Grants for water and wetland protection organizations

1,004 water quality and wetland conservation organizations received at least $123.7 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 3,009 grants made from 1,828 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 1,828 foundations, 73% made just a single grant to water nonprofits, and 4% made grants to four or more water nonprofits. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$123,735,851
Total grant dollars given to water and wetland protection organizations
3,009
Number of grants made annually to water and wetland protection organizations
1,828
Number of grantmakers funding water and wetland protection organizations
$1,000
Median grant size to water and wetland protection organizations

Foundations that support water quality and wetland conservation organizations

Out of all grants made to water and wetland protection organizations, 81% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 95% of the dollar-value of grants to water nonprofits. Foundations funding water nonprofits also made grants to land conservation groups, animal shelters, natural resource conservation nonprofits, environmental education programs, and food banks.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
1,493
Medium
 
203
Large
 
132
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
 
39
Private
 
1,634
Corporate
 
96
Other
 
59

Grants made

Grants made to water nonprofitsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
1,348
2-3
 
399
4-10
 
63
11+
 
18

Top 10 foundations supporting water quality and wetland conservation organizations

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to water nonprofitsNumber of grants made to water nonprofitsMedian grant size
The Rhode Island FoundationRIMetro0.2%53$1,000
Seattle FoundationWAState0.1%44$1,750
Clif Bar Family FoundationCANational4.4%39$3,500
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.2%37$400
Salesforce Com FoundationCANational0.1%33$50
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.0%33$225
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)TNMetro0.1%30$1,000
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.0%28$250
Westrock FoundationGANational0.0%26$36
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)NJNational0.0%21$250

Water quality and wetland conservation organizations grantees

Water and wetland protection organizations with more than $5 million in total revenues received 93% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 43% of all water nonprofits.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
2,994
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
15

Grant amount by grantee size

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

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
District of Columbia
 
571
California
 
358
New York
 
331
Maryland
 
154
Other
 
1,595

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
Washington DC
 
596
New York City
 
277
San Francisco
 
142
Baltimore
 
135
Other
 
1,486

Top 25 grants made to water and wetland protection organizations

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Walker Basin Conservancy$47,985,925FMVNational Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
Walker Basin Conservancy$12,544,151CashNational Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
Walker Basin Conservancy$12,544,151Various ConservationNational Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)$7,009,315Daf - EnvironmentCombined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston
Renew Oceans$5,000,000Project GrantsAlliance To End Plastic Waste
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)$4,962,640Project SupportTides Foundation
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)$4,221,250Environment - Clean EnergyCatena Foundation
Ocean Conservancy$3,649,531To Protect the Ecological Gems of the U.s. Bering and Chukchi Seas and Secure An Ecosystem-Based Management Regime From the Aleutian Islands To the Central Arctic Ocean That Prevents Unsustainable Impacts of Increased Shipping and Fishing.Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)$3,591,885To Achieve the Financial Sustainability of 16.7 Million Hectares of National-Level Amazon Protected Areas in Peru.Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)$3,235,475To Implement the Agriculture Collaboration for the Forests and Agricultural Markets Initiative.Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)$2,884,500To Provide Policymakers With Thoughtful Educational Resources and Opportunities for Dialogue in Support of Solutions To Address Climate and Clean Energy Development and Other Public Policies That Will Accelerate Energy Innovation in America.Clean Future Forum
Coastal Bend Bays & Estuaries Program (CBBEP)$2,828,784Various ConservationNational Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
Dauphin Island Sea Lab (DISL)$2,769,479Various ConservationNational Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF)$2,587,800To Support MethanesatThe Chicago Community Trust
World Wildlife Fund (WWF)$2,500,000Conserving the Amazon: Arpa for LifeMargaret A Cargill Philanthropies (MACP)
Urban Rivers$5,000Wild Mile Stem EducationalThe A Montgomery Ward Foundation
Wilderness Watch$5,000Charitable DonationLiatis Foundation
Surfrider Foundation$5,000Environmental SupportLaurence C Gaebe Family Foundation Incorporated
The Peregrine Fund$5,000CommunityThe Kayser Family Foundation
Safe Water Network$5,000General UseThe Ryan Family Foundation
Chesapeake Bay Foundation$5,000Oyster Restoration ProjectJoshua P. and Elizabeth D. Darden Foundation
Friends of the River Foundation$5,000UnrestrictedPeter M and Barbara A Macdonald Charitable Foundation
Idaho Rivers United$5,000UnrestrictedChristensen Family Foundation / Christensen Douglas M & Ann L Ttees
The Henrys Fork Foundation$5,000Education DonationVoigt Foundation
Friends of Casco Bay$5,000$3,000 Is for General Operating Support and $2,000 Is A Contribution To the Current Capital CampaignRobert W and Gladys S Meserve Char Trust Hemenway and Barnes LLP
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 "Water and wetland protection organizations" category for this page is determined by the "C32: Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.