Grants for summer camps

1,151 recreational and summer camps received at least $119.4 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 2,045 grants made from 1,540 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,300. Of these 1,540 foundations, 87% made just a single grant to summer camps, and 2% made grants to four or more summer camps. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$119,364,050
Total grant dollars given to summer camps
2,045
Number of grants made annually to summer camps
1,540
Number of grantmakers funding summer camps
$1,300
Median grant size to summer camps

Foundations that support recreational and summer camps

Out of all grants made to summer camps, 79% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 96% of the dollar-value of grants to summer camps. Foundations funding summer camps also made grants to multiservice human service organizations, educational service providers, food banks, christian organizations, and scholarship organizations.

Foundation size

Foundation size Number of grantmakers
Small
 
1,231
Medium
 
175
Large
 
133
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
 
38
Private
 
1,303
Corporate
 
78
Other
 
121

Grants made

Grants made to summer camps Number of grantmakers
1
 
1,352
2-3
 
143
4-10
 
33
11+
 
12

Top 10 foundations supporting recreational and summer camps

Grantmaker State Geographic focus Percent of grant dollars to summer camps Number of grants made to summer camps Median grant size
Baird Foundation WI National 0.3% 33 $13
Abbvie Foundation IL National 0.0% 22 $240
Shell Oil Company Foundation TX National 0.1% 19 $1,000
The Oscar C Rixson Foundation NC National 4.7% 19 $500
Arkansas Community Foundation AR State 0.0% 18 $1,000
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT) TN Metro 0.1% 17 $1,500
JP Morgan Chase Foundation NY National 0.0% 16 $230
Chubb Charitable Foundation PA National 0.1% 16 $250
Carmax Foundation VA National 0.1% 13 $500
The Rhode Island Foundation RI Metro 0.1% 11 $2,000

Recreational and summer camps grantees

Summer camps with more than $5 million in total revenues received 94% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 20% of all summer camps.

Grant amounts

Size of grant Number of grants
<$10k
 
2,040
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
5

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenue Median grant size
<$100k
 
$1,266
$100k-$500k
 
$1,500
$500k-$1M
 
$1,500
$1M-$5M
 
$1,700
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of grantee Number of grants
New York
 
324
California
 
166
Texas
 
108
Missouri
 
107
Other
 
1,340

Grantee metros

Metro area of grantee Number of grants
New York City
 
273
Los Angeles
 
99
Atlanta
 
66
Kansas City
 
61
Other
 
1,228

Top 25 grants made to summer camps

Grantee Grant size Purpose Grantmaker
Camp Bowie Service Center $96,913,317 Per Agreement Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (KFHP)
Camp Bowie Service Center $6,692,348 Per Agreement Kaiser Foundation Health Plan (KFHP)
Victory Junction $4,497,422 CCS - Child Welfare United Way of Greater St. Louis
Camp Beech Cliff $4,000,000 Endowment Fidelity Foundation
Florida Elks Youth Camp $3,139,512 Support Operations of Youth Camp Harry-Anna Investment Fund
Camp Mak-A-Dream $5,000 General Operating Kingsbury Memorial Foundation
One Heartland $5,000 Wilderness Preservation Ferguson Foundation
Kids Across America (KAA) $5,000 Program Support Christian Community Foundation of Memphis and the Mid-South
Camp Anderson Corporation $5,000 Program Assistance Albemarle Foundation
Rotary Camp for Children with Special Needs $5,000 Social Services The Columbus Foundation
Flying Horse Farms $5,000 Social Services The Columbus Foundation
Catholic Youth Summer Camp (CYSC) $5,000 Social Services The Columbus Foundation
Flying Horse Farms $5,000 Social Services The Columbus Foundation
Catholic Youth Summer Camp (CYSC) $5,000 Social Services The Columbus Foundation
Camp Hebron $5,000 Grant Harold N and Thelma G Lenker Millersburg Community Trust
Lighthouse Ministries of Canton $5,000 Meeting the Social-Emotional, Cognitive, Physical and Spiritual Needs of At-Risk Children and Families in Se Canton Kismet Foundation
Camp Magical Moments Cancer Camp for Kids $5,000 Equipment Needs Voigt Foundation
The Circle Program $5,000 Unrestricted Donation Mclaneharper Charitable Foundation
Camp Challenge $5,000 General Assistance Zurich Classic of New Orleans
Live Oak Wilderness Camp $5,000 General Assistance Zurich Classic of New Orleans
Camp Spalding $5,000 Christian Camp Selah Charitable Trust
Camp For Change $5,000 Entreprenuership The Richard M Schulze Family Foundation
The Goodtimes Project $5,000 501(c)3 Fundraising Gala Lu-Wong Foundation
John Austin Cheley Foundation $5,000 Unrestricted The OAK Foundation
Texas Lions Camp Texas Lions League for Children (TLC) $5,000 To Provide Outdoor Recreation To Youth Greater Killeen Lions Club 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 "Summer camps" category for this page is determined by the "N20: Recreational and Sporting Camps" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.