OVERVIEW: The Cornell Douglas Foundation focuses on environmental conservation, environmental health concerns and sustainable food systems.
IP TAKE: This Cornell Douglas Foundation doesn’t appear to have closed shop but its website makes clear that it is no longer open for new business–for the time being at least. The foundation says that it will not review proposals from either new or returning grantseekers, and it does not want to be contacted from those “seeking advice on how to be considered for a grant, or how to be placed on the list of solicited organizations.” This funder appears to be out of reach for now. Keep checking the website for further updates, but, in the meantime, look elsewhere for support.
PROFILE: The Cornell Douglas Foundation was established in 2006 by Ann Cornell. Cornell is the granddaughter of Henry Wallace, who served as Secretary of Agriculture and Vice President under FDR and ran for president in 1948. Henry Wallace also made a fortune by developing hybrid seeds and founding the first commercial hybrid seed company in the U.S. in 1926. Based in Bethesda, Maryland, this foundation works in the areas of environmental conservation and, to a lesser extent, public health. It also gives an annual Pearl Award to individuals or organizations that have made an outstanding contribution to the sustainability of the Earth for future generations. This funder maintains a sparse website and does not outline specific goals for its grantmaking.
Grants for Environmental Conservation and Justice
The Cornell Douglas Foundation’s conservation funding tends to focus on the preservation and maintenance of holistic ecosystems and natural resources. Most conservation grants provide general support to grantees.
- One past grantee, the Rock Creek Conservancy, works to maintain the ecosystems of Rock Creek Park, a national park situated in Washington D.C.
- Another grantee, the Honeybee Conservancy, works across the U.S. to rehabilitate honeybee populations and educate communities about ecosystems and food justice.
- Other past grantees are the Audubon Naturalist Society, Beyond Pesticides and the Grand Canyon Trust, which works to protect ecosystems in canyons, deserts and forested mesas of the Colorado Plateau.
Grants for Marine and Freshwater Conservation
A significant portion of Cornell Douglas’s funding is directed toward organizations that are involved with marine and freshwater conservation.
- In the foundation’s home state of Maryland, one grantee, the Anacostia Watershed Society, aims to involve community partners in efforts to maintain clean waters in the Anacostia River.
- And in New York, the Catskill Mountainkeeper, conducts and reports research on the impact of industry on local bodies of water.
Grants for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems
The foundation has supported several organizations that are involved with the sustainable production of food and education about food systems and agriculture.
- Past grantees include the Center for Food Safety, which promotes organic, ecological and sustainable alternatives to industrial farming, and Rooftop Roots, which supports community gardening and greenspace projects.
Grants for Public Health
This funder’s public health grantmaking overlaps with its environmental work in that it supports organizations that address health issues that are caused or exacerbated by environmental degradation.
- Past grantees include Toxic Free Future, an organization involved in research, advocacy and education about the effect of toxic chemicals on human and environmental health, and the Southwest Pennsylvania Environmental Health Project, which provides healthcare support and advocacy for people whose health has been impacted by gas or oil development and/or fracking.
- The foundation also supports some public health causes that are not associated with the environment.
- These grantees include the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center, Doctors Without Borders, Jonas Philanthropies and the End Fund, which supports the treatment and prevention of tropical diseases in Africa and Asia.
Important Grant Details:
This funder recently gave away about $5.2 million, a significant increase over past years, when grantmaking stood at about $400,000. With its moratorium on proposals, this suggests that the foundation may be in spend-down mode, although it has yet to make any such announcement. Historically, grants have ranged from a few thousand dollars to $100,000. Its average grant size is about $25,000, and it supports organizations of all sizes in its areas of interest.
- For information about past grantees, see the foundation’s grants page.
- According to the foundation, it no longer accepts unsolicited proposals or requests for funding.
- General inquiries are discouraged and the foundation asks “that there be no phone calls, letters of inquiry, emails, or other correspondence to the Foundation seeking advice on how to be considered for a grant, or how to be placed on the list of solicited organizations.”
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
Last updated on