Friedkin Conservation Fund
/OVERVIEW: The Friedkin Conservation Fund (FCF) provides assistance to the Tanzanian government in preserving its protected areas, helps uplift rural communities, and conducts wildlife monitoring and research.
IP TAKE: FCF has taken on the responsibility of preserving millions of acres of protected wildlife areas that are crucial to the greater Serengeti ecosystem’s survival. Laser-focused on conserving a single region, the foundation primarily works with the Tanzanian government and does not solicit requests for funding. This is not an accessible funder unless you fit into its highly focused area of funding.
PROFILE: The Friedkin Conservation Fund was established in 1993 by billionaire couple Dan and Debra Friedkin. Dan Friedkin owns Gulf States Toyota, which has exclusive rights to distribute Toyota vehicles in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Oklahoma. He is chairman of the Friedkin Group, a privately held consortium of businesses and investments. He is also chairman emeritus of Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission and on the board of Caesar Kleberg Wildlife Research Institute at Texas A&M University-Kingsville. The couple have supported the Wildlife Conservation Society, where Dan has sat on the board. The Friedkin Conservation Fund was created to “preserve one of Tanzania’s last unspoiled natural areas and its diverse wildlife population,” providing assistance to the Tanzanian government in preserving over 3.2 million acres of the Serengeti. Due to the nature of its conservation work, the Fund technically consists of two separate entities, one registered in Texas and one in Tanzania. Its conservation work has three areas of focus: Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Poaching, Community Engagement and Scientific Research and Monitoring.
Grants for Environmental and Wildlife Conservation
The Friedkin Conservation Fund’s Wildlife Conservation and Anti-Poaching work operates in five protected wilderness areas in Tanzania. FCF directly employs, equips, and trains over 120 full-time anti-poaching operatives and deploys them as Rapid Action Teams and “specialized mobile anti-poaching units.”
FCF conducts scientific research and monitoring in order to “make effective wildlife management decisions and promote long-term sustainability of wildlife and their wilderness.” It works closely with TAWIRI, the Tanzanian government’s environmental research arm, to monitor wildlife populations with aerial surveys, ground counts, and lion and rhino population monitoring.
FCF also supports its mission by developing local communities in wildlife conservation regions and promoting engagement with the protection of their natural landscape. It works by funding education initiatives like school building, teacher training, and scholarships, income generation through community development and financial services, and health & water initiatives that improve health care and sanitation in its giving regions.
Grants for Global Development
The Friedkin Conservation Fund also supports its mission by developing local communities in wildlife conservation regions and promoting engagement with the protection of their natural landscape. It works by funding education initiatives like school building, teacher training, and scholarships, income generation through community development and financial services and health & water initiatives that improve health care and sanitation in its giving regions.
Grants for Science Research
The Friedkin Conservation Fund conducts scientific research and monitoring in order to “make effective wildlife management decisions and promote long-term sustainability of wildlife and their wilderness.” It works closely with TAWIRI, the Tanzanian government’s environmental research arm, to monitor wildlife populations with aerial surveys, ground counts, and lion and rhino population monitoring.
Important Grant Details:
In a recent fiscal year, the foundation spent around $107,000. Grants tend to be modest, and the fund’s website has limited information about recent grantees. FCF primarily works with the government of Tanzania, and supporting other non-profit organizations is not its main focus.
The Friedkin Conservation Fund does not accept unsolicited requests for funding. It conducts its grantmaking proactively and prefers to seek out organizations it wishes to support.
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