Foundations that fund organizations in Boulder, Colorado
Worked out from where the grants went, not where the foundations sit.
Funding landscape for Boulder nonprofits
1,271 private foundations gave $157M to Boulder organizations in their latest filings; 33 of the 100 that say either way accept applications.
2,339 grants in total, with a typical foundation's median grant to Boulder around $318K. 14 of these funders are based in Colorado; the rest give here from elsewhere.
- Foundations giving here
- 1,271
- Accept applications
- 33
- of 100 that state a policy
- Dollars to Boulder
- $157M
- latest filings
- Grants
- 2,339
- Typical median grant
- $318K
- Based in CO
- 14%
- of funders listed
Funders, by dollars given to Boulder organizations
| Foundation | Based in | Grants here | Dollars here | Median | Accepts applications | Typical purposes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gates Foundation | Seattle, WA | 16 | $11M | $401K | Yes | Postsecondary education; Maternal, newborn, child nutrition and health; Vaccine development |
| Lilly Endowment Inc | Indianapolis, IN | 2 | $10M | $5.0M | Yes | Youth character development programs |
| The Arthur M Blank Family Foundation | Atlanta, GA | 4 | $6.4M | $1.3M | Preselected only | General operating support; Advancing equity in outdoor education; Clean energy deployment |
| Sequoia Climate Foundation | Irvine, CA | 7 | $6.3M | $890K | Preselected only | To support decarbonization of the power sector and improve…; To support analysis and education to further clean energy d…; To support education and awareness to further climate finan… |
| Waverley Street Foundation | Palo Alto, CA | 3 | $6.0M | $2.0M | Preselected only | Farm to school programs; Safety training & support; Agroecology Fund |
| The William & Flora Hewlett Foundation | Menlo Park, CA | 16 | $5.3M | $296K | Yes | For general operating support; For strategic planning; For the america the beautiful for all coalition conference |
| The Bloomberg Family Foundation Inc | New York, NY | 1 | $4.7M | $4.7M | Preselected only | To support clean energy |
| Sall Family Foundation | Cary, NC | 3 | $3.7M | $717K | Preselected only | Programmatic support; General operating support and programmatic support |
| The Marisla Foundation | Laguna Beach, CA | 1 | $3.3M | $3.3M | Yes | General support |
| The Klump Family Foundation Inc | Atlanta, GA | 1 | $3.1M | $3.1M | Yes | General |
| Leo Hill Charitable Trust C/O Wayne Hutchens | Denver, CO | 4 | $3.0M | $692K | Preselected only | General fund |
| Sergey Brin Family Foundation C/O Pacific Foundation Services | San Francisco, CA | 2 | $2.5M | $1.3M | Preselected only | General operating support |
| The Heising-Simons Foundation | Los Altos, CA | 6 | $2.4M | $318K | Preselected only | For general support; For studying how amo physics can inform the development of…; For a new laser for planetary noble gas geochemistry |
| The Ford Foundation | New York, NY | 8 | $2.2M | $242K | Yes | General support; Matching gift; To help ensure sustainability of global grassroots organiza… |
| Walton Family Foundation Inc | Bentonville, AR | 5 | $2.1M | $305K | Preselected only | To create a first-of-its-kind Tribal Water Institute at Nat…; to support a new Northwest Arkansas bike innovation team to…; To advance community-led river management skills and progra… |
| Islands Fund C/O John Munn | Boise, ID | 3 | $2.1M | $830K | Preselected only | Trails & towns, trail accelerator and education; Youth education and outreach, and southern high plains cons…; 777 dakota partnership stewardship endowment |
| Oj & Mary Christine Harvey Educational Foundation | Lafayette, CO | 1 | $2.0M | $2.0M | Preselected only | Educational expenses |
| Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment | Boston, MA | 2 | $1.8M | $924K | Preselected only | Climate science & policy research |
| Gordon E and Betty I Moore Foundation | Palo Alto, CA | 5 | $1.8M | $352K | Preselected only | To develop improved methodology and high-speed imagery to v…; In support of investigations of strongly correlated and top…; To study the low-temperature behaviors of the fermi-hubbard… |
| Freedom Together Foundation | New York, NY | 2 | $1.4M | $700K | Preselected only | General operating support; Better bike share partnership |
| Vital Projects Fund Inc C/O McDermott Will & Schulte Llp | New York, NY | 3 | $1.4M | $100K | Preselected only | General support |
| Wellspring Philanthropic Fund Inc | New York, NY | 5 | $1.2M | $175K | Preselected only | General operating support; General operating support and funders learning and action c…; Expanding economic opportunity |
| Wk Kellogg Foundation | Battle Creek, MI | 3 | $1.1M | $350K | Yes | Food, Strong and Equitable Food Systems; Matching Grant; Promise of an Equitable Future |
| Zarpet Family Foundation | Chicago, IL | 3 | $1.0M | $25K | Preselected only | Cultural and Religious; Social Services |
| John D and Catherine T Macarthur Foundation | Chicago, IL | 4 | $1.0M | $200K | Preselected only | In support of general operations |
| The Lewis Foundation | Aspen, CO | 1 | $1.0M | $1.0M | Preselected only | General support |
| The Lemelson Foundation | Portland, OR | 1 | $1.0M | $1.0M | Preselected only | To source, select, support, and scale promising startups th… |
| Novo Foundation | Hurley, NY | 1 | $1.0M | $1.0M | Preselected only | General support |
| Sijbrandij Foundation | San Francisco, CA | 1 | $1.0M | $1.0M | Preselected only | Launch high school |
| Sage Foundation C/O Edmund W Littlefield Jr | Arlington, WA | 1 | $1.0M | $1.0M | Preselected only | Refer to statement 12 (footnote of this tax return |
| The Schmidt Family Foundation | Palo Alto, CA | 5 | $967K | $157K | Yes | Advancing sustainable agriculture in africa; Working towards a resilient and equitable food system; Strengthening civic engagement, supporting indigenous commu… |
| Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Inc | New York, NY | 2 | $950K | $475K | Yes | To provide general operating support for the america the be…; To build the capacity of tribes and the indigenous conserva… |
| Woka Foundation | Newbury Park, CA | 3 | $950K | $300K | Preselected only | Gender & Environment; General operating support; General operating support for Agroecology Fund |
| The David and Lucile Packard Foundation | Los Altos, CA | 8 | $935K | $100K | Yes | Environment and Science; Fellowships for Science and Engineering; Just Societies |
| The Rockefeller Foundation | New York, NY | 2 | $925K | $463K | Preselected only | In support of testing, developing, and piloting a scalable…; Accelerating energy transitions globally to create economic… |
| The Simons Foundation Inc | New York, NY | 7 | $864K | $96K | Preselected only | The structure of c*-algebras related to inverse semigroups…; Hidden symmetries and fusion energy; Simons investigator in physics |
| John S and James L Knight Foundation | Miami, FL | 2 | $850K | $425K | Yes | Empowering public media organizations to equitably expand a…; Execute community-based pilots assessing ways the next gene… |
| The Colorado Health Foundation | Denver, CO | 18 | $836K | $21K | Yes | Thriving young people; General donation to support organization or program; Food access and security |
| The Hershey Family Foundation Choate Hall & Stewart Llp C Casey | Boston, MA | 4 | $821K | $130K | Preselected only | Fund projects that advance our understanding of the mechani…; Funding for grants awarded annually to research scientists…; Mle is a home for unconventional interdisciplinary encounte… |
| The Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation | Palo Alto, CA | 1 | $773K | $773K | Preselected only | Support for scientific research on biocomb: data-driven bio… |
| Alfred P Sloan Foundation | New York, NY | 3 | $744K | $150K | Yes | To undertake a series of outreach and training activities t…; To extend the precision and capabilities of atomic clocks i…; To transform existing systems and establish new infrastruct… |
| Wellcome Leap Inc | San Diego, CA | 1 | $726K | $726K | Preselected only | Global health research |
| Rockefeller Brothers Fund Inc | New York, NY | 2 | $701K | $350K | Yes | For its state energy boost project; For its china office's rural energy transition project |
| Aec Trust | Wilmington, DE | 6 | $670K | $50K | Preselected only | The Whole Person College Program in Colorado and Georgia; Harvest of Hope Pantry; ODND support fund |
| The Helen Gurley Brown Foundation | New York, NY | 1 | $624K | $624K | Preselected only | Youth and education-"bridgeup" stem grant:purpose: to provi… |
| The Liz Claiborne & Art Ortenberg Foundation | New York, NY | 3 | $617K | $192K | Preselected only | Amboseli conservation program; Leadership training & organizational strengthening; Indigenous-led initiative (year 2 of 3) |
| Bridgemill Foundation C/O Jh Tucker Wilson Jr | New Canaan, CT | 1 | $563K | $563K | Preselected only | Charitable contribution - manage and administer donor advis… |
| The Roe Green Foundation | Cleveland, OH | 2 | $502K | $251K | Preselected only | Roe green endowed chair in theatre fd; Shakespeare festival |
| Growald Climate Fund Inc | Brookline, MA | 1 | $500K | $500K | Preselected only | Project support |
| Skyline Foundation | San Francisco, CA | 1 | $500K | $500K | Preselected only | General support |
| Samueli Foundation | Corona del Mar, CA | 1 | $500K | $500K | Preselected only | General operations for the antisemitism research program |
| The Leona M and Harry B Helmsley Charitable Trust | New York, NY | 1 | $500K | $500K | Preselected only | Collaborative on housing for health |
| The Rao Foundation | Flower Mound, TX | 1 | $500K | $500K | Yes | Unrestricted charitable grant |
| The Dreiseszun Family Foundation | Overland Park, KS | 1 | $500K | $500K | Yes | To shape tomorrow's leaders, be the top university for inno… |
| Wallace Global Fund II | Washington, DC | 1 | $500K | $500K | Preselected only | Support for global work on agroecology |
| Peierls Foundation | Golden, CO | 1 | $500K | $500K | Preselected only | Support |
| Daniels Fund | Denver, CO | 9 | $490K | $50K | Yes | General operating support; Student mentoring; Transitional housing program |
| Richard King Mellon Foundation | Ligonier, PA | 2 | $483K | $242K | Yes | To advance the planning, design, and/or construction of sel…; To expand the thrive outside initiative to the pittsburgh r… |
| The Freeman Foundation | New York, NY | 1 | $456K | $456K | Yes | General support |
| The Kendeda Fund | Wilmington, DE | 3 | $453K | $70K | Preselected only | General & Unrestricted; Funder Learning & Action Community for Women & Environment; the Outward Bound Veterans Program |
| Once Upon a Time Foundation | Fort Worth, TX | 2 | $446K | $223K | Preselected only | General support |
| The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation | Princeton, NJ | 2 | $440K | $220K | Yes | 81808 expanding earth-centered legal resources and collabor…; 79565 creating a rights of nature website that will garner… |
| Gates Family Foundation | Denver, CO | 5 | $440K | $50K | Yes | Project support; Land purchase; General operating support |
| Park Foundation Inc | Ithaca, NY | 4 | $426K | $100K | Yes | Project support; General operating support |
| Seisolo Foundation | Boulder, CO | 3 | $400K | $150K | Preselected only | Support for boulder bach festival concerts and educational…; Support community outreach to young students (preschool thr…; Gift designated to increase the endowment of noris graduate… |
| Western Union Foundation | Denver, CO | 1 | $400K | $400K | Preselected only | Workforce/education |
| The Nathan Cummings Foundation Inc | New York, NY | 3 | $400K | $100K | Yes | General support; First peoples worldwide; Cultivating brightfields in marginalized communities |
| The Patrick J McGovern Foundation Inc | Boston, MA | 1 | $400K | $400K | Preselected only | To utilize generative ai to streamline data integration wor… |
| The Henry Luce Foundation Inc | New York, NY | 2 | $400K | $200K | Yes | Support for a museum; Support for research and publications |
| The William and Kathryn Scripps Family Foundation | Wilmington, DE | 1 | $400K | $400K | Preselected only | Bill & Kathy Scripps Psychological Health and Performance e… |
| Margaret a Cargill Foundation | Eden Prairie, MN | 1 | $385K | $385K | Preselected only | Support for community-based risk reduction and emergency re… |
| The Joyce Foundation | Chicago, IL | 2 | $385K | $193K | Yes | Journalism; Education & economic mobility |
| Oreg Foundation | Boulder, CO | 1 | $385K | $385K | Preselected only | Operating |
| The Argosy Foundation | Milwaukee, WI | 10 | $380K | $40K | Preselected only | General support; Wildfire resilience project; Reproductive health project |
| Enlight Foundation | Palo Alto, CA | 1 | $374K | $374K | Preselected only | Culture & education |
| Delta Environmental&educational Fnd | Taipei | 1 | $350K | $350K | Yes | Clean energy emissions reduction |
| Frank E Payne and Seba B Payne Foundation | Chicago, IL | 1 | $350K | $350K | Preselected only | General operating support |
| Omidyar Network Fund Inc | Redwood City, CA | 1 | $350K | $350K | Preselected only | To support Grantee's project, Winning Jobs Narrative |
| William T Grant Foundation Inc | New York, NY | 2 | $349K | $175K | Yes | Embedding research into organizational routines to deepen t…; Supporting health and learning for research-practice partne… |
| The Kresge Foundation | Troy, MI | 3 | $340K | $100K | Yes | Project support grant to expand the impact and effectivenes…; Project support grant to expand and deepen the engagement o…; Project support for the equitable implementation of the faf… |
| The Sapp Family Foundation | New York, NY | 1 | $335K | $335K | Preselected only | General |
| Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation | Denver, CO | 14 | $334K | $26K | Yes | General operating support; Early childhood mental health consul; Generations program, to be paid over |
| The Caruso Foundation Dba Caruso Entrepreneurship Initiative | Boulder, CO | 9 | $332K | $15K | Preselected only | Program Funding |
| Lumina Foundation for Education Inc | Indianapolis, IN | 4 | $330K | $35K | Yes | To support technical assistance in Wisconsin aligned with L…; To support a meeting for principals in the CLDE Multistate…; SHEEO's July 15-17, 2024 Annual Meeting and for SHEEO's Aug… |
| Chrest Foundation Inc | Irving, TX | 5 | $310K | $50K | Preselected only | Support for family resource center to meet immediate needs…; General support to combat climate change.; Support to advance climate solutions for energy efficiency,… |
| James S McDonnell Foundation | St Louis, MO | 1 | $300K | $300K | Yes | Developing a model of teacher learning to support computati… |
| The Volgenau Foundation | McLean, VA | 1 | $300K | $300K | Preselected only | Rising to the challenge of our collective planetary crises:… |
| Tiger Global Impact Ventures Inc | New York, NY | 1 | $300K | $300K | Preselected only | Educational |
| Crankstart Foundation | San Jose, CA | 1 | $300K | $300K | Preselected only | To decarbonize maritime shipping |
| Arrow Impact | Menlo Park, CA | 1 | $300K | $300K | Preselected only | General operating support |
| Eldred Foundation Inc Co Carolyn S Eldred | Westminster, CO | 1 | $300K | $300K | Preselected only | General contribution |
| Laura and John Arnold Foundation | Houston, TX | 1 | $294K | $294K | Preselected only | To identify and support states that are leading innovative… |
| The Robert and Kathleen Dobkin Intuitive Foundation | Wilmington, DE | 2 | $291K | $145K | Preselected only | Master Course Entrepreneurship Fund; Intuitive Foundation Founders' Program |
| The Wana Brands Foundation | Boulder, CO | 10 | $281K | $7,500 | Preselected only | General Operating |
| Dr Scholl Foundation | Northbrook, IL | 7 | $276K | $15K | Yes | Large animal rescue equipment; School-based abuse prevention education for youth; Species-specific foods, formulas, and medical supplies for… |
| The Hearthland Foundation C/O Breslauer Rutman & Anderson Inc | Los Angeles, CA | 2 | $275K | $138K | Preselected only | Environment & climate change |
| The McKnight Foundation | Minneapolis, MN | 2 | $270K | $135K | Yes | to facilitate the merger of Canary Media and Energy News Ne…; Strengthening Climate-resilient Food Systems at the Territo… |
| Catalyze Partners Foundation | Wilmington, DE | 3 | $266K | $86K | Preselected only | For Capital Projects and the Endowment Fund; General & Unrestricted; For general operating and discretionary fund for use of rel… |
| The Mai Family Foundation | New York, NY | 2 | $263K | $132K | Preselected only | Charitable |
| Jpmorgan Chase Foundation | New York, NY | 13 | $256K | $300 | Preselected only | Matching contribution (general operating support); In support of creating economic mobility and career pathways |
Source: IRS Form 990-PF Part XV, latest electronic return per foundation (2026-10-28). "Accepts applications" reflects the foundation's own checkbox on Part XV line 2. Grants to individuals excluded.
Common questions
Which foundations give to nonprofits in Boulder, Colorado?
Gates Foundation, Lilly Endowment Inc, The Arthur M Blank Family Foundation, Sequoia Climate Foundation, Waverley Street Foundation and 95 others reported grants to Boulder organizations on their latest Form 990-PF.
How do I approach a foundation that doesn't accept applications?
A foundation that checks "contributes only to preselected organizations" on its 990-PF won't review a cold proposal. Look at who it funds, find a shared board member, grantee or advisor, and ask for an introduction. Foundations that accept applications usually list a contact and deadlines in Part XV; we show that text on each foundation's page.
Is this list complete?
No. It covers private foundations (Form 990-PF filers) whose latest electronic return lists at least one grant to an organization in Boulder. Community foundations and corporate giving programs file different forms and are not included yet.