Grants for land conservation groups

1,044 land conservation organizations received at least $136.5 million in grants for the most recent fiscal year. This includes 3,647 grants made from 2,184 grantmaking organizations, with a median grant amount of $1,000. Of these 2,184 foundations, 72% made just a single grant to land protection orgs, and 5% made grants to four or more land protection orgs. This analysis is based on grantmakers that e-file their Form 990s, and likely is an undercount of grants.
$136,506,568
Total grant dollars given to land conservation groups
3,647
Number of grants made annually to land conservation groups
2,184
Number of grantmakers funding land conservation groups
$1,000
Median grant size to land conservation groups

Foundations that support land conservation organizations

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

Foundation size

Foundation sizeNumber of grantmakers
Small
 
1,772
Medium
 
258
Large
 
154
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
 
51
Private
 
1,995
Corporate
 
81
Other
 
57

Grants made

Grants made to land protection orgsNumber of grantmakers
1
 
1,591
2-3
 
480
4-10
 
97
11+
 
16

Top 10 foundations supporting land conservation organizations

GrantmakerStateGeographic focusPercent of grant dollars to land protection orgsNumber of grants made to land protection orgsMedian grant size
Seattle FoundationWAState0.1%92$1,000
Community Foundation of Greater Des MoinesIAState0.1%51$559
Shell Oil Company FoundationTXNational0.2%48$400
The Rhode Island FoundationRIMetro0.2%43$1,024
Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee (CFMT)TNMetro0.1%42$1,000
Abbvie FoundationILNational0.1%36$160
JP Morgan Chase FoundationNYNational0.0%27$500
Clif Bar Family FoundationCANational2.5%21$4,000
Salesforce Com FoundationCANational0.0%18$100
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)NJNational0.0%15$1,125

Land conservation organizations grantees

Land conservation groups with more than $5 million in total revenues received 87% of all grant dollars. These larger organizations accounted for 45% of all land protection orgs.

Grant amounts

Size of grantNumber of grants
<$10k
 
3,626
$10k-$25k
 
0
$25k-$100k
 
0
$100k+
 
21

Grant amount by grantee size

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

Grantee states

State of granteeNumber of grants
Virginia
 
495
California
 
329
Massachusetts
 
318
District of Columbia
 
284
Other
 
2,221

Grantee metros

Metro area of granteeNumber of grants
Washington DC
 
811
New York City
 
178
Boston
 
162
San Francisco
 
137
Other
 
1,629

Top 25 grants made to land conservation groups

GranteeGrant sizePurposeGrantmaker
The Nature Conservancy$42,482,096Various ConservationNational Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
The Conservation Fund$6,664,480Various ConservationNational Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
Resources Legacy Fund$6,655,000Conservation and ScienceDavid and Lucile Packard Foundation
The Nature Conservancy$6,378,340Civil Rights, Social Action, AdvocacyHopewell Fund
The Trust for Public Land$6,012,250EnvironmentSilicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF)
Open Space Institute (OSI)$5,681,501Conservation ActivitiesThe Nature Conservancy
Windward Fund$5,550,000For the Women and Climate FundWilliam and Flora Hewlett Foundation
Stowe Land Trust$5,002,000Gen. PurposeVermont Community Foundation
The Nature Conservancy$5,000,000In Support of A Strategic Alliance With Environmental Defense Fund To Advance Climate Solutions.John D & Catherine T Macarthur Foundation
The Trust for Public Land$4,000,000Delivering the 10-minute Walk Through Campaign ImplementationThe JPB Foundation
Windward Fund$4,000,000The Fund To Build Grassroots PowerThe JPB Foundation
The Nature Conservancy$3,997,777To Implement the Agriculture Collaboration for the Forests and Agricultural Markets Initiative.Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation
The Nature Conservancy$3,650,000Project Contribution/supportThe Trust for Public Land
Save the Redwoods League$3,566,500Multi-Region HCP ConservaNational Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
Maine Farmland Trust$3,534,278Farmland PreservationMaine Community Foundation
The Nature Conservancy$3,366,400$1,000,000 To Support the Launch of the Great Green Cities Chicago Plan, $500,000 To Highest Priority Projects, $1,000,000 To Acquire 34 Acres at Point Betsie on Lake Michigan, $500,000 To Support Wetland and Floodplain Work in Il, and Other General Operating SupportThe Chicago Community Trust
The Trustees of Reservations$3,200,000Public Spaces and ArtFidelity Non-Profit Management Foundation
Truckee Donner Land Trust$3,063,178Conservation ActivitiesThe Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy$3,000,000Growing Healthy Cities Across North AmericaThe JPB Foundation
D&R Greenway Land Trust$2,621,700General SupportPrinceton Area Community Foundation (PACF)
Moab Area Community Land Trust$2,500,164Land PreservationPalladium Foundation
The Walthour - Moss Foundation$5,000Unrestricted GeneralPeter and Nancy Doubleday Foundation
The Walden Woods Project$5,000General Exempt PurposeRick and Susan Goings Foundation
The Nature Conservancy$5,000Land PreservationWayne Swanson Charitable Fund
Colorado West Land Trust$5,000General ProgramAlchemy Charitable 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 "Land conservation groups" category for this page is determined by the "C34: Land Resources Conservation" National Taxonomy of Exempt Entities (NTEE) code. Cause IQ determines NTEEs for organizations by its own internally-developed secret-sauce algorithms.