Grants for amateur sports clubs

Name: Top 25 grants made to amateur sports clubs and leagues
Creator: Cause IQ
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

3,940 amateur sports clubs and leagues received at least $170.7 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 3,194 grants made from 1,904 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 1,904 foundations, 82% made just a single grant to amateur sports clubs, and 3% made grants to four or more amateur sports clubs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.

$170,654,940

Total grant dollars given to amateur sports clubs

3,194

Number of grants made annually to amateur sports clubs

1,904

Number of grantmakers funding amateur sports clubs

$1,000

Median grant size to amateur sports clubs

Foundations that support amateur sports clubs and leagues

Out of all grants made to amateur sports clubs, 78% 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 amateur sports clubs. Foundations funding amateur sports clubs also made grants to food banks, multiservice human service organizations, scholarship organizations, youth development programs, and boys and girls clubs.

Foundation size

Foundation size	Number of grantmakers
Small	1,484
Medium	230
Large	187

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	56
Private	1,524
Corporate	114
Other	210

Grants made

Grants made to amateur sports clubs	Number of grantmakers
1	1,572
2-3	263
4-10	40
11+	29

Top 10 foundations supporting amateur sports clubs and leagues

Grantmaker	State	Geographic focus	Percent of grant dollars to amateur sports clubs	Number of grants made to amateur sports clubs	Median grant size
Carmax Foundation	VA	National	1.5%	132	$550
NRA Foundation	VA	National	0.2%	78	$2,556
Abbvie Foundation	IL	National	0.1%	62	$140
Baird Foundation	WI	National	1.1%	60	$500
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)	TN	Metro	0.1%	46	$1,000
Westrock Foundation	GA	National	0.2%	42	$18
Sempra Energy Foundation	CA	State	1.7%	41	$500
Salesforce Com Foundation	CA	National	0.0%	29	$100
Alliant Energy Foundation	WI	State	0.4%	28	$400
Celanese Foundation	TX	National	0.5%	25	$260

See all grantmaking to amateur sports clubs

Amateur sports clubs and leagues grantees

Amateur sports clubs with more than $5 million in total revenues received 97% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 5% of all amateur sports clubs.

Grant amounts

Size of grant	Number of grants
<$10k	3,181
$10k-$25k	0
$25k-$100k	0
$100k+	13

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenue	Median grant size
<$100k	$1,000
$100k-$500k	$1,000
$500k-$1M	$1,500
$1M-$5M	$1,300
>$5M	$1,500

Grantee states

State of grantee	Number of grants
California	373
New York	219
Texas	158
Virginia	147
Other	2,297

Grantee metros

Metro area of grantee	Number of grants
New York City	185
Los Angeles	126
Chicago	100
Minneapolis	96
Other	2,292

Top 25 grants made to amateur sports clubs

Grantee	Grant size	Purpose	Grantmaker
Big Ten Conference (B1G)	$37,673,305	To Enhance the Quality of Intercollegiate Athletics	Pasadena Tournament of Roses
PAC-12 Conference	$37,673,305	To Enhance the Quality of Intercollegiate Athletics	Pasadena Tournament of Roses
Big Ten Conference (B1G)	$22,386,375	Scholarships/grants	National Collegiate Athletic Association
Southeastern Conference (SEC)	$17,393,802	Scholarships/grants	National Collegiate Athletic Association
PAC-12 Conference	$14,476,159	Scholarships/grants	National Collegiate Athletic Association
USA Hockey	$8,000,000	NHL Grant	USA Hockey Foundation
Southeastern Conference (SEC)	$5,250,000	To Support the Conference As Part of A Payout for Participating in the Annual Allstate Sugar Bowl.	Allstate Sugar Bowl
Summit League	$4,470,763	Scholarships/grants	National Collegiate Athletic Association
PAC-12 Conference	$4,036,115	See SCH I, Part Iv	San Antonio Bowl Association
Naval Academy Athletic Association	$3,849,789	Funding for Athletic Program	American Athletic Conference
Southeastern Conference (SEC)	$3,264,170	Support Student Athletics	Gator Bowl Sports
Big Ten Conference (B1G)	$3,200,000	Team Payout	Outback Bowl
Southeastern Conference (SEC)	$3,100,000	Team Payout	Outback Bowl
New Canaan Mounted Troop (NCMT)	$5,000	Grant To Support the Super Troopers and Adaptive Riding Therapeutic Programs	New Canaan Community Foundation
Otsego County Hockey Association	$5,000	William and Linda Muzyl Fund	Otsego Community Foundation
Belmont Rowing Center	$5,000	Operational Support	Gaston Memorial Hospital Foundation
Ben Hair Just Swim for Life Foundation	$5,000	General Purpose	Charlottesville Area Community Foundation
The First Tee of the Virginia Blue Ridge	$5,000	General Purposes	Charlottesville Area Community Foundation
First Tee of Atlanta	$5,000	To Support the Mission of Ftma To Develop Chirldren Through the Game of Golf in the Gwinnett County Area	Gwinnett Championship Foundation
Sheridan Athletic Association	$5,000	Support Junior Athletes	John and Helen Ilsley Family Foundation
East Palo Alto Tennis and Tutoring	$5,000	Human Services	Santa Barbara Foundation
Jackson Youth Hockey	$5,000	General Use	The Robert and Colleen Grady Foundation
Prospect Meadows	$5,000	Baseball/softball Programs	The Kernels Foundation
Sports for Exceptional Athletes (S4EA)	$5,000	General	Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego
Junior Orange Bowl Committee	$5,000	General Operating	Ruth Anderson Foundation

See all grants to amateur sports clubs

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 "Amateur sports clubs" category for this page is determined by the "N60: Amateur Sports Clubs, Leagues" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.