Grants for fairs

322 county fairs received at least $12.9 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 215 grants made from 174 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,250. Of these 174 foundations, 91% made just a single grant to fairs, and 2% made grants to four or more fairs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$12,941,593
Total grant dollars given to fairs
215
Number of grants made annually to fairs
174
Number of grantmakers funding fairs
$1,250
Median grant size to fairs

Foundations that support county fairs

Out of all grants made to fairs, 74% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 97% of the dollar-value of grants to fairs. Foundations funding fairs also made grants to animal shelters, historical societies, universities, youth development programs, and food banks.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
129
Medium
 
23
Large
 
21
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
 
6
Private
 
127
Corporate
 
17
Other
 
24

Grants made

Grants made to fairsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
160
2-3
 
10
4-10
 
3
11+
 
1

Top 10 foundations supporting county fairs

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to fairsNumber of grants made to fairsMedian grant size
Land O'Lakes FoundationMNNational0.4%19$1,000
Community Foundation of Greater Des MoinesIAState0.0%5$3,250
DTE Energy FoundationMIMetro0.1%5$2,000
Enmr Education FoundationNMState3.2%4$1,350
Albemarle FoundationNCNational0.1%3$2,975
Alliant Energy FoundationWIState0.1%3$400
Broadcom FoundationCAState0.2%2$5,000
Community Foundation of North Central WiWIMetro0.2%2$4,050
The Robert and Louise Claflin FoundationWVState4.1%2$3,400
Franklin P. and Arthur W. Perdue FoundationDENational0.6%2$2,750

County fairs grantees

Fairs with more than $5 million in total revenues received 97% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 18% of all fairs.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
214
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
1

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$1,225
$100k-$500k
 
$1,500
$500k-$1M
 
$1,070
$1M-$5M
 
$1,500
>$5M
 
$1,500

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
Texas
 
39
Iowa
 
24
California
 
17
Wisconsin
 
13
Other
 
122

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
Houston
 
24
Dallas
 
7
New York City
 
6
Milwaukee
 
5
Other
 
119

Top 25 grants made to fairs

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Event Facilities Fort Worth$12,500,000General SupportBurnett Foundation / Dee Kelly JR Ttee
Harbor Springs Festival of the Book$5,000Arts & CultureDTE Energy Foundation
Western Michigan Fair Association$5,000Community TransformationDTE Energy Foundation
Marshall County Blueberry Festival$5,000Charitable Contribution1st Source Bank
Kids From Wisconsin$5,000Performing ArtsRichard and Ethel Herzfeld Foundation
Colorado State Science Fair$5,000General & UnrestrictedBroadcom Foundation
Santa Clara Valley Science and Engineering Fair Association$5,000Support for Regional Science FairBroadcom Foundation
Clark County Fairgrounds$5,000HealthThe Columbus Foundation
Lycoming County Fair Association$5,000Provide Operational SupportWilliamsport-Lycoming Chamber of Commerce
Lake Agriculture and Youth Fair Association$5,000SponsorshipUf Health The Villages Hospital (TVRH)
City of Quincy Christmas Festival Committee$5,000Support for Smoking/vaping CessationBeth Israel Deaconess Hospital - Milton
Zehnder's Snowfest$5,000Organizational/community SupportHealth Alliance Plan of Michigan
A Fair Shake for Youth$5,000UnrestrictedThe Evelyn Toll Family Foundation
Healdsburg Future Farmers Country Fair$5,000To Support ProgramsGeorge and Betty Harbaugh Charitable FOUNDATION
Louisiana Sugar Cane Festival and Fair Association$5,000PromotionAmerican Sugar Cane League of the USA
Clinton County Fair Association$5,000Electrical Improvements at FairgroundsClinton County Economic Partnership Tourist Promotion Agency
Martin County Fair Association$5,000General SupportGordana Uscumlic Foundation
Marshall County Blueberry Festival$5,000General SupportNewton Park
Riverfest River Spirit Waynesboro$5,000To Hold Two Events To Promote Environmental Awareness and Understanding of Water Quality Issues in the Headwaters of the South Fork Shenandoah. One Is A Free Public Educational Event (Riverfest) and the Second Is Kid's Day for the Entire 7th Grade Class of the Waynesboro City School System.The Oak Hill Fund
Portland Rose Festival Foundation$5,000To Further the Mission of the OrganizationRoyal Rosarian Foundation PO Box 8956
Summer Motion$5,000Support of Annual Community Festival & VolunteersKing's Daughters Medical Center (KDMC)
Georgia Association of Physicians of Indian Heritage$5,000Donor Designated for General SupportUnited Way of the Csra
Wichita Festivals$5,000To Support Charitable PurposeItav) Takes A Village
Los Altos Festival of Lights$5,000To Celebate the Holiday Season in Downtown Los AltosThe Los Altos Rotary Endowment Fund
San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo$5,000To Provide Financial Assistance To Local Youth for Their Secondary EducationRochester Area Community Foundation (RACF)
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 "Fairs" category for this page is determined by the "N52: Fair, County and Other" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.