Grantmakers › District of Columbia
Friends of the Earth
Washington, DC · EIN 23-7420660. Reported 77 grants totalling $3,331,946 to 55 organizations across tax years 2020-2024, 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 Friends of the Earth, by its IRS classification it is an alliance or advocacy organization in environment (NTEE C01).
- How spread out its giving is. 55 distinct organizations, with 47% of the dollars going to the largest single recipient. That is concentrated. Most of the money has a settled destination, and the remainder is what is realistically in play.
- How much its list changes. 38% 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 $10,000 and $50,000; the smallest was $5,000 and the largest $360,000. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friends of the Earth-Action-Inc | Washington, DC | $1,560,000 | 5 | 5 | 2024 |
| Media Matters for America | Washington, DC | $174,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| South Ward Environmental Alliance | Newark, NJ | $142,800 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives | Berkeley, CA | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Goodpower Education Fund Inc | Boston, MA | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Ironbound Community Corporation | Newark, NJ | $100,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| A Well-Fed World | Washington, DC | $80,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| West Harlem Environmental Action Inc | New York, NY | $77,000 | 4 | 4 | 2023 |
| Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Inc | New York, NY | $75,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Greenlatinos | Boulder, CO | $70,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Namati Inc | Washington, DC | $55,000 | 2 | 2 | 2021 |
| Check My Ads Institute | Washington, DC | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Environmental Defense Fund Incorporated | New York, NY | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Union of Concerned Scientists Inc | Cambridge, MA | $50,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Rebuild Democracy | Washington, DC | $42,750 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| International Accountability Project | Brooklyn, NY | $35,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Delaware Community Benefits Agreement Coalition | New Castle, DE | $30,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Charleston Community Research to Action Board | N Charleston, SC | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Coharie Intra Tribal Inc | Clinton, NC | $25,000 | 2 | 2 | 2022 |
| Healthy Gulf | New Orleans, LA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Socially Responsible Agriculture Project Inc | Claymont, DE | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| University of Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh, PA | $25,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Indigenous Educational Network of Turtle Island | Bemidji, MN | $22,000 | 2 | 2 | 2024 |
| Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs Inc | Calabasas, CA | $22,000 | 2 | 2 | 2023 |
| Democracy Initiative Education Fund | Washington, DC | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Earth Island Institute Inc | Berkeley, CA | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Environmental Advocates Ny Inc | Albany, NY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Parents Engaging Parents | Cranford, NJ | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Sussex Health & Environmental Network | Selbyville, DE | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Sustainable Markets Foundation | New York, NY | $20,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Chilis on Wheels New York | Island Park, NY | $15,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Nc Climate Justice Summit | Durham, NC | $13,250 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Haliwa-Saponi Indian Tribe | Hollister, NC | $13,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Nebraska Communities United | Omaha, NE | $12,360 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Rainforest Action Network | San Francisco, CA | $12,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Louisiana Bucket Brigade | New Orleans, LA | $11,800 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Black Vegetarian Society of Maryland | Baltimore, MD | $11,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Center for Biological Diversity Inc | Tucson, AZ | $11,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Chesapeake Institute for Local Sustainable Food and Agriculture I | Olney, MD | $11,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Greenfaith | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Honor the Earth | Colstrip, MT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Ideagarden Institute Incorporated | Healdsburg, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Lewis and Clark College | Portland, OR | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2022 |
| Lowcountry Alliance for Modelcommunities | N Charleston, SC | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Sanders Institute | Burlington, VT | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| US Right to Know | Oakland, CA | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Waterkeeper Alliance Inc | New York, NY | $10,000 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Groww Education | River Falls, WI | $9,486 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability | Fresno, CA | $8,500 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Maryland Pesticide Education Network | Annapolis, MD | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2023 |
| Southern Vision Alliance | Durham, NC | $8,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| Center for International Environmental Law Inc | Washington, DC | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2024 |
| Clean Water Fund | Washington, DC | $7,500 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
| Meherrin Indian Tribe | Ahoskie, NC | $7,000 | 1 | 1 | 2021 |
| MN350 | Minneapolis, MN | $5,000 | 1 | 1 | 2020 |
15 of 55 (27%) 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.
- Friends of the Earth (action) Inc
TO ADVANCE PROGRAMS CONSISTENT WITH FOE'S MISSION (RESTRICTED TO 501(C)(3) ALLOWED) - Media Matters for America
CONTRIBUTION FOR CLIMATE DISINFORMATION - A Well-Fed World
GRANT FOR CHILIS ON WHEELS PROGRAM, TO PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR PLANT POWERED YOUTH FELLOWSHIP (PPYF). - South Ward Environmental Alliance
CONTRIBUTION TO STUDY THE IMPACTS OF POLLUTION FROM THE NEWARK AIRPORT AND NY/NJ PORT IN NEWARK - Ironbound Community Corporation
TO SUPPORT THE WORK TO PREVENT INCERATION FROM RECEIVING TAX CREDITS UNDER THE IRA - Action for the Climate Emergency
TO COORDINATE EFFORTS TO STOP CLIMATE DISINFORMATION.
What kind of organizations it funds
By the activity category the IRS assigns each recipient, for the 47 of 55 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 9 | $462,850 | $13,250 |
| 2021 | 13 | $491,500 | $15,000 |
| 2022 | 14 | $668,000 | $20,000 |
| 2023 | 20 | $822,500 | $20,000 |
| 2024 | 21 | $887,096 | $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
60% of its giving went to organizations in District of Columbia. 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
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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 District of Columbia.
- 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.
Related guides
Where these numbers come from
Everything above is taken from Friends of the Earth's own Form 990 Schedule I filings, which the IRS publishes in bulk. We used 5 returns (tax years 2020-2024). 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 19 section 501(c)(3) organizations and 2 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: 1101 15TH Street Nw 11TH Fl 1100, Washington, DC, 20005.
EIN 23-7420660 · See the original filings on ProPublica · How we build this
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