Filings Shed Light on Major Low-Profile Green Funders, Including Drops in Funding

Are two of the nation’s major environmental foundations poised to close their doors soon?

That’s one of the top questions I was left with after reviewing dozens of newly available 990 forms from a range of green funders. The annual disclosure offers a valuable chance to peer behind the curtain of some of the field’s many large but low-profile funding operations. And this year, declines in grantmaking and years without contributions at two of them caught my attention. 

Specifically, I’m referring to Sea Change Foundation, the philanthropy of heir Nat Simons and his wife, Laura Baxter-Simons, which once ranked among the 25 largest environmental grantmakers in the nation, and Benificus Foundation, the funding operation of venture capitalist John Doerr, who is known for a $1.1 billion gift to Stanford University to fund a new climate change and sustainability school. Both have long gone without new money, and the new filings show dips in recent giving. (Sea Change Foundation representatives said nothing is changing.)

Given these fluctuations and these institutions’ role in the field, I took a close look at the latest filings from these two operations, along with that of a major but rather quiet donor couple, British investor Jeremy Grantham and his wife, Hannelore. In contrast, grantmaking at the couple’s foundation and trust has steadily risen for many years. Here’s what I learned.

Funding drops, contributions cease at one of the top 25 largest green funders

In November 2024, Sea Change Foundation lost its longtime executive director, Tom Steinbach, who left to head Steve and Connie Ballmer’s new operation Rainier Climate. But his former employer did not have to look far for a replacement: Its deputy director, Anjali Jaiswal, stepped into his shoes.

So it’s puzzling that the operation’s grantmaking dropped by nearly a fifth that year, falling to $37 million after averaging roughly $45 million for nearly a decade. Did the low-profile climate operation of Simons heirs Nat Simons and Laura Baxter-Simons, which a few years ago ranked among the nation’s 25 largest green grantmakers, slow its grantmaking while reevaluating strategy? Did it switch to more opaque funding channels?

Another reason for concern: No money has been put into the foundation since 2020, according to its 990s, which is notable given that the San Francisco-based foundation has long been a pay-as-you-go operation, with the Simons couple and related trusts historically making annual contributions in the eight figures. (It’s worth noting that Sea Change and its donors long operated entirely under the radar — Tate Williams broke the news of their shift to a more public operation for IP back in 2018.)  

According to a Sea Change representative, though, no changes are afoot. The foundation is not planning to change strategies, let alone close its doors, and will continue to pursue its mission, the spokesperson said. One point from the 990s backing that up: The foundation’s assets remain in line with past years, at about $209 million, enough to fund many more years of its typical grantmaking. In short, when the 2025 numbers come out, we may see a return to its normal levels.

Sea Change’s grantmaking did not otherwise change much in 2024. Big checks went to the U.S. Energy Foundation ($24.5 million, three awards), the League of Conservation Voters ($5.3 million), and Potential Energy Coalition ($3.5 million), as in past cycles, among other familiar destinations. 

Billionaire venture capitalist has not donated to his foundation in a decade

When John Doerr and his wife, Ann, made one of the biggest single climate (and higher ed) pledges in history to Stanford in 2022, it raised the possibility that the veteran tech venture capitalist — who more recently has made big investment bets on climate solutions — would follow in the footsteps of other Silicon Valley winners to become a climate megadonor. 

The latest 990 from his Benificus Foundation shows his grantmaking has spiked, but also reveals reasons for long-term doubt. As recently as 2019, the San Carlos, California-based grantmaker’s awards totalled just $8.7 million. That rose to $220 million in 2023, and the operation sent another $186 million out the door in 2024. 

Benificus’ list of biggest recipients was basically unchanged in 2024, with some of the largest climate awards going to Climate Imperative Foundation ($46 million), Aspen Global Change Institute ($10 million) and the Climate Reality Project ($7 million). Benificus, unlike the other funders listed here, also sends large checks to other causes, including Parkinson’s disease research, education and children’s medicine.

Yet Doerr has not put a dime into his foundation since 2016, even as his estimated wealth has climbed from $4.1 billion to $21.5 billion over that span, according to Forbes. It may be that Doerr has soured on philanthropy, or perhaps he’s opting for the many invisible channels available to donors, even those with field-scale resources. 

Benificus ended 2024 with $98 million in assets, down from $639 million a few years before. Either Doerr will start putting money into his philanthropy for the first time in a decade, or Benificus will go the way of the flip phone.

British billionaire keeps raising the ante for the climate

In the last few years, Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham have modeled a giving trajectory that, at least in my book, all billionaire donors should aspire to, especially those who, like the British investor, are in their 80s. The couple have upped the grantmaking of their Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment for several years in a row. Funding hit $67 million in 2024, nearly double the total from 2021. 

The latest recipient list contains both familiar faces and a few big shifts. Some of the largest awards went to past awardees like the Foundation for International Law for the Environment ($4.1 million) and Carbon Gap ($2.7 million), as well as U.K. universities, such as the London School of Economics, where Grantham has sponsored institutes under his name. 

But there are also dramatically increased awards to groups like Conservation International ($4.5 million) and Linden Trust for Conservation ($2.1 million), which recently got only six-figure grants.

The couple’s other philanthropy has followed a similar path. The Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust is a supporting organization set up to back designated green nonprofits, with a board mainly drawn from those groups. Funding rose to $66 million in 2024, more than twice its tally in 2022. 

Michael Kavate covers climate philanthropy and billionaire donors. He welcomes feedback, disagreements, tips and requests.

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