Bobolink Foundation
/OVERVIEW: Bobolink is a family foundation created by Hank and Wendy Paulson. It is committed to the conservation of American natural landscapes and wildlife, especially in grasslands and coastal areas.
IP TAKE: Bobolink is a relatively quiet funder that supports both small and large organizations, however it does not accept requests for funding. Its grantmaking is driven by interests of the founders, particularly the chairman Wendy Paulson, so groups without a personal connection may find it difficult to secure funding.
PROFILE: Established in 1986 in Chicago, the Bobolink Foundation is the brainchild of Hank and Wendy Paulson. Hank, who served as assistant secretary of defense from 1970 to 1972 and worked in the Nixon administration, is the former CEO of Goldman Sachs. After serving as Treasury Secretary under Bush, he started the Paulson Institute, an organization devoted to sustainable economic growth and the environment. His wife, Wendy Paulson (nee Judge) remains more deeply involved in the foundation. Formerly a Boston Public School teacher, she is an avid conservationist. The former chairwoman of the Illinois and New York chapters of the Nature Conservancy, Wendy now chairs Bobolink, which seeks to “advance conservation and stewardship of biodiversity through the protection of natural areas, education, and building local constituencies for nature.” The foundation supports projects in its key areas of focus: Coastal Conservation, Community-Based Conservation, American Grasslands and American Wildlife.
Through all of its focus areas, the Bobolink Foundation seeks to support adaptable, collaborative organizations that “engage and support an empowered constituency,” “deliver measurable, on-the-ground improvements,” and “build from a foundation of past success, applying new approaches as needed.”
Grants for Environmental Conservation
The Bobolink Foundation is exclusively dedicated to environmental conservation and justice across all of its focus areas. In particular, the foundation’s Community-Based Conservation focus area supports efforts to create an “engaged constituency” that is empowered to “care for nearby nature” and to promote conservation and sustainability efforts throughout American communities. The foundation’s American Grasslands focus area specifically prioritizes those habitats, stretching from the Rockies to the Mississippi River, which it refers to as “among the least protected, most altered, and imperiled biomes on Earth.” Grantees include community-based conservation and engagement groups such as Citizens for Conservation, Student Conservation Association, Keystone Science School, and RARE.
Grants for Animal and Wildlife Conservation
Bobolink’s Wildlife and Wild Landscapes focus area is dedicated to preserving “places where wide ranging animals freely roam” in the United States. Unlike the foundation’s other focus areas, this one conducts grantmaking throughout the Americas, such as efforts to preserve Jaguar Habitats from Mexico to Argentina. The foundation is particularly interested in bird conservation. One of the biggest grantees is Rare, a global conservation group formerly chaired by Wendy Paulson, which started in the 1980s to save the Saint Lucia Parrot. The group uses a combination of establishing protected areas and engaging local constituencies. However, the foundation has also supported grants to smaller and grassroots organizations, such as the Owl Research Institute and the Vermont Center for EcoStudies.
Grants for Marine and Freshwater Conservation
The Bobolink Foundation’s Coastal Conservation focus area primarily centers around the Altamaha River in Georgia. According to the foundation, “the river feeds a rich delta that is critical for wildlife including shorebirds that traverse the hemisphere twice each year.” However, the foundation may also support projects based in marine and freshwater habitats through its other focus areas. Overall, the foundation has a particular interest in the conservation of bird species. Grantees include groups such as the International Crane Society, The Freshwater Trust, and Friends of the Chicago River.
Important Grant Details:
Grants may range all the way from $5,000 to $2 million. While Bobolink maintains a website, it does not indicate how grantseekers may secure funding. Grantseekers should contact the board to introduce themselves and establish a relationship.
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