

1,825 disaster relief organizations received at least $45.0 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 2,408 grants made from 1,607 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 1,607 foundations, 84% made just a single grant to disaster relief orgs, and 3% made grants to four or more disaster relief orgs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$45,036,854
Total grant dollars given to disaster relief organizations
2,408
Number of grants made annually to disaster relief organizations
1,607
Number of grantmakers funding disaster relief organizations
$1,000
Median grant size to disaster relief organizations

Foundations that support disaster relief organizations

Out of all grants made to disaster relief organizations, 84% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 91% of the dollar-value of grants to disaster relief orgs. Foundations funding disaster relief orgs also made grants to religious organizations, multiservice human service organizations, christian organizations, colleges, and historical societies.

Foundation size

Foundation size Number of grantmakers
Small
 
1,355
Medium
 
130
Large
 
120
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
 
48
Private
 
1,368
Corporate
 
72
Other
 
119

Grants made

Grants made to disaster relief orgs Number of grantmakers
1
 
1,364
2-3
 
193
4-10
 
31
11+
 
19

Top 10 foundations supporting disaster relief organizations

Grantmaker State Geographic focus Percent of grant dollars to disaster relief orgs Number of grants made to disaster relief orgs Median grant size
Westrock Foundation GA National 0.2% 92 $27
Chubb Charitable Foundation PA National 0.2% 46 $100
Shell Oil Company Foundation TX National 0.2% 31 $828
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT) TN Metro 0.1% 30 $875
Abbvie Foundation IL National 0.1% 29 $200
Land O'Lakes Foundation MN National 0.3% 27 $500
JP Morgan Chase Foundation NY National 0.0% 21 $350
Texas Farm Bureau Agriculture Research and Education Foundation TX State 51.3% 20 $1,775
Carmax Foundation VA National 0.3% 20 $500
Alliant Energy Foundation WI State 0.3% 17 $400

Disaster relief organizations grantees

Disaster relief organizations with more than $5 million in total revenues received 88% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 34% of all disaster relief orgs.

Grant amounts

Size of grant Number of grants
<$10k
 
2,399
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
9

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenue Median grant size
<$100k
 
$500
$100k-$500k
 
$750
$500k-$1M
 
$1,000
$1M-$5M
 
$600
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of grantee Number of grants
District of Columbia
 
489
Florida
 
326
Pennsylvania
 
218
New York
 
218
Other
 
1,157

Grantee metros

Metro area of grantee Number of grants
Washington DC
 
537
Tampa
 
301
New York City
 
237
Philadelphia
 
64
Other
 
893

Top 25 grants made to disaster relief organizations

Grantee Grant size Purpose Grantmaker
Disaster Services Corporation Society of St Vincent De Paul USA $8,697,044 Program Expenses National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster
Ehealth Africa $8,273,913 Polio Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Northern California Carpenters Relief Fund $5,100,000 Donation United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Joiners - 4140 Northern California Regional
Southwest Texas Regional Advisory Council (STRAC) $3,958,701 Emergency Room and Jail Diversion Program Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas (MHM)
New York Disaster Interfaith Services (NYDIS) $3,291,641 Post-Sandy Temporary Housing The Center for The New York City Neighborhoods
American National Red Cross (ANRC) $3,215,000 Community Collaboration United Way of Greater Cincinnati
On the Road Lending $3,000,000 Seeks To Lift the Disadvantaged and Working Poor From Poverty By Providing Financial Education and Assisting With Assessing Reliable Transportation. Philanthropy Southwest
Ehealth Africa $2,899,062 Polio Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
American National Red Cross (ANRC) $2,870,292 General Operating Costs United Way of Central Alabama
Savannah Area Realtors Disaster Relief Fund $5,000 To Provide Assitance for Hurricane Irma Georgia Association of Realtors Disaster Relief Fund
American National Red Cross (ANRC) $5,000 Disaster Relief Teresa Kuhn Charitable Trust
Camp Hill Fire Company No 1 $5,000 Exempt Donation 501(c)(3) Afr Foundation
American National Red Cross (ANRC) $5,000 California Wildfires Thibault Foundation A California Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation
American National Red Cross (ANRC) $5,000 Emergency Service To Those in Need Schwartz Foundation / Steve Clinkinbeard
American National Red Cross (ANRC) $5,000 General Support and Unrestricted Use. The Virginia and Robert Gill Charitable and Educational Foundation
West End Fire and Rescue $5,000 To Help Further the Charitable Cause G Leonard Fogelsonger Foundation
Disaster Relief Food Ministry $5,000 Disaster Relief Community Foundation Serving Western Virginia
Hegins Valley Fire-Rescue $5,000 Donation Mi Charitable Foundation
Berrysburg and Community Fire Company $5,000 Donation Mi Charitable Foundation
American National Red Cross (ANRC) $5,000 Emeregency Response Org The Mutual Fire Foundation
Shriners Hospitals for Children Employee Disaster Relief Fund $5,000 General Fund Leo Claire and Robert Adenbaum Foundation
American National Red Cross (ANRC) $5,000 General Assistance M3 Insurance Foundation
Appalachian Mountain Rescue Team $5,000 General Operating Support Trailsend Foundation
Anchorage Search Team $5,000 Equipment/supplies The Fraternal Order of Eagles Foundation
Churchill County NV Search and Rescue $5,000 Equipment/supplies The Fraternal Order of Eagles 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 "Disaster relief organizations" category for this page is determined by the "M20: Disaster Preparedness and Relief Service" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.