Sarah K. DeCoizart Perpetual Charitable Trust
/OVERVIEW: This funder invests in the conservation of endangered species and works to provide services and education to the visually impaired.
IP TAKE: This is an accessible funder for organizations working in its specific areas of interest. Proposals are accepted up until October 1 via its online portal. Grantmaking prioritizes New York and New England, but occurs nationally.
PROFILE: The Sarah K. de Coizart Perpetual Charitable Trust was established in 1992 in accordance with the will of its namesake. Sarah de Coizart was the daughter of Lucius Knowles, a partner in the former Crompton and Knowles Loom Works textile company of Worcester, and the wife of André B. de Coizart, a World War II journalist and prisoner of war. The trust supports “species conservation and blindness-related services and research.”
Grants for Environmental Conservation
Coizart’s environmental grantmaking focuses on the conservation and rehabilitation of endangered species, but has also funded land conservation and habitat protection initiatives. Grantmaking prioritizes, but is not limited to the Northeastern U.S.
Grants for Animals and Wildlife
Funding in this area generally aims to protect and rehabilitate specific species in their native habitats. Recent funding has prioritized birds and insects. Past grantees include Ducks Unlimited, Inc., the Audubon Society of New Hampshire, the Morris Animal Foundation and Natureserve, which received a $120,000 grant for research on the Northeaster flower fly, an important regional pollinator. Projects protecting mammals have also received funding, including research at North Carolina State University on blindness in American red wolves and Marine Mammals of Maine, which used funding for a long-term rehabilitative program. Some funding is also earmarked for animal shelters and humane societies. In Virginia, Second Chance Animal Shelter received funding to develop their New Humane Education Program.
Grants for Marine and Freshwater Conservation
Coizart directs about half of its environmental grants toward organizations working in marine conservation. Most grantees work to restore, support or rehabilitate marine wildlife. Grantmaking supports both marine and freshwater initiatives. In New York, the Wildlife Conservation Society used funding for a shark conservation project. Another grantee, Trout Unlimited, received $100,000 for the restoration of salter brook trout in Maine’s Casco Bay. Funding has also supported research on sustainable commercial fishing, including projects conducted by the Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation and the Boston’s Conservation Law Foundation.
Grants for Public Health
The trust’s public health grantmaking addresses needs, service and education of the visually impaired. Grants support for the expansion of effective service programs, for education and job training, as well as the improvement of cultural and recreational facilities toward the inclusion of visually impaired individuals. Grantees working education and job training for the blind include the Elizabeth Pierce Olmsted Center for the Visually Impaired in Buffalo and the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts. The trust has also given to the Dominican College of Blauvelt, which runs a teacher training program for teachers of the visually impaired, and the Earle Baum Center for the Blind, for the development of a program to help the blind explore the natural world. In New York City, the Jewish Museum and the Lower East Side Tenement Museum have received grants for improved access and programming for visitors with visual impairments.
Important Grant Details:
Coizart grants are awarded in amounts up to $75,000, with multi-year grants considered for larger-scale projects. The trust’s average grant size is about $25,000, and it gives away about $2 million in grants each year. Grantees represent a range of organizations, many of which are small in size and budget.
This funder accepts proposals from nonprofit organizations working in its areas of interest and posts guidelines and application directions on its website. The proposal deadline is October 1, for funding the following January. Direct general inquiries to either Roman Jackson or Carolyn O’Brien via email.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS:
