Butler Conservation Fund
/OVERVIEW: The Butler Conservation Fund’s grantmaking broadly funds environment and wildlife conservation, as well as outdoor science education, in North and South America, as well as Africa.
IP TAKE: This funder is primarily committed to its “legacy” grantmaking. Its grantmaking centers on a select number of long-term partners, and it does not typically welcome new applicants. This is a tough nut to crack if you’re not already a grantee. Network with one of the fund’s previous grantees to determine how to get on this funder’s radar. This is not a funder that likes being contacted about funding opportunities.
PROFILE: Based in Great Neck, New York, the Butler Conservation Fund was established in 1989 by Gilbert Butler, founder of private equity investment firm Butler Capital Corporation. The Butler Environmental Protection Fund and the Butler Fund for the Environment were incorporated into the foundation between 2009 and 2010. The fund is committed to “the conservation and protection of the natural environment and to environmental education and recreation, especially for young people.” Its conservation grantmaking centers around six legacy geographies in North America, South America and Africa.
Grants for Environmental, Marine, and Wildlife Conservation
The foundation supports a variety of environmental conservation projects including those involving land conservation, wilderness conservation and preservation, outdoor education, and environmental law. The foundation’s grantmaking centers around six “legacy geographies.” In upstate New York’s Adirondack Region and Shawangunk Ridge, where Butler’s ancestors first settled, go to protect the Adirondack Park wilderness area and surrounding Black River Valley, Tug Hill Plateau, and Shawangunk Ridge. Grants for North Woods, Selected Coastal Areas of Maine, and Cobscook Bay Region go to protect coastal and woodland parks in Maine. Grants for Lowcountry Coastal Areas of South Carolina and Georgia fund conservation efforts “rooted in the support of many large private landowners and sporting enthusiasts” in the river ways and coastal waters of the region. Grants for British Columbia and Southeastern Alaska mainly go to combat “extractive industries including logging, mining, and oil and gas extraction” that threaten the natural landscapes and wildlife of the region.
Outside of North America, Butler funds conservation efforts in the Patagonia Region of Chile and Argentina, where it funds the “expansion of existing publicly owned preserves and the creation of private ones that can be donated to the host governments,” as well as Eastern Africa, where it supports “community-based conservation and responsible tourism” in Mozambique’s Niassa Reserve and Kenya’s Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and Northern Rangelands Trust.
In addition to its legacy grants, Butler also operates the Butler Outdoor Education Fund, which provides free “educational and recreational opportunities” for school-aged children with the goal of “fostering and promoting the values of outdoor education and encouraging the responsible use, appreciation, and conservation of the natural environment.” The fund’s first program, the Black River Outdoor Education Program, offers students “educational lessons in geology, ecology, biology, and history while engaging them in various outdoor aerobic activities” in the Tug Hill/Black River Valley region of upstate New York. Butler funds outdoor education in several of its focus areas, including South Carolina, Maine, and Patagonia.
Important Grant Details:
Butler Foundation grants can go as high as $1.1 million. The vast majority of grants tend to fall in the $5,000 to $25,000 range. The foundation does not award a large number of grants each year; however, its grants typically go to support general operating costs rather than specific projects.
The Butler Foundation does not accept unsolicited grant applications or requests for funding.
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