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· Private foundation

Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment

Its FY2024 filing reports that it funds preselected organizations and did not take unsolicited requests; check the foundation's own site before ruling it out.

$67M
Granted FY2024still arriving
83
Grants FY2024still arriving
15
States reached
$4.5M
Largest
01What it funds
01100% classified

What it funded, over time

Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.

Environment$223MScience & Tech$36MEducation$22MSocial Science$13MFood & Nutrition$8.0MPhilanthropy$7.4MHealth$6.6MAnimals$5.0MOther$0
02FY2024 · 83 grants

Where the money goes

Grants by size, and the largest recipients.

By grant size · FY2024

  • $10k–50k3 grants · $51k
  • $50k–250k21 grants · $2.7M
  • $250k+59 grants · $64M
$500,000
Median grant
15
States reached
$613M
Total assets
Largest grants
RecipientAmount
CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL$4,500,000
STICHTING FOUNDATION FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW FOR THE ENVIRONMENT$4,100,000
LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE$3,250,948
STICHTING SED FUND$3,000,000
WINDWARD FUND$2,750,000
CARBON GAP LTD$2,723,000
Individual grant recipient$2,500,000
NEW VENTURE FUND$2,500,000
IMPERIAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICINE$2,458,300
PROJECT INNERSPACE$2,400,000
LINDEN TRUST FOR CONSERVATION$2,100,000
POTSDAM INSTITUT FUR KLIMAFOLGENFORSCHUNG EV$2,000,000
CASCADE CLIMATE$1,825,000
ROCKEFELLER FAMILY FUND (DAF)$1,500,000
CARBON MAPPER$1,500,000
02The need
03

Does the money reach high-need areas?

Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.

US giving: 63% of grant dollars ($204M). The need read here covers only this US portion; the 37% that went abroad ($122M) is mapped below.

show:

Its human-services grants (FY23–23, $10k) land where the poverty rate runs at 12%, against an area that typically sits at 9%. 100% of those dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.

area typical 9%BEAVER INSTITUTE: $10k → 12%0%20%40%50%more need →
grant to an above-average-need area below average· circle size = grant amount
How this is measured
Matched: human-services grants are those whose grantee’s IRS cause code is Human Services. Placed by people below the poverty line in the grantee’s ZIP, averaged from the tracts in that ZIP.

Which US states its grants reach

AK
ME
NH
WA
MT
IL
WI
MI
NY
MA
OR
SD
IA
OH
PA
NJ
CT
RI
CA
CO
MO
VA
MD
AZ
NC
SC
DC
HI
TX

Beyond the US: 37% of all-years giving ($122M)

13 countries, by the recipient’s country on the filing.

grant dollars sentlessmore
United Kingdom$55M · 36 grants
Netherlands$46M · 24 grants
Canada$5.9M · 12 grants
Belgium$4.5M · 2 grants
Germany$2.0M · 1 grant
India$2.0M · 3 grants
Switzerland$1.8M · 2 grants
France$1.5M · 4 grants
Australia$1.5M · 3 grants
Greece$1.2M · 2 grants
How this is measured
US grants placed by each grantee’s ZIP, which can differ from where services are delivered. Need from public data (U.S. Census/ACS, CDC PLACES, Eviction Lab, USDA), shown as context about the area, never attributed to the funder’s giving. International giving is mapped by the recipient’s country from the same 990 filings; comparable need data isn’t available at that grain.
04

Where the work is directed

The same grants placed two ways: where each recipient sits, and where its stated purpose sends the money.

About 9% of Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment’s grant dollars are earmarked for a different county than the recipient’s own address.

Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environmentlessmore of its giving
Placed by recipient address · 40% directed abroad (not shown)
How this is measured
Recipient view: each grant at its grantee’s ZIP, mapped to a county. Directed view: each grant at the county its stated purpose names, falling back to the recipient’s county when the purpose names no place; US grants only. A county shows only if it carries the top 95% of that view’s dollars. Purposes are read from the funder’s own 990 grant descriptions.
03Its grantees
repeat funding

Who it funds again

Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.

90%of every dollar goes to organizations it has funded before.
$272M · 111 repeat orgs$30M to everyone else

111 repeat relationships: 57 still active in FY2024, 54 since wound down; 18 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).

How the two cohorts compare

Re-uppedFunded once

Organizations

111
77

Total granted

$272M
$22M

Median revenue growth · since first grant

+28%
+31%

Still filing today

60%
48%

New vs renewed · share of each year

In FY2024, 86% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $8.0M went to new ones.

50%100%’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
RenewedFirst-time

Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant

’17’18’19’20’21’22’23’24
EnvironmentScience & TechEducationInternationalPhilanthropyHealthOther
How this is measured
First-time means a grantee’s first year in the filing window; renewed means funded in an earlier year too. The renewed share climbs naturally as a portfolio matures, so the signal is a year that bucks it (a wave of new grantees). The earliest year is left-censored: relationships that predate the data read as new. Theme is the grantee’s IRS cause.

Backed again, and grew

  • ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED
    8× · 2017–2024 · $11M · revenue +202%
  • CI
    CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
    5× · 2018–2022 · $6.6M · revenue +0%
  • THE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC
    8× · 2017–2024 · $5.3M · revenue +12%

Funded once

  • TR
    THE RESEARCH FOUNDATION
    one grant, 2021 · $1.6M · revenue +9%
  • AF
    ALASKA FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION INC
    one grant, 2023 · $1.3M · revenue -21% · 39% of their budget
  • WI
    WHITEHEAD INSTITUTE FOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCHgraduated
    one grant, 2021 · $1.3M · revenue +128%
How this is measured

Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.

04Its field

Closest unfunded matches

The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.

1
Climate Catalyst Inc

Climate catalyst sparks collective action to tackle the biggest climate challenges we face today: cutting emissions in heavy industries.

Environment
2
The Climate Group Inc

Climate group advances climate action by mobilizing business and government leadership to drive systemic decarbonization across energy, transport, and industry, while engaging the public through large-scale convenings and global platforms.…

Environment
3
Cdp North America Inc

Cdp north america, inc. 's ("cdp-na") vision for the future is a thriving economy that works for people and planet in the long term. we focus investors and companies on taking urgent action to build a truly sustainable economy by measuring…

Environment
4
E3G Third Generation Environmentalism

E3g is a leading international not-for-profit think tank specialising in climate diplomacy harnessing expertise in the politics and economics of climate change.

Environment
5
Watttime Corporation

To raise awareness about the potential to reduce environmental harm by shifting electricity use to particular times; to encourage the development and spread of common protocols for this practice.

Science & Tech
6
Coalition for Green Capital D/B/a American Green Bank Consortium

Cgc operates as a nonprofit financial institution that invests directly and through partners to transform financial markets by using public and private investing to accelerate the deployment of projects that strengthen the grid, reduce…

Environment
7
Climate Breakthrough Inc

To launch breakthrough climate mitigation efforts by identifying, supporting, and unleashing innovative leaders with transformative strategies.

Human Services
8
Center for International Environmental Law Inc

To investigate, research, write, publish, present conferences and teach with respect to global, regional, transboundary, and comparative environmental issues and to make the findings from such activities available to the general public; to…

International
9
The Climate Center

The Climate Center is a climate and energy policy nonprofit working to rapidly reduce climate pollution at scale, starting in California.

Education
10
Climate Innovation Action Inc

To educate policymakers about climate policies generally and to directly advocate for specific legislation on climate change.

Environment
11
Breakthrough Energy Foundation

Working with our world-class network of innovators, business and industry leaders, and policy experts, we accelerate the innovation of climate technologies at every stage - from discovery to development to deployment.

Public Benefit
12
Climate Leadership Council Inc

To develop and promote a carbon dividends framework - based on carbon fees whose revenues are rebated to citizens through dividends - as the most cost-effective, equitable, and politically viable climate solution.

Environment
How this is measured
The grantee most central to the portfolio’s shape is Climate Resolve; the most unlike its peers is Growald Climate Fund Inc. Resemblance is measured on each organization’s own IRS 990 mission text; it reflects how work is described, not its quality or impact.
05the grantee network

123 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2026.

Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.

How this is measured

Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2026, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 123 of the 218 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.

Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.

21
Load-bearing (≥25% of a budget)
19
Early backer (in before they grew)
123/123
Grantees still filing
84/123
Grew since first funded

Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee

STICHTING SED FUND: $19,200,000 · OtherSTICHTING SED FUNDLONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS: $11,758,769 · OtherLONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICSIMPERIAL COLLEGE: $10,639,479 · OtherSTICHTING EUROPEAN CLIMATE FOUNDATION: $10,450,000 · OtherSTICHTING FOUNDATION FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: $10,000,000 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD: $9,999,895 · OtherUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES: $9,385,000 · OtherROCKEFELLER FAMILY FUND (DAF): $8,750,000 · OtherLONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND POLITICAL SCIENCE: $8,476,092 · Other+104 more: $104,021,583 · Other+104 moreWINDWARD FUND: $11,075,000 · EnvironmentWINDWARD FUNDENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $11,059,666 · EnvironmentENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FU…Carbon Mapper Inc: $5,500,000 · EnvironmentCarbon Mapper IncCONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $5,041,770 · EnvironmentCONSERVATION INTERNATION…NEW VENTURE FUND: $4,500,000 · EnvironmentNEW VENTURE FUND350ORG: $4,050,000 · Environment350ORGCARBON TRACKER INITIATIVE INC: $4,000,000 · EnvironmentCARBON TRACKER INITIATIV…PROJECT INNERSPACE INC: $3,900,000 · EnvironmentPROJECT INNERSPACE INCCLIENTEARTH USA INC: $3,250,000 · EnvironmentSpark Climate Solutions: $3,000,000 · Environment+33 more: $15,894,550 · Environment+33 moreCALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $6,617,149 · EducationMassachusetts Institute of Technology: $2,606,000 · EducationRensselaer Polytechnic Institute: $2,525,804 · EducationTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $2,472,000 · EducationCornell University: $2,152,494 · EducationNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $728,696 · Education+6 more: $2,780,000 · EducationADVOCATES FOR CLIMATE INNOVATION: $6,542,500 · PhilanthropyROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $1,700,000 · PhilanthropyROCKEFELLER FAMILY FUND INC: $900,000 · Philanthropy+6 more: $995,694 · PhilanthropyTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $5,350,000 · InternationalCAMBRIDGE IN AMERICA: $1,816,568 · InternationalOXFAM-AMERICA INC: $764,000 · InternationalINSTITUTE FOR GOVERNANCE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: $448,450 · International+2 more: $397,447 · InternationalCLIMATEWORKS FOUNDATION: $3,572,890 · Science & TechCONVERGENT RESEARCH INC: $1,127,732 · Science & TechNATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $750,000 · Science & TechClimate Foundation: $650,000 · Science & TechWORLD OCEAN COUNCIL: $535,000 · Science & TechAMERICAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE: $300,000 · Science & Tech+5 more: $683,751 · Science & TechTHE RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $1,600,000 · HealthECDYSIS FOUNDATION: $1,250,000 · HealthWHITEHEAD INSTITUTE FOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH: $1,250,000 · HealthHEARTLAND HEALTH RESEARCH ALLIANCE LTD: $1,000,000 · HealthCLIMATE AND HEALTH RESEARCH NETWORK: $280,000 · Health+1 more: $145,000 · Health
Other$202,680,818Environment$71,270,986Education$19,882,143Philanthropy$10,138,194International$8,776,465Science & Tech$7,619,373Health$5,525,000

Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.

Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing

25%50%75%100%$1.0M$10M$100Mgrantee revenue →↑ funder's share of their budgetWINDWARD FUND: $11,075,000 over 5y, 2.3% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED: $11,059,666 over 8y, 1.2% of budgetCALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY: $6,617,149 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetADVOCATES FOR CLIMATE INNOVATION: $6,542,500 over 8y, 66% of budgetTHE ENERGY FOUNDATION: $6,512,346 over 5y, 1.7% of budgetCarbon Mapper Inc: $5,500,000 over 3y, 8.8% of budgetTHE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC: $5,350,000 over 8y, 2.4% of budgetCONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION: $5,041,770 over 3y, 1.7% of budgetRocky Mountain Institute: $4,700,000 over 3y, 5.3% of budgetNEW VENTURE FUND: $4,500,000 over 2y, 0.4% of budget350ORG: $4,050,000 over 8y, 6.0% of budgetCARBON TRACKER INITIATIVE INC: $4,000,000 over 8y, 81% of budgetPROJECT INNERSPACE INC: $3,900,000 over 2y, 20% of budgetWILDAID INC: $3,800,000 over 7y, 38% of budgetCLIMATEWORKS FOUNDATION: $3,572,890 over 7y, 0.4% of budgetCLIENTEARTH USA INC: $3,250,000 over 4y, 31% of budgetSpark Climate Solutions: $3,000,000 over 2y, 31% of budgetMassachusetts Institute of Technology: $2,606,000 over 4y, 0.0% of budgetRensselaer Polytechnic Institute: $2,525,804 over 6y, 0.1% of budgetTHE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK: $2,472,000 over 7y, 0.0% of budgetCornell University: $2,152,494 over 3y, 0.0% of budgetFOUNDATION FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE RESEARCH: $2,000,000 over 2y, 2.0% of budgetTHE CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY: $2,000,000 over 4y, 12% of budgetCascade Climate Inc: $1,825,000 over 1y, 32% of budgetCAMBRIDGE IN AMERICA: $1,816,568 over 6y, 1.4% of budgetPotential Energy Coalition Inc: $1,750,000 over 4y, 3.9% of budgetROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC: $1,700,000 over 2y, 0.2% of budgetTHE RESEARCH FOUNDATION: $1,600,000 over 1y, 23% of budgetTRUSTED CLIMATE DATA INITIATIVE INC: $1,550,000 over 2y, 100% of budgetRodale Institute: $1,410,000 over 7y, 3.5% of budgetCONSERVATION LAW FOUNDATION INC: $1,350,000 over 5y, 2.8% of budgetCERES INC: $1,325,000 over 8y, 0.9% of budgetECDYSIS FOUNDATION: $1,250,000 over 2y, 26% of budgetALASKA FISHERIES DEVELOPMENT FOUNDATION INC: $1,250,000 over 1y, 39% of budgetWHITEHEAD INSTITUTE FOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH: $1,250,000 over 1y, 1.3% of budgetCONVERGENT RESEARCH INC: $1,127,732 over 2y, 0.7% of budgetHEARTLAND HEALTH RESEARCH ALLIANCE LTD: $1,000,000 over 3y, 33% of budgetCTREES: $1,000,000 over 1y, 23% of budgetELEMENTAL EXCELERATOR INC: $1,000,000 over 1y, 3.8% of budgetNEXTGEN CLIMATE AMERICA INC: $950,000 over 3y, 10% of budgetOXFAM-AMERICA INC: $764,000 over 5y, 0.3% of budgetNATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES: $750,000 over 2y, 0.1% of budgetAdvanced Energy United Inc: $750,000 over 3y, 5.5% of budgetNORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY: $728,696 over 1y, 0.0% of budgetUniversity of Michigan: $665,000 over 5y, 93% of budgetClimate Foundation: $650,000 over 2y, 39% of budgetSIERRA CLUB: $650,000 over 5y, 0.1% of budgetENVIRONMENTAL LEAGUE OF MASSACHUSETTS INC: $630,000 over 8y, 9.2% of budget
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding

A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.

  • Who funds WINDWARD FUND ↗
  • Who funds ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND INCORPORATED ↗
  • Who funds CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ↗
  • Who funds ADVOCATES FOR CLIMATE INNOVATION ↗
  • Who funds THE ENERGY FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Carbon Mapper Inc ↗
  • Who funds THE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS INC ↗
  • Who funds CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds Rocky Mountain Institute ↗
  • Who funds NEW VENTURE FUND ↗
  • Who funds 350ORG ↗
  • Who funds CARBON TRACKER INITIATIVE INC ↗
  • Who funds PROJECT INNERSPACE INC ↗
  • Who funds WILDAID INC ↗
  • Who funds CLIMATEWORKS FOUNDATION ↗
  • Who funds CLIENTEARTH USA INC ↗
  • Who funds Spark Climate Solutions ↗
  • Who funds Massachusetts Institute of Technology ↗
  • Who funds Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute ↗
  • Who funds THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK ↗
  • Who funds Cornell University ↗

Co-funders

Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.

Climateworks FoundationCA37.8× affinity16 shared granteesties to 11 of 11Hover any node to trace its alignments.Compare side by side →

Open a dossier: Climateworks Foundation · Windward Fund · The Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust · The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation · The Schmidt Family Foundation · United States Energy Foundation · Sequoia Climate Foundation · Patagoniaorg · Boston Foundation Inc · Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston Inc · Rockefeller Brothers Fund Inc · Resources Legacy Fund

How this is measured
Affinity is a Gamma-Poisson posterior co-funding rate, re-centered on the typical rate, so thin evidence shrinks toward no signal. Overlap is association, not proof of shared intent.

How much its grantees rely on government

Each dot is one organization Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment. Bigger dots raise more.

2024
’20’21’22’23’24’25
no gov · 150%6%25%56%100%funder's share of their income ↑0%25%50%75%100%share of the org’s income from government →median 8%
  • New England Forestry Foundation Inc: 88% of income from government
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology: 35% of income from government
  • Project Innerspace Inc: 34% of income from government
  • Woodwell Climate Research Center Inc: 11% of income from government
  • Southcoast Community Foundation Inc: 10% of income from government
  • D&r Greenway Land Trust Inc: 9% of income from government
  • Worcester Polytechnic Institute: 8% of income from government
  • Northeastern University: 7% of income from government
  • Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research: 7% of income from government
  • American Academy of Arts & Sciences: 3% of income from government
  • Wgbh Educational Foundation: 1% of income from government
  • Ceres Inc: 0% of income from government
  • Oxfam-America Inc: 0% of income from government
no gov moneyreceives it· size = income
15get no government money at all
16report government grants on their 990 we could not trace to a source (not plotted)
1rely on government for over half their income
typical government reliance, FY20–25
How this is measured
Government income is each org’s traced federal awards (USASpending grants and contracts) plus state payments (open checkbooks) as a share of its total revenue (IRS Form 990); the self-reported government-grant line (990 line 1e) is carried for cross-check: a grantee that reports government grants we could not trace to a source is left off the chart rather than shown as receiving none. An association, not a claim that a grant caused the public funding. Coverage is precision-first, a floor rather than a census; state records exist for 9 states, so a grantee outside them shows no state figure (dimmed) rather than a false zero. Federal award amounts are obligations, which can span years, so a single-year share is indicative. 990 filings lag 12 to 24 months.
05Through Plinth

Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus

How do I get to Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment?

Find your warmest path to Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment through trustees and officers whose names appear on both boards. Search for your organization and Plinth traces the shortest route it can evidence.

Each link is a name appearing on two organizations’ public IRS 990 filings, matched on that name and, where the filings support it, on location. A same-state match has geographic support, which is a second matching feature rather than confirmation that the two are one person; a cross-state one is the likeliest to be two people who share a name. Every hop shows its tier, low-confidence and distant paths are held back rather than guessed, and it is worth confirming the person before you use the introduction.

On method. Every financial figure here is read from IRS e-file XML, the funder’s own 990/990-PF, and from the multi-year returns of the 218 grantees we resolved, each linked to its source. Grantee outcomes are each organization’s own program-service reporting (Form 990, Part III), read as association with funding, never as caused by it. Low-confidence name matches are suppressed rather than guessed. How we build these →

How this is measured
Each figure carries one of six labels. Filed is what the funder reported on its return. Official is another government record about an organization, such as a federal award or a charity register, joined by name where no shared identifier exists. Resolved is an identity we worked out where the filing named a recipient without an EIN, kept only above a measured confidence threshold. Computed is arithmetic over those, like themes, portfolio clusters and co-funder strength. Context is a statistic about a place rather than about an organization, which is what the need overlay is: it describes the area a grantee’s address sits in, not where its work lands. Inferred is drawn by a model from text, like the partnerships read out of public news and organization websites. Each is labeled where it appears.

Generated from the IRS Form 990-PF e-file return for fiscal year 2024, released 2024. Filings run roughly 12 to 24 months behind; figures are dated accordingly.

Source object · view filing

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