Grants for food and agriculture nonprofits

5,176 food and agriculture programs received at least $199.8 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 12,322 grants made from 5,762 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 5,762 foundations, 69% made just a single grant to food nonprofits, and 6% made grants to four or more food nonprofits. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$199,786,244
Total grant dollars given to food and agriculture nonprofits
12,322
Number of grants made annually to food and agriculture nonprofits
5,762
Number of grantmakers funding food and agriculture nonprofits
$1,000
Median grant size to food and agriculture nonprofits

Foundations that support food and agriculture programs

Out of all grants made to food and agriculture nonprofits, 84% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 64% of the dollar-value of grants to food nonprofits. Foundations funding food nonprofits also made grants to food banks, food distribution programs, multiservice human service organizations, religious organizations, and emergency assistance programs.

Foundation size

Foundation size Number of grantmakers
Small
 
4,870
Medium
 
540
Large
 
342
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
 
113
Private
 
4,984
Corporate
 
245
Other
 
420

Grants made

Grants made to food nonprofits Number of grantmakers
1
 
4,019
2-3
 
1,381
4-10
 
280
11+
 
82

Top 10 foundations supporting food and agriculture programs

Grantmaker State Geographic focus Percent of grant dollars to food nonprofits Number of grants made to food nonprofits Median grant size
Land O'Lakes Foundation MN National 2.8% 211 $600
Carmax Foundation VA National 1.9% 185 $500
JP Morgan Chase Foundation NY National 0.1% 177 $425
Westrock Foundation GA National 0.5% 141 $30
Abbvie Foundation IL National 0.3% 133 $260
The Rhode Island Foundation RI Metro 0.5% 128 $1,000
Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines IA State 0.4% 116 $1,000
Chubb Charitable Foundation PA National 0.8% 114 $100
Seattle Foundation WA State 0.2% 109 $1,000

Food and agriculture programs grantees

Food and agriculture nonprofits with more than $5 million in total revenues received 69% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 55% of all food nonprofits.

Grant amounts

Size of grant Number of grants
<$10k
 
12,286
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
36

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenue Median grant size
<$100k
 
$1,000
$100k-$500k
 
$1,500
$500k-$1M
 
$1,500
$1M-$5M
 
$1,250
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of grantee Number of grants
California
 
1,133
New York
 
1,000
Illinois
 
675
Texas
 
632
Other
 
8,882

Grantee metros

Metro area of grantee Number of grants
New York City
 
1,000
Chicago
 
604
Washington DC
 
497
Seattle
 
363
Other
 
8,780

Top 25 grants made to food and agriculture nonprofits

Grantee Grant size Purpose Grantmaker
National Dairy Council $26,371,144 Advertising Program Dairy Promotion
Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo $8,949,016 Agricultural Development Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Feeding America $8,041,342 Covid 19:covid 19 America's Food Fund Gofundmeorg
World Central Kitchen $7,859,000 Covid 19:covid 19 America's Food Fund Gofundmeorg
Three Square Plan Giving $7,635,100 NMTC Cash Transaction Three Square
METROPOLITAN New York COORDINATING COUNCIL ON Jewish Poverty $6,077,000 Caring / Jewish Life Uja-Federation of New York
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank $5,638,290 Fight Hunger Feeding America
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley $5,323,239 Food Security Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
Child Development Associates $5,050,000 For Covid Response for Childcare, Food and Supplies Per Grant Agreement Letter The San Diego Foundation
Wolfe's Neck Center for Agriculture $5,000,000 Research Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR)
Collaborative for Fresh Produce $4,719,303 Produce Acquisition and Distribution Feeding Texas
The North Carolina Agricultural Foundation $4,577,245 Scholarships, Faculty Support, Departmental Support and Facility Support NC State Investment Fund
North Texas Food Bank $4,508,281 This Grant Is Designated for General Support. Communities Foundation of Texas
Second Harvest Food Bank Greater New Orleans and Acadiana $4,259,009 Fight Hunger Feeding America
Agricultural Development Fund $4,226,072 To Provide Means for Agricultural Youth To Further Educational / Vocational Opportunities. Fort Worth Stock Show Syndicate
Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin $4,198,046 Advertising Program Dairy Promotion
Greater Chicago Food Depository $4,101,825 General Support Fulk Family Foundation
CCOF Certification Services LLC $4,006,156 Contract California Certified Organic FarmersInc
One Acre Fund $4,002,000 International Development Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
Cnfa $3,858,210 To Stimulate Economic Growth and Improve Livelihoods By Cultivating Entrepreneurship. Volunteers for Economic Growth Alliance
Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo $3,704,254 Agricultural Development Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Share Our Strength $3,665,000 To Provide Covid-19 Support Blue Meridian Partners
United Dairy Industry of Michigan $3,643,323 Promote the Sale of Milk and Milk Products and Increase Consumer Awareness of Milk Products Through Promotion, Research, and Nutrition Education. Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA)
Meals on Wheels by ACC $3,599,382 Senior Programs Area 4 Agency on Aging
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) $3,509,441 Agricultural Development; Nutrition Bill & Melinda Gates 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 "Food and agriculture nonprofits" category for this page is determined by the "K00: Food, Agriculture, and Nutrition: General" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.