Grants for recycling programs

131 recycling programs received at least $330,800 in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 175 grants made from 126 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 126 foundations, 89% made just a single grant to recycling programs, and 3% made grants to four or more recycling programs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$330,800
Total grant dollars given to recycling programs
175
Number of grants made annually to recycling programs
126
Number of grantmakers funding recycling programs
$1,000
Median grant size to recycling programs

Foundations that support recycling programs

Out of all grants made to recycling programs, 66% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 26% of the dollar-value of grants to recycling programs. Foundations funding recycling programs also made grants to multiservice human service organizations, food banks, food distribution programs, emergency assistance programs, and animal shelters.

Foundation size

Foundation size Number of grantmakers
Small
 
84
Medium
 
22
Large
 
20
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
 
6
Private
 
100
Corporate
 
7
Other
 
13

Grants made

Grants made to recycling programs Number of grantmakers
1
 
113
2-3
 
9
4-10
 
3
11+
 
1

Top 10 foundations supporting recycling programs

Grantmaker State Geographic focus Percent of grant dollars to recycling programs Number of grants made to recycling programs Median grant size
Lumina Foundation IN National 0.0% 22 $15
Clif Bar Family Foundation CA National 1.1% 9 $4,000
Carmax Foundation VA National 0.1% 6 $550
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT) TN Metro 0.0% 5 $1,000
Arkansas Community Foundation AR State 0.0% 3 $1,500
Land O'Lakes Foundation MN National 0.0% 3 $50
The Autzen Foundation OR Metro 0.6% 2 $4,250
Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks - 83 Upper Sandusky OH State 6.6% 2 $1,012
The Boston Foundation (TBF) MA Metro 0.0% 2 $1,000
Eugene Dozzi Charitable Foundation PA Metro 0.5% 2 $750

Recycling programs grantees

Recycling programs with more than $5 million in total revenues received 13% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 15% of all recycling programs.

Grant amounts

Size of grant Number of grants
<$10k
 
175
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
0

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenue Median grant size
<$100k
 
$1,000
$100k-$500k
 
$1,837
$500k-$1M
 
$2,000
$1M-$5M
 
$550
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of grantee Number of grants
Indiana
 
27
California
 
19
Minnesota
 
15
Massachusetts
 
15
Other
 
99

Grantee metros

Metro area of grantee Number of grants
Indianapolis
 
27
Minneapolis
 
15
Boston
 
12
Los Angeles
 
10
Other
 
100

Top 25 grants made to recycling programs

Grantee Grant size Purpose Grantmaker
Hero Healthcare Equipment Recycling Organization $5,000 General Operating Support Alex Stern Family Foundation
Earth Matter NY $5,000 Environment and Conservation Program Support Greater Green Bay Community Foundation (GGBCF)
Eco-Cycle $5,000 Resident Engagement and Community Organizing The Denver Foundation
Bowling Green Recycling Center $5,000 Charitable Support The O-I Charities Foundation
Asheville Greenworks $5,000 Unrestricted Grant for Donee's Exempt Purpose. The Nararo Foundation
The Green Chair Project $5,000 General Operating Credit Suisse Americas Foundation
Earth Matter NY $5,000 General Support Appaloosa Management Charitable Foundation
Teaching Beyond the Square $5,000 Exempt Purpose PRB Foundation
Ecology Action of Texas $5,000 Enabling More Americans To Enjoy Nature Clif Bar Family Foundation
Indiana Recycling Coalition $5,000 Reducing Waste & Advancing Renewable Energy Clif Bar Family Foundation
Emergent Structures $5,000 Reducing Environmental Health Hazards Clif Bar Family Foundation
Every Tray Counts $5,000 Reducing Waste & Advancing Renewable Energy Clif Bar Family Foundation
Cloud City Conservation Center $5,000 Covid-19 Response Rocky Mountain Health Foundation
Hero Healthcare Equipment Recycling Organization $5,000 Medical Equipment Cleaning Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota C
ReBuilding Center $5,000 Affordable Housing Through Repair Education The Autzen Foundation
Reuseum Educational $5,000 Support Re-Ed Workshops Claude R and Ethel B Whittenberger Foundation
Lower East Side Ecology Center $5,000 General & Unrestricted Louis and Anne Abrons Foundation
Bridging $5,000 Charitable Archie D and Bertha H Walker Foundation
Source One Serenity $5,000 Social Enterprise: Recycling With Wo The Reser Family Foundation
New York City H2o $5,000 General Van Ameringen Foundation
Turnip Green Creative Reuse $5,000 Family Engagement Events at Turnip Green Creative Reuse After School Programs Nashville Predators Foundation
The Sharing Tree Inc The Sharing Tree $5,000 Program Support Marvin P Verhulst Foundation
Boston Building Resources (BBR) $5,000 To Help Support Housing for the Needy Lawrence Model Lodging Houses Trust Donald E Vaughan Et Al Trustees
New York City H2o $5,000 General Contribution Wilson Family Foundation / Wilson James M Ttee
Community Cycles $5,000 Bicycle Recycling and Re-Use Project for Environmental Health AEC Trust
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 "Recycling programs" category for this page is determined by the "C27: Recycling Programs" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.