New York · Public charity
Natural Heritage Trust
The purpose of the trust is to serve as a focal point for the receipt and administration of gifts, grants, devises and bequests of real and personal property to further conservation, outdoor recreation, historic preservation and waterfront and community revitalization.
- $1.0M
- Granted FY2026(still arriving)
- 5
- Grants FY2026
- 11
- Organizations funded FY2025
- 73%
- First-time grantees FY2025
- Median grant, FY2026
- $50,000
- Largest grant, FY2026
- $851,856
- Organizations funded a year
- 3 to 11
- FY2018 to FY2025
- States reached, FY2026
- 1
- Total assets, FY2026
- $70M
How open it is to new grantees
In FY2025, 73% of the organizations Natural Heritage Trust funded were first-time grantees, receiving 95% of its grant dollars.
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2025, 5% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $3.1M went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
The numbers by year
| Fiscal year | Organizations funded | To those organizations | First-time grantees |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026still arriving | 5 | $1.0M | 40% |
| FY2025 | 11 | $3.3M | 73% |
| FY2024 | 4 | $5.5M | 25% |
| FY2023 | 6 | $7.7M | 67% |
| FY2022 | 4 | $8.6M | 25% |
| FY2021 | 6 | $6.1M | 83% |
| FY2019 | 3 | $384k | 0% |
| FY2018 | 3 | $283k | n/a |
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2018 to 2025.
Top grantees
Largest recipients by total granted, FY2018 to FY2026, and the share of each one’s budget the grants supplied at peak.
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| State University of New York at Binghamton | $22,155,660 | 5 | n/a |
| Greenway Conservancy for the Hudson Valley | $2,465,801 | 2 | n/a |
| Palisades Interstate Park Commission | $785,960 | 6 | n/a |
| Essex County Industrial Development Agency Inc | $419,551 | 2 | 41% |
| City of Buffalo | $225,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Essex County | $207,208 | 2 | n/a |
| Four Freedoms Park Conservancy Inc | $200,000 | 3 | 16% |
| Camp Puzzle Peace | $140,000 | 1 | 65% |
| City of North Tonawanda | $135,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Town of Minerva | $121,054 | 3 | n/a |
Show all 15 grantees
| Grantee | Total granted | Years | Share of their budget |
|---|---|---|---|
| State University of New York at Binghamton | $22,155,660 | 5 | n/a |
| Greenway Conservancy for the Hudson Valley | $2,465,801 | 2 | n/a |
| Palisades Interstate Park Commission | $785,960 | 6 | n/a |
| Essex County Industrial Development Agency Inc | $419,551 | 2 | 41% |
| City of Buffalo | $225,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Essex County | $207,208 | 2 | n/a |
| Four Freedoms Park Conservancy Inc | $200,000 | 3 | 16% |
| Camp Puzzle Peace | $140,000 | 1 | 65% |
| City of North Tonawanda | $135,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Town of Minerva | $121,054 | 3 | n/a |
| National Museum of Dance | $120,253 | 1 | 23% |
| Parks & Trails New York Inc | $15,000 | 1 | n/a |
| Town of Long Lake | $15,000 | 1 | n/a |
| The Foundation for Long Island State Parks Inc | $14,991 | 1 | n/a |
| Buffalo United Front Inc | $5,400 | 1 | n/a |
Plus 9 recipients with no EIN on record ($5.9M), not named here.
Warm introductions · Powered by PlinthPlus
How do I get to Natural Heritage Trust?
Find your warmest path to Natural Heritage Trust 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.
About Natural Heritage Trust
- How much does Natural Heritage Trust give?
- Natural Heritage Trust reported 5 grants totaling $1,041,847 in its FY2026 IRS filing. It funded between 3 and 11 organizations a year over FY2018 to FY2025.
- What does Natural Heritage Trust fund?
- By grant dollars over FY2018 to FY2026, its largest causes are Community Improvement (71%), Recreation & Sports (15%), Environment (10%).
- Who are Natural Heritage Trust's largest grantees?
- By total granted over FY2018 to FY2026: State University of New York at Binghamton ($22M), Greenway Conservancy for the Hudson Valley ($2.5M), Palisades Interstate Park Commission ($786k).
- Does Natural Heritage Trust fund new organizations?
- In FY2025, 73% of the organizations it funded were first-time grantees.
- Where is Natural Heritage Trust based?
- Natural Heritage Trust is based in NY.
Play a game based on Natural Heritage’s filings →