Grants for professional sports leagues

6 professional sports and athletic associations received at least $6,521 in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 5 grants made from 5 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 5 foundations, 100% made just a single grant to pro sports leagues, and 0% made grants to four or more pro sports leagues. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$6,521
Total grant dollars given to professional sports leagues
5
Number of grants made annually to professional sports leagues
5
Number of grantmakers funding professional sports leagues
$1,000
Median grant size to professional sports leagues

Foundations that support professional sports and athletic associations

Out of all grants made to professional sports leagues, 100% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 100% of the dollar-value of grants to pro sports leagues. Foundations funding pro sports leagues also made grants to religious organizations, remedial reading organizations, water and wetland protection organizations, animal shelters, and legal aid societies.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
5
Medium
 
0
Large
 
0
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
 
0
Private
 
5
Corporate
 
0
Other
 
0

Grants made

Grants made to pro sports leaguesNumber of grantmakers
1
 
5
2-3
 
0
4-10
 
0
11+
 
0

Top 10 foundations supporting professional sports and athletic associations

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to pro sports leaguesNumber of grants made to pro sports leaguesMedian grant size
Bedford Kids First TrustNHMetro6.7%1$2,171
Make A Difference FundNCState0.8%1$1,850
Wendell Family FoundationCAState0.2%1$1,000
The Keenan FoundationNYMetro0.3%1$1,000
The Earl and Bettie Fields Charitable FoundationILNational0.1%1$500

Professional sports and athletic associations grantees

Professional sports leagues with more than $5 million in total revenues received 100% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 100% of all pro sports leagues.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
5
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
0

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
n/a
$100k-$500k
 
n/a
$500k-$1M
 
n/a
$1M-$5M
 
n/a
>$5M
 
n/a

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
Maryland
 
2
New Hampshire
 
1
North Carolina
 
1
Illinois
 
1
Other
 
0

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
Baltimore
 
2
Manchester
 
1
Greensboro
 
1
Chicago
 
1
Other
 
0

Top 25 grants made to professional sports leagues

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Granite State Kids Community Tennis Association LLC$2,171Support Boys and Girlsvia the Healthy Families ProgramBedford Kids First Trust
Guilford County Sports Hall of Fame$1,850CharitableMake A Difference Fund
Us Lacrosse$1,000General PurposesWendell Family Foundation
Us Lacrosse$1,000SupportThe Keenan Foundation
Elite Stars Foundation$500CharitableThe Earl and Bettie Fields Charitable 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 "Professional sports leagues" category for this page is determined by the "N80: Professional Athletic Leagues" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.