American Public Gardens Association
Wilmington, DE · EIN 23-7110058. Reported 112 grants totalling $2,413,056 to 83 organizations across tax years 2021-2025, on Form 990 Schedule I.
Does this grantmaker accept applications?
Its tax return does not say, and we will not guess. Private foundations file Form 990-PF, which asks outright whether they fund only organizations they select themselves -- 78% say yes, and that one answer is what lets the rest of this site tell you which foundations are worth approaching. Grantmaking charities like this one file a regular Form 990 instead, and the IRS never puts the question to them. Anyone claiming to know the answer from the filing is inventing it.
Three things in the filing do bear on it:
- What kind of organization it is. For American Public Gardens Association, the IRS classifies it under environment rather than as a grantmaker (NTEE C034) -- it is an operating charity that also makes grants.
- How spread out its giving is. 83 distinct organizations, with 5% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is genuinely spread out -- the mark of a funder making many independent decisions rather than underwriting one institution.
- How much its list changes. 32% of one year's grantees are funded again the next, across 4 year-to-year transitions. That is below the 56% median for grantmaking charities, and well below the 67% median for private foundations. It describes the organizations it already funds, not whether it would consider a new one.
How big are its grants?
The median reported grant is $20,000. Half of what it reported fell between $19,200 and $20,000; the smallest was $5,998 and the largest $70,000. If you are asking for materially more than the top of that range, you are asking the wrong organization.
Every organization it funded
This is the complete list from its filings, largest first. Recipients are grouped by the EIN the filer reported, not by name, so an organization that was typed differently in two years appears once rather than twice.
| Organization | Location | Total received | Grants | Years funded | Last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Desert Botanical Garden | Phoenix, AZ | $109,800 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Queens Botanical Garden Society Inc | Flushing, NY | $96,180 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Foundation | Chaska, MN | $90,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Pennsylvania Horticultural Society | Philadelphia, PA | $90,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Regents of the University of Michigan | Ann Arbor, MI | $89,050 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Atlanta Botanical Garden Inc | Atlanta, GA | $87,750 | 4 | 4 | 2025 |
| Trees Atlanta Inc | Atlanta, GA | $72,367 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Garfield Park Conservatory Alliance | Chicago, IL | $68,800 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| National Tropical Botanical Garden | Kalaheo, HI | $67,715 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Delaware Center for Horticulture Inc | Wilmington, DE | $60,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Earthdance | Ferguson, MO | $60,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Knoxville Botanical Gardens and Arboretum | Knoxville, TN | $56,400 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Missouri Botanical Garden Board of Trustees | Saint Louis, MO | $56,000 | 3 | 3 | 2025 |
| Botanical Garden of the Piedmont | Charlottesville, VA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| San Francisco Botanical Garden Society at Strybing Arboretum | San Francisco, CA | $50,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center Inc | Bronx, NY | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Philadelphia Society for the Preservation of Landmarks | Philadelphia, PA | $40,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Guadalupe River Park Conservancy | San Jose, CA | $37,000 | 2 | 2 | 2025 |
| Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens Inc | Pittsburgh, PA | $36,800 | 3 | 3 | 2023 |
| Birmingham Botanical Society Inc | Mountain Brk, AL | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Denver Botanic Garden Inc | Denver, CO | $25,146 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Alaska Botanical Garden Inc | Anchorage, AK | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Allen Centennial Garden | Madison, WI | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Bountiful Cities Project | Asheville, NC | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| City Green Inc | Clifton, NJ | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Covenant House Washington DC | Washington, DC | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Fair Amount Food Forest | Philadelphia, PA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden | Miami, FL | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Food Strong | Cleveland, OH | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Friends of the Cheyenne Botanic Garden | Cheyenne, WY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Friends of the Gardens on Spring Creek | Fort Collins, CO | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Friends of Zenger Farm | Portland, OR | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Georgeson Botanical Garden | Fairbank, AK | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Georgeson Botanical Garden Friends | Fairbanks, AK | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Growing Gardens | Portland, OR | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Growing Healthy Veterans | Grayslake, IL | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Idaho Botanical Gardens Inc | Boise, ID | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Ithaca Childrens Garden Inc | Ithaca, NY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Killeen Creators | Killeen, TX | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Legacy Heritage | Montgomery, AL | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Lookout Mountain Conservancy | Chattanooga, TN | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Marie Selby Botanical Gardens Inc | Sarasota, FL | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Michigan State University | East Lansing, MI | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Morton Arboretum | Lisle, IL | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Olivewood Gardens & Learning Center Inc | National City, CA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Pine Hollow Arboretum | Slingerlands, NY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Randalls Island Park Alliance Inc | New York, NY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Smith Gilbert Gardens Foundation Inc | Kennesaw, GA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| The Columbus Botanical Gardens Inc | Columbus, GA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The Gardens on Spring Creek | Fort Collins, CO | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Tigermountain Foundation | Tempe, AZ | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| University of Washington Foundation | Seattle, WA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Unt Community Garden | Denton, TX | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Urban Harvest Inc | Houston, TX | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Vizcaya Museum and Gardens Trust Inc | Miami, FL | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Wyck Association | Philadelphia, PA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Urban Greenworks Inc | Miami Shores, FL | $19,900 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Connecticut College | New London, CT | $19,800 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Downtown Greens Inc | Fredericksbrg, VA | $19,800 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Filoli Center | Woodside, CA | $19,800 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Fiorello H Laguardia Community | Long Island City, NY | $19,800 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Friends of the National Arboretum Inc | Washington, DC | $19,750 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Cleveland Botanical Garden | Cleveland, OH | $19,500 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Ability Garden | Wilmington, NC | $19,400 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Botanical Research Institute of Texas Inc | Fort Worth, TX | $19,200 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Growing Hope Gardens | Topanga, CA | $18,900 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Isaac W Bernheim Foundation Inc | Clermont, KY | $18,600 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Historic Westside Gardens Atl Inc | Atlanta, GA | $17,100 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Healthy Day Partners | Encinitas, CA | $16,200 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Community Food Forest Collective Inc | Takoma Park, MD | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Edgewood Community Garden | Washington, DC | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| The Urban Farm | Denver, CO | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| North Carolina Botanical Garden Foundation Inc | Chapel Hill, NC | $13,900 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Minnetrista Cultural Foundation Inc | Muncie, IN | $13,200 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Utah State University | Logan, UT | $11,200 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Max and Billie Clark Foundation | Mineral Wells, TX | $11,100 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Botanical Garden Society of the Ozarks Inc | Fayetteville, AR | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens Society Inc | Buffalo, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Raleigh City Farm | Raleigh, NC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Cape Fear Botanical Garden | Fayetteville, NC | $8,100 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Charles Koiner Center for Urban Farming | Silver Spring, MD | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Quad City Botanical Center | Rock Island, IL | $6,300 | 1 | 1 | 2025 |
| Huntsville Madison County Botanical Garden Society Inc | Huntsville, AL | $5,998 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
19 of 83 (23%) received money in more than one year over the 5 years we hold. Remember the $5,000 floor: an organization funded every year at $3,000 shows up here as never funded at all.
What the money was for
Taken verbatim from the purpose column of its filings, largest first. This is the closest thing to a statement of what it funds, in its own words.
- Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
SUPPORT URBAN AGRICULTURE, COMMUNITY GARDENING & OTHER FOOD GROWING PROGRAMS - National Tropical Botanic Garden
SUPPORT URBAN AGRICULTURE, COMMUNITY GARDENING, AND OTHER FOOD GROWING PROGRAMS
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 71 of 83 recipients we could match to a registered organization. The categories are the IRS's, not ours -- Schedule I reports the recipient's EIN, so this is a lookup rather than a name match.
Giving by year
| Tax year | Grants reported | Total | Median grant |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 21 | $403,450 | $20,000 |
| 2022 | 27 | $807,944 | $20,000 |
| 2023 | 26 | $445,600 | $20,000 |
| 2024 | 6 | $136,969 | $25,000 |
| 2025 | 32 | $619,093 | $20,000 |
Tax years, not calendar years, and the most recent year is usually incomplete -- Form 990 arrives about a year after the year it covers, so a low final year means late paperwork rather than a grantmaker winding down.
Where its money goes
9% of its giving went to organizations in New York. Community foundations and federated funds are usually the most geographically bounded funders there are -- being outside the footprint is normally disqualifying in a way that a weak programme fit is not.
Down to the city
Get funders for your state and cause by email
We email you funders that gave to organizations in your state and cause, up to five at a time each week and never the same one twice, from their own IRS filings. Free. The weekly email has not started yet.
Unsubscribe in one click from any email. We never sell or share your address. To match on your organization and typical grant size too, keep a private profile.
Funders that support the same organizations
These grantmakers and private foundations gave to organizations this one also funded. Shared grantees are a sign of overlapping priorities and nothing more: they do not show that any of these funders would consider a new organization. Each page says what its filings show.
How to approach this grantmaker
- Look for a published programme first. Unlike most private foundations, organizations of this kind often do run open, deadlined grant cycles with written guidelines. Its own website is the authority on that; this page is the authority on who it has actually paid.
- Check you are its size. The median reported grant is $20,000 -- and because grants under $5,000 need not be reported, it very likely writes smaller cheques than this page can see.
- Check you are in its geography. Its giving concentrates in New York.
- Read the recipient list for organizations like yours. If nothing on it resembles your work, that is a real answer and a cheap one to get.
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from American Public Gardens Association's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2021-2025). Grant figures are from its returns. Recipient classifications, the concentration and retention figures and the funders that support the same organizations are our own calculations from them, described in how we build this.
On its most recent return it told the IRS it made grants to 32 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 0 other organizations. That is the filer's own count for one year; the totals above cover every year we hold.
Address of record on the latest return: 1207 Delaware Avenue 350, Wilmington, DE, 19806.
EIN 23-7110058 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
Is something here wrong about your organization? Email hello@funderscope.com and we will correct it.