OVERVIEW: The Wilburforce Foundation supports conservation across Western North America, with a focus on protecting and connecting lands, waters and wildlife. Its grantmaking centers on 13 priority regions organized under three geographic programs: Alaska/British Columbia, Northwest/Southwest and Yellowstone to Yukon. The foundation supports advocacy, conservation science, policy work, organizing, collaboration and other strategies that advance biodiversity, wildlife habitat and landscape connectivity.
IP TAKE: Wilburforce does not run an open application program, but neither is it strictly invitation-only. Prospective grantseekers are encouraged to contact the appropriate program staff to discuss potential fit before developing a proposal.
This is a relationship-driven funder with highly specific geographic priorities, so the strongest prospects are conservation organizations already working within Wilburforce’s priority landscapes and connected to relevant regional coalitions, Indigenous partners, scientists, advocates or conservation networks. Repeat funding relationships are common. A cold proposal will not work here; a well-researched introduction to the appropriate regional program officer may.
PROFILE: The Seattle-based Wilburforce Foundation was founded in 1991 by Rose Letwin, who remains its president and sole funder. According to the foundation, Letwin’s background in science and technology helped shape Wilburforce’s emphasis on evidence-driven conservation, while her work with nonprofits informed its longstanding interest in strengthening grantee organizations. Wilburforce says it has invested more than $217 million in conservation efforts across Western North America.
Letwin, who is the ex-wife of Microsoft’s Gordon Letwin, had a long career in the technology industry but “always had a passion for animals” and envisioned a “thriving, interconnected American West that could foster healthy wildlife.” The Wilburforce Foundation seeks to “invest in science-based solutions, advocate for responsible policies, and strengthen our grantees’ capacities to achieve lasting outcomes.”
Wilburforce’s current strategy is organized primarily around three geographic programs containing 13 priority regions. Its footprint stretches from Alaska and the Canadian Arctic through the western United States and into the Sierra Madre Occidental in northwest Mexico.
Grants for the Environment, Conservation, Animals and Wildlife
Wilburforce seeks to create and sustain connected landscapes that allow wildlife to thrive. Its current geographic grantmaking programs are:
- The Alaska/British Columbia Program covers five priority regions: the Arctic, Tongass National Forest, Great Bear Rainforest, Transboundary Watersheds and British Columbia’s Central Interior. Wilburforce supports advocacy, conservation and social science, policy research and organizing to protect wildlife and wildlands connectivity. In British Columbia, the foundation places particular emphasis on Indigenous-led lands and wildlife conservation and stewardship.
- The Northwest/Southwest Program focuses on Cascadia, the Great Basin and the Southwest Crescent. The territory extends from the Pacific Northwest through the Great Basin and Southwest into northwest Mexico. Funding supports efforts to restore, protect and connect wild places; build constituencies for wildlife and wildlands; strengthen collaboration among diverse stakeholders; and produce policy-relevant conservation and social-science research.
- The Yellowstone to Yukon Program encompasses the Crown of the Continent, Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, Inland Temperate Rainforest, Salmon-Selway/Hells Canyon and Far North. Wilburforce supports collaborative and community-based conservation aimed at landscape connectivity, biodiversity and climate resilience, as well as conservation science, partner capacity and Indigenous-led conservation and stewardship in British Columbia and Yukon.
Wilburforce previously operated separate Conservation Science and Conservation Law and Policy programs, but both structures have changed. The foundation phased out Conservation Science as a standalone program at the end of 2024. It continues to fund selected science and research projects through its geographic programs when they address important knowledge gaps related to biodiversity and ecological resilience.
Similarly, the Conservation Law and Policy program was phased out as a separate funding docket at the end of 2024 and no longer considers funding inquiries independently. Wilburforce still supports legal, policy and communications work when it advances one of its regional program strategies.
Wilburforce also has a longstanding interest in grantee capacity. However, its Capacity Building program changed in 2025 and now focuses exclusively on supporting TREC — Together Rising as an Environmental Community, which provides leadership development, coaching, consulting and organizational-development resources to conservation nonprofits. These services may be available to current Wilburforce grantees, which should discuss capacity needs with their regional program officer. Capacity building is therefore primarily a benefit for existing grantees rather than a separate entry point for new applicants.
Wilburforce’s grantmaking strongly favors conservation organizations working in or supporting its priority landscapes. Recent grantees include the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, Heart of the Rockies Initiative, Grand Canyon Trust, Wildlands Network, the Wilderness Society, Sky Island Alliance, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Headwaters Economics, Western Environmental Law Center, Conservation Lands Foundation and Greater Yellowstone Coalition.
Conservation Leadership
Wilburforce maintains a Conservation Leadership Awards program recognizing individuals who have made significant contributions to wildlife and wildlands conservation in Western North America. However, the most recent recipients currently listed on the foundation’s website are from 2022, and no current public nomination or application cycle could be verified. Grantseekers should not treat this as a standing annual opportunity unless Wilburforce announces a new round.
Important Grant Details:
According to FY2024 Form 990-PF grant data, Wilburforce awarded about $19.3 million through 225 grants. The median grant was about $50,000, while the average was roughly $86,000. Most grants across 2020 through 2024 fell between approximately $25,000 and $100,000, although some awards are significantly larger.
- Wilburforce concentrates its grantmaking in 13 priority regions across Western North America. Geography matters considerably. Organizations working outside these landscapes are generally poor prospects unless their work clearly advances a Wilburforce regional strategy.
- The foundation does not accept cold proposals. Instead, prospective applicants must first speak with the appropriate Wilburforce staff member about their work and potential fit. Proposal deadlines are then determined in consultation with the program officer.
- Wilburforce should not be described simply as “invitation-only.” Organizations can initiate contact with program staff, but a full proposal should be developed only after that conversation.
- Wilburforce generally presents grants related to particular regions or program areas at three board meetings each year. The foundation may consider off-cycle grants when a need or opportunity arises, but there is no standing public rapid-response fund.
- Multiyear grants are available by invitation only. Except by invitation, organizations generally may have only one active Wilburforce grant at a time.
- Current grantees may also be eligible for leadership, coaching and organizational-development support through TREC, but TREC is not an alternative application route for organizations that do not already have a Wilburforce relationship.
- Submit general questions to this foundation via email at grants@wilburforce.org or by telephone at (206) 632-2325.
- Grantseekers may contact a program officer using contact information provided on the About Us page.
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