Grants for food distribution programs

3,694 food distribution programs received at least $95.1 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 10,871 grants made from 5,192 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 5,192 foundations, 70% made just a single grant to food distributors, and 5% made grants to four or more food distributors. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$95,110,345
Total grant dollars given to food distribution programs
10,871
Number of grants made annually to food distribution programs
5,192
Number of grantmakers funding food distribution programs
$1,000
Median grant size to food distribution programs

Foundations that support food distribution programs

Out of all grants made to food distribution programs, 85% came from small foundations with less than $10 million in assets. The top 10 grantmakers accounted for 73% of the dollar-value of grants to food distributors. Foundations funding food distributors also made grants to food banks, multiservice human service organizations, christian organizations, religious organizations, and emergency assistance programs.

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
4,412
Medium
 
468
Large
 
306
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
 
99
Private
 
4,501
Corporate
 
230
Other
 
362

Grants made

Grants made to food distributorsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
3,681
2-3
 
1,205
4-10
 
237
11+
 
69

Top 10 foundations supporting food distribution programs

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to food distributorsNumber of grants made to food distributorsMedian grant size
Carmax FoundationVANational1.9%181$500
Land O'Lakes FoundationMNNational2.2%177$600
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.1%164$495
Westrock FoundationGANational0.5%129$25
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.2%120$260
The Rhode Island FoundationRIMetro0.4%114$1,000
Community Foundation of Greater Des MoinesIAState0.3%112$1,000
Chubb Charitable FoundationPANational0.7%110$100
Food LifelineWAMetro18.1%105$1,163

Food distribution programs grantees

Food distribution programs with more than $5 million in total revenues received 82% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 60% of all food distributors.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
10,854
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
17

Grant amount by grantee size

Grantee annual revenueMedian grant size
<$100k
 
$1,000
$100k-$500k
 
$1,500
$500k-$1M
 
$1,500
$1M-$5M
 
$1,082
>$5M
 
$1,000

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
California
 
987
New York
 
822
Illinois
 
602
Texas
 
574
Other
 
7,886

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
New York City
 
824
Chicago
 
552
Washington DC
 
467
Seattle
 
329
Other
 
7,856

Top 25 grants made to food distribution programs

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
Feeding America$8,041,342Covid 19:covid 19 America's Food FundGofundmeorg
World Central Kitchen$7,859,000Covid 19:covid 19 America's Food FundGofundmeorg
METROPOLITAN New York COORDINATING COUNCIL ON Jewish Poverty$6,077,000Caring / Jewish LifeUja-Federation of New York
Los Angeles Regional Food Bank$5,638,290Fight HungerFeeding America
Second Harvest of Silicon Valley$5,323,239Food SecuritySilicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
Collaborative for Fresh Produce$4,719,303Produce Acquisition and DistributionFeeding Texas
North Texas Food Bank$4,508,281This Grant Is Designated for General Support.Communities Foundation of Texas
Second Harvest Food Bank Greater New Orleans and Acadiana$4,259,009Fight HungerFeeding America
Greater Chicago Food Depository$4,101,825General SupportFulk Family Foundation
Share Our Strength$3,665,000To Provide Covid-19 SupportBlue Meridian Partners
United Dairy Industry of Michigan$3,643,323Promote the Sale of Milk and Milk Products and Increase Consumer Awareness of Milk Products Through Promotion, Research, and Nutrition Education.Michigan Milk Producers Association (MMPA)
Meals on Wheels by ACC$3,599,382Senior ProgramsArea 4 Agency on Aging
The Houston Food Bank$2,920,145Fight HungerFeeding America
Community FoodBank of New Jersey (CFBNJ)$2,793,567Fight HungerFeeding America
Greater Chicago Food Depository$2,792,478Fight HungerFeeding America
Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana$2,700,000General SupportUnited Way of Central Indiana
Meals on Wheels of Tarrant$2,653,360Transportation Vouchers & Home Delivered Meals & Participant Assessment, Healthy Ideas, CLP.United Way of Tarrant County
Loaves and Fishes$5,000X Religion Spiritual DevelopmentCommunity Foundation of Louisville
Veterans Outreach of Wisconsin (VOW)$5,000Covid ReliefUnited Way of Racine County
Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin$5,000Covid ReliefUnited Way of Racine County
Wilkinson Center$5,000Education and Support for Families in Need.The Baldridge Foundation
Wilkinson Center$5,000Education and Support for Families in Need.The Baldridge Foundation
Blue Ridge Area Food Bank$5,000General PurposesCharlottesville Area Community Foundation
Fluvanna Meals on Wheels$5,000General PurposesCharlottesville Area Community Foundation
Local Food Hub$5,000Restricted To Support of Not-For-Profit ProgramsCharlottesville Area Community 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 "Food distribution programs" category for this page is determined by the "K30: Food Service, Free Food Distribution Programs" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.