Flora L. Thornton Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Flora L. Thornton Foundation concentrates funding in California, particularly within the Los Angeles and Bay areas. Arts, culture and the environment feature prominently across funding.
IP TAKE: While this funder’s giving concentrates on California, especially Los Angeles and the Bay Area, a handful of grants occur in targeted areas of the U.S., usually on the East Coast. This is not an accessible funder, though it is transparent, grantseekers will want to find ways to get on this funder’s radar like networking with previous grantees, networking with family trustees or contacting staff to learn more.
PROFILE: Flora Thornton, founder of the University of Southern California/Thornton School of Music Dedication, established the Flora L. Thornton Foundation in 1982 upon her husband Charles B. Thornton’s death. The foundation seeks to “create a more sustainable and equitable world for future generations by protecting and preserving our planet’s natural resources, and by investing in local organizations that promote access to the arts, nutrition, and conservation.” Since its founding, Thornton’ funding priorities include address environmental sustainability, Los Angeles and culture, California conservation, nutrition, higher education, the arts, and preventative medicine. That said, Thornton’s focus areas are not “rigid - we may choose to support other causes and other issue areas based on the interests of the trustees in creating a more equitable world.”
Grants for Environment and Climate Change
While Thornton’s website doesn’t draw much distinction between funding priorities, tax records indicate that funding for the environment receive the lion’s share of support, and most of this goes toward biodiversity and conservation of natural resources.
According to the foundation, it looks for organizations “working on clean energy, ocean conservation, reducing environmental toxins, and important vectors like population, the rights of women and public health.” Its grants support “fresh air, clean water, sustainable development and the urgent mission of addressing climate change.”
Past grantees in this space include The Nature Conservancy of California, Greenbelt Alliance, Pepperwood Foundation, Save the Redwoods League, Yosemite Conservancy, Rocky Mountain Institute, WildAid, and RARE.
Grants for Public Health, Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture
While Thornton does give to medical groups, much of its health-related grantmaking focuses on nutrition and food access. The foundation’s website states that the nutrition giving area includes “sustainable agriculture practices, dangerous levels of pesticides and residue on food, and, more broadly, other environmental toxins affecting individual health, much of which bio-accumulates in the food chain.”
It also awards grants to “organizations addressing equitable food distribution, community nutrition education and access, especially to underserved populations.”
Previous grantees in this space include Westside Food Bank, Center for Environmental Health, Center for Science in the Public Interest, As You Sow, and Southern Environmental Law Center. It also makes grants toward medical dietary research.
Grants for Higher Education
Although Thornton lists higher education as one of its core funding priorities, its grantmaking in this space is limited. Related giving occurs through the foundation’s concentration on Los Angeles and its culture.
Most of higher education funding goes to University of Southern California and the USC Foundation, but some funding has gone to UCLA and other colleges and universities in the area. The foundation’s grants for education also include the Cate School and Flintridge Prepartory School, but these types of grants are smaller and less frequent than its higher education support.
Grants for Music, Arts and Culture
Second in funding only to its environment and conservation programs, Thornton’s support for arts and culture is significant, although it prioritizes grantmaking for museums and the performing arts. The foundation makes grants related to arts and culture through its focus on the Los Angeles community and culture.
It has supported the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). The vast majority of its performing arts grantmaking supports music organizations, specifically opera, orchestral, and vocal groups. Previous grantees include the Los Angeles Opera, The Opera League of Los Angeles, American Youth Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic Association, and Muse/Ique. The largest grants, however, go to USC Thornton School of Music.
Important Grant Details:
Grant amounts vary significantly, from $1,000 to over $100,000. Grants are initiated and stewarded by individual trustees who are assisted by a small staff providing administrative and collaborative support to the family members. The family trustees meet several times a year to discuss their grants ideas and approvals are always unanimous.
The Thornton Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant applications or requests for funding.
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