The Campbell Foundation: an Environmental Grantmaker with Two Regions of Interest
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Unlike other foundations that spread their funding across multiple focus areas, the Campbell Foundation donates nearly 100% of its grant dollars to environmental causes. This foundation has the sole focus of protecting natural resources in communities where Campbell family members live — specifically, the Chesapeake Bay region and the Pacific region. To guide environmental nonprofits in these locations, here are some facts to know about the Campbell Foundation and its grantmaking.
The founder’s vision
The Campbell Foundation was founded by investment advisor D. Keith Campbell, who created a firm called Campbell & Company. He believes that the environment supports the economy of a region and that healthy bay regions provide many benefits to people’s lives. That philosophy underscores the foundation’s grantmaking. The foundation’s president, Samantha Campbell, has also shared on its website that the Campbell Foundation has recently been focusing more on diversity, equity, inclusion and justice for its staff and in its grantmaking practices.
Chesapeake-area giving
The foundation’s original focus area was the Chesapeake and Atlantic coastal bays, because they are the largest and most ecologically diverse and productive estuary systems in the U.S. Today, Campbell’s mission in the region is to “improve water quality and ecological balance in the Bay and its rivers, as a healthy Bay fosters a vibrant regional economy and provides exceptional recreational opportunities.”
Recent grantees in the Chesapeake area include the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council, United Way of Lancaster County and the Lower Shore Land Trust. There has also been a Chesapeake Fellowship Program in place since 2018 to offer full-time, one-year and two-year paid opportunities in the field of environmental grantmaking.
Pacific-area giving
The Campbell Foundation expanded its geographic focus in 2003 to include Northern California and the San Francisco Bay watershed. Leading this effort is Keith Campbell’s daughter and the foundation’s president, Samantha Campbell. The foundation’s mission in this region is to “safeguard the ocean environment of the Pacific Coast and elevate environmental issues in our culture by promoting the implementation and enforcement of adequate policies, leveraging the power of markets to advance sustainable economies and supporting innovative communication.” Local grantees in this part of the country include California FarmLink, Smith River Alliance and the Resources Legacy Fund.
Applying for a Campbell grant
Grantseekers will be happy to know that the Campbell Foundation accepts unsolicited grant proposals. There is an eligibility survey to fill out, a grants database to review and grant cycle deadlines that occur twice per year. The foundation awards grants of less than $25,000 each, with most of them hovering between $250 and $10,000.
Learn more about this funder in IP’s Mid-Atlantic States Funding Guide.
