The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation
Marysville, OH · EIN 61-1794169. Reported 100 grants totalling $9,700,585 to 44 organizations across tax years 2020-2023. This foundation did not tell the IRS it funds only preselected organizations.
Does this foundation accept applications?
Yes -- on its own tax return. Form 990-PF asks every private foundation whether it makes grants only to organizations it selects itself. Of the 91,758 foundations in our data that made a grant and answered, 78% said yes -- and applying to those is wasted effort. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation did not check that box on its most recent filing, which puts it in the minority that is at least open to being approached.
How big are its grants?
The median grant is $50,000. Half of everything it gave fell between $30,000 and $150,000; the smallest was $3,000 and the largest $775,874. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong foundation.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Years funded is the number of separate tax years in which the organization received money -- more than one means a real relationship rather than a one-off.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kidsgardening | Burlington, VT | $821,250 | 5 | 4 | 2023 |
| Hagedorn Legacy Foundation | Port Washington, NY | $775,874 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Restore America's Estuaries | Arlington, VA | $700,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Franklin Park Conservatory | Columbus, OH | $645,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Congressional Black Caucus Foundation | Washington, DC | $600,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Minorities for Medical Marijuana | Orlando, FL | $545,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Alliance for Water Efficiency | Chicago, IL | $520,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Marijuana Policy Project Foundation | Washington, DC | $500,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| The Everglades Foundation Inc | Palmetto Bay, FL | $450,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| National Head Start Association | Philadelphia, PA | $370,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| National Recreation and Park Association | Ashburn, VA | $350,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| National Fish and Wildlife Foundation | Washington, DC | $300,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Allyance Inc | Oakland, CA | $250,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Nature Conservancy | Arlington, VA | $250,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Alliance for the Great Lakes | Chicago, IL | $225,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Avalon Theatre Streetscape | Marysville, OH | $200,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| The Nature Conservancy | Kissimmee, FL | $200,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| United Returning Citizens | Youngstown, OH | $200,000 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| New York League of Conservation Voters | New York, NY | $195,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| No Kid Hungry | Washington DC, DC | $150,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Bronx Defenders | Bronx, NY | $137,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| The Weldon Project | Sandy, UT | $135,000 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Memorial Hospital | Marysville, OH | $120,000 | 3 | 3 | 2022 |
| National Farm to School Network | San Francisco, CA | $106,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Last Prisoner Project | Denver, CO | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Mid-Ohio Food Collective | Grove City, OH | $100,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| The Columbus Foundation | Columbus, OH | $97,961 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Columbus Metropolitan Library Foundation | Columbus, OH | $80,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| National Fund for the United States Botanic Gardens | Washington, DC | $70,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Ohio Environmental Council | Columbus, OH | $65,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Ocean Research & Conservation Association Inc | Vero Beach, FL | $60,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Council for Watershed Health | Pasadena, CA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Doodles and Digits | Westerville, OH | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| North Shore Land Alliance | Oyster Bay, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Tampa Bay Watch (discovery Center) | St Petersburg, FL | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| National Association of Conservation Districts | Washington DC, DC | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Ocean Research & Conservation Assiciation Inc | Fort Pierce, FL | $30,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Justus Foundation | New York, NY | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Supernova Women (cerf) | Alameda, CA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Columbus City Schools | Columbus, OH | $24,500 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Galveston Bay Foundation Incnpn Host | Houston, TX | $13,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Resource Innovation Institute | Portland, OR | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Union County Foundation | Marysville, OH | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Central Ohio Beekeepers Charitable Foundation | Canal Winchester, OH | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
29 of 44 (66%) received money in more than one year over the 4 years we hold.
Measured the way we measure every foundation -- what share of one year's grantees are funded again the next -- this one retains 64%, across 3 year-to-year transitions. The median foundation retains about 67%, so this one is about typical. A high number means its list is close to settled and a newcomer has to displace someone; a low one means it is still moving money around, which is where an opening is.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the recipient's own IRS classification, for the 61 grants where we could identify the organization. These are assigned categories, not our guesses.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 29 | $3,059,124 | $50,000 |
| 2021 | 25 | $2,307,993 | $50,000 |
| 2022 | 24 | $2,575,500 | $95,000 |
| 2023 | 22 | $1,757,968 | $50,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- filings arrive about a year late, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a foundation winding down.
Already committed for future years
Form 990-PF has a separate schedule for grants approved but not yet paid. The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation has 6 of them, worth $1,050,000. This is the one part of the filing that looks forward rather than back -- and it also tells you how much of the next year's budget is already spoken for.
| Organization | Location | Approved |
|---|---|---|
| Congressional Black Caucus Foundation | Washington, DC | $300,000 |
| National Recreation and Park Association | Ashburn, VA | $260,000 |
| Kidsgardening | Burlington, VT | $200,000 |
| National Recreation and Park Association | Ashburn, VA | $100,000 |
| Minorities for Medical Marijuana | Orlando, FL | $100,000 |
| National Head Start Association | Philadelphia, PA | $90,000 |
Where its money goes
Foundations concentrate geographically far more than their mission statements suggest. 17% of this one's giving went to organizations in District of Columbia. If you are outside its footprint, that matters more than how well your programme fits.
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Funders that support the same organizations
These funders gave to organizations this one also funded -- some private foundations, some community foundations and other grantmaking charities. Shared grantees are the strongest available signal that two funders have overlapping priorities, and a funder already backing your peers is a far warmer prospect than one that merely lists your cause.
How to approach this foundation
- Check you are its size. The median grant is $50,000. Asking for ten times that is the most common way small organizations waste a submission.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving is concentrated in District of Columbia.
- Read the recipient list above for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer, and a cheap one to get.
- Look up the current filing before writing. The 990-PF names the foundation's officers and, where one exists, its application procedure. We link it below.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation's own Form 990-PF filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 4 returns (tax years 2020-2023). Nothing here is scraped, inferred, or estimated.
Address of record on the latest return: 14111 Scottslawn Road, Marysville, OH, 43041. This is the address the foundation gave the IRS; many small foundations file through an accountant or a bank trust department, so it may not be where post to a programme officer should go.
EIN 61-1794169 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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