Grants for food banks

2,201 food banks and pantries received at least $60.2 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 7,689 grants made from 3,862 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 3,862 foundations, 75% made just a single grant to food banks, and 4% made grants to four or more food banks. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$60,244,520
Total grant dollars given to food banks
7,689
Number of grants made annually to food banks
3,862
Number of grantmakers funding food banks
$1,000
Median grant size to food banks

Foundations that support food banks and pantries

Out of all grants made to food banks, 85% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 78% of the dollar-value of grants to food banks. Foundations funding food banks also made grants to multiservice human service organizations, food distribution programs, emergency assistance programs, religious organizations, and christian organizations.

Foundation size

Foundation size Number of grantmakers
Small
 
3,291
Medium
 
328
Large
 
242
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
 
79
Private
 
3,330
Corporate
 
181
Other
 
272

Grants made

Grants made to food banks Number of grantmakers
1
 
2,924
2-3
 
765
4-10
 
120
11+
 
53

Top 10 foundations supporting food banks and pantries

Grantmaker State Geographic focus Percent of grant dollars to food banks Number of grants made to food banks Median grant size
Carmax Foundation VA National 1.7% 149 $500
Land O'Lakes Foundation MN National 1.8% 133 $714
JP Morgan Chase Foundation NY National 0.1% 123 $490
Westrock Foundation GA National 0.5% 112 $30
Food Lifeline WA Metro 18.1% 99 $1,163
Chubb Charitable Foundation PA National 0.6% 93 $100
Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines IA State 0.2% 92 $500
Abbvie Foundation IL National 0.2% 87 $250
Baird Foundation WI National 0.6% 86 $62

Food banks and pantries grantees

Food banks with more than $5 million in total revenues received 86% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 68% of all food banks.

Grant amounts

Size of grant Number of grants
<$10k
 
7,678
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
11

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenue Median grant size
<$100k
 
$1,000
$100k-$500k
 
$1,500
$500k-$1M
 
$1,624
$1M-$5M
 
$1,174
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of grantee Number of grants
California
 
650
Illinois
 
559
New York
 
511
Texas
 
440
Other
 
5,529

Grantee metros

Metro area of grantee Number of grants
Chicago
 
521
New York City
 
494
Seattle
 
218
Boston
 
200
Other
 
5,634

Top 25 grants made to food banks

Grantee Grant size Purpose Grantmaker
Feeding America $8,041,342 Covid 19:covid 19 America's Food Fund Gofundmeorg
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)
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
Greater Chicago Food Depository $4,101,825 General Support Fulk Family Foundation
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)
The Houston Food Bank $2,920,145 Fight Hunger Feeding America
Community FoodBank of New Jersey (CFBNJ) $2,793,567 Fight Hunger Feeding America
Greater Chicago Food Depository $2,792,478 Fight Hunger Feeding America
Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana $2,700,000 General Support United Way of Central Indiana
Clark County Food Bank $5,000 2017 Grant Dsitribution Negley Flinn Charitable Foundation
San Francisco-Marin Food Bank $5,000 2017 Grant Distribution Negley Flinn Charitable Foundation
Palm Beach County Food Bank $5,000 2017 Grant Distribution Negley Flinn Charitable Foundation
Redwood Empire Food Bank $5,000 2017 Grant Distribution Negley Flinn Charitable Foundation
Philabundance $5,000 General Support Polly A Levee Charitable Trust - Trust A
Food for Lane County $5,000 Operating Support The Haugland Family Foundation
Community Help in Park Slope (CHIPS) $5,000 To Enable the Institution To Continue Their Public Charitable Role. WSP Foundation
City Harvest $5,000 To Enable the Institution To Continue Their Public Charitable Role. WSP Foundation
Feeding America Kentucky's Heartland $5,000 Provide Funds To Support Organization's Purpose of Feeding America Rotary International - Bardstown
Wilkinson Center $5,000 Education and Support for Families in Need. The Baldridge Foundation
Wilkinson Center $5,000 Education and Support for Families in Need. The Baldridge Foundation
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank $5,000 To Further Tax-Exempt Activities John and Colleen Morrissey Foundation
Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York $5,000 General The Bonnie Ward Simon Foundation
Second Harvest Food Bank East Tennessee $5,000 Purchase of Food Robert Lee Weiss Foundation 15-3002252
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 banks" category for this page is determined by the "K31: Food Banks, Food Pantries" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.