Funding search · EIN 204170342 · Palo Alto, CA

The Schmidt Family Foundation

Name: The Schmidt Family Foundation grants, 2022–2024
Creator: PaperOrbit
License: https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/exempt-organization-public-disclosure-and-availability-requirements

A private foundation (files IRS Form 990-PF). Most private foundations do not take unsolicited applications; the route in is usually a program officer.

1,851
grants reported: $431.2M
total given: 2022–2024
filing years: $100,000
median grant

Based on grants this organization reported to the IRS for tax years 2022–2024. This is what they filed, not a complete record of their giving, and recent years may be incomplete because filings lag.

What they fund

encouraging away fossil fuels just transition stewardship research

Funder website ↗Full IRS filings ↗How this is built Report an error

Funding pattern

What this funder pays for, at what size, and how to position adjacent work. Read from their filings, with every number checked against the record.

Where the money goes

Just transition away from fossil fuels, litigation and organizing
Resilient equitable food systems and regenerative agriculture
Ocean stewardship and research, including university science
Indigenous land stewardship, self-determination, cultural representation
Human rights in Africa, Haiti, and the US
Civic engagement, journalism capacity, youth leadership

Typical grant

Median grant is $100,000 with the middle half running $60,000 to $231,636, so a first ask in the low six figures matches the pattern. The eight-figure and seven-figure checks go to long-standing anchors like Monterey Bay Aquarium, Human Rights Watch, and large fiscal sponsors that regrant across several of the foundation's themes at once. With 1,851 grants to 925 recipients over three years, the average recipient shows up about twice, so repeat funding is the norm rather than the exception.

Their words

Phrases from their own grant descriptions, worth speaking back to them.

“ENCOURAGING A JUST TRANSITION AWAY FROM FOSSIL FUELS”
“WORKING TOWARDS A RESILIENT AND EQUITABLE FOOD SYSTEM”
“OCEAN STEWARDSHIP AND RESEARCH”
“CENTERING UNREPRESENTED VOICES IN THE ENVIRONMENTAL MOVEMENT”
“SUPPORTING INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES' LAND STEWARDSHIP, SELF-DETERMINATION, AND CULTURAL REPRESENTATION”
“CAPACITY BUILDING”

Positioning adjacent work

Ocean researchers should look at the Haifa, Hawaii, Washington, Western Australia pattern: $450,000 to $1,000,000 university awards.
Frame climate work as a just transition with named frontline communities, not as emissions modeling.
Ask $100,000 to $250,000 for a first grant; reserve seven-figure asks for multi-theme regranting partners.
Pair a technical proposal with an Indigenous or environmental justice partner who holds decision authority, not advisory status.

Worth knowing: California takes 510 of 1,851 grants and the Bay Area dominates within that, with New York and DC advocacy shops next; a large share of dollars flows through fiscal sponsors and intermediaries like Tides, Multiplier, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, and Amalgamated, which suggests relationship-driven regranting rather than open competition. University science shows up almost entirely under ocean stewardship, so academic applicants outside marine work have little precedent to point to.

12 grants matching “pollution” · $1.1M

$150,000
La Compost · Los Angeles, CA · 2024
Raising awareness about plastics pollution
$161,500
La Compost · Los Angeles, CA · 2023
Raising awareness about plastics pollution, advancing sustainable materials, advancing diversity and equity in the environmental movement
$100,000
Californians Against Waste Foundation · Sacramento, CA · 2023
Raising awareness about plastics pollution
$150,000
La Compost · Los Angeles, CA · 2022
Raising awareness about plastics pollution
$100,000
Amalgamated Charitable Foundation · Washington, DC · 2022
Raising awareness about plastics pollution
$100,000
Californians Against Waste Foundation · Sacramento, CA · 2022
Raising awareness about plastics pollution
$80,000
Composting Council Research & Education Foundation · Raleigh, NC · 2022
Raising awareness about plastics pollution
$75,000
Black Women for Wellness · Los Angeles, CA · 2022
Raising awareness about plastics pollution
$75,000
New Media Advocacy Project · Hudson, NY · 2022
Raising awareness about plastics pollution
$30,000
Surfrider Foundation · San Clemente, CA · 2022
Raising awareness about plastics pollution
$20,000
Californians Against Waste Foundation · Sacramento, CA · 2022
Raising awareness about plastics pollution
$10,000
Neighborhood Recycling Corporation · Minneapolis, MN · 2022
Raising awareness about plastics pollution

Top recipients

Repeat recipients are the strongest signal of whether a funder has an open door or quietly re-funds the same organizations.

Human Rights Watch5 grants · $17.6M
Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation3 grants · $14.0M
Sustainable Markets Foundation15 grants · $12.3M
Grist Magazine4 grants · $7.5M
Rudolf Steiner Foundation Inc Dba Rsf Social Finance3 grants · $6.6M
Climate Central3 grants · $6.5M
Regenerative Agriculture Foundation4 grants · $6.1M
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors3 grants · $6.0M
Ellen MacArthur Foundation2 grants · $5.5M
Conservation X Labs5 grants · $5.4M

Giving over time

$108.2M

2022

$137.6M

2023

$185.4M

2024

Grant history

The 100 largest of 1,851 grants.

$8.5M
Human Rights Watch · New York, NY · 2023
Protecting human rights in africa, capacity building for partners
$8.0M
Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation · Monterey, CA · 2024
Ocean stewardship and research
$6.7M
Human Rights Watch · New York, NY · 2024
Capacity building, fostering youth development and leadership, protecting human rights (us or general), protecting human rights in africa
$5.0M
Ellen MacArthur Foundation · 2023
Advancing sustainable materials
$5.0M
Alliance for Open Society International · New York, NY · 2022
General operating support
$3.9M
Rudolf Steiner Foundation Inc Dba Rsf Social Finance · San Francisco, CA · 2023
Protecting human rights in africa
$3.5M
Sustainable Markets Foundation · New York, NY · 2024
Capacity building, protecting human rights in africa, encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels, protecting human rights (us or general)
$3.5M
Climate Central · Princeton, NJ · 2023
Capacity building for partners
$3.4M
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors · New York, NY · 2024
Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels, protecting human rights (us or general)
$3.2M
Realize Impact · Bainbridge Island, WA · 2024
Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels
$3.2M
Sogorea Te Land Trust · Oakland, CA · 2024
Supporting indigenous communities' land stewardship, self-determination, and cultural representation
$3.1M
Sustainable Markets Foundation · New York, NY · 2023
Capacity building for partners, encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels, protecting human rights in africa
$3.0M
Kqed · San Francisco, CA · 2024
Strengthening civic engagement
$3.0M
Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation · Monterey, CA · 2023
Ocean stewardship and research
$3.0M
Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation · Monterey, CA · 2022
Ocean stewardship and research
$2.7M
American Jewish World Service · New York, NY · 2023
Protecting human rights in africa, protecting human rights in haiti, building energy access in africa
$2.7M
Rsf Social Finance · San Francisco, CA · 2024
Protecting human rights in africa
$2.6M
Grist Magazine · Seattle, WA · 2023
Capacity building for partners
$2.5M
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors · New York, NY · 2023
Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels, protecting human rights (us or general)
$2.5M
Grist Magazine · Seattle, WA · 2024
Capacity building
$2.5M
Rudolf Steiner Foundation Inc Dba Rsf Social Finance · San Francisco, CA · 2022
Protecting human rights in africa
$2.4M
Myriad USA · New York City, NY · 2024
Protecting human rights in africa, protecting human rights (us or general), encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels
$2.1M
Conservation X Labs · Washington, DC · 2023
General operating support, protecting human rights (us or general)
$2.1M
Justice Outside · Oakland, CA · 2024
Fostering youth development and leadership
$2.0M
Regenerative Agriculture Foundation · Minneapolis, MN · 2024
Working towards a resilient and equitable food system
$2.0M
Regenerative Agriculture Foundation · Minneapolis, MN · 2023
Working towards a resilient and equitable food system
$2.0M
Climate Central · Princeton, NJ · 2022
Capacity building for partners
$2.0M
Apparel Impact Institute · Oakland, CA · 2024
Advancing sustainable materials
$2.0M
Conservation X Labs · Washington, DC · 2024
General operating support
$2.0M
Grist Magazine · Seattle, WA · 2022
Capacity building for partners
$2.0M
Human Rights Watch · New York, NY · 2022
Capacity building for partners
$2.0M
Regenerative Agriculture Foundation · Minneapolis, MN · 2022
Working towards a resilient and equitable food system
$1.9M
Sustainable Markets Foundation · New York, NY · 2022
Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels
$1.9M
California Farmlink · Aptos, CA · 2024
Working towards a resilient and equitable food system
$1.8M
National Public Radio · Washington, DC · 2024
Capacity building
$1.7M
Greenpeace Fund · Washington, DC · 2023
Strengthening civic engagement, encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels
$1.7M
National Public Radio · Washington, DC · 2022
Capacity building for partners
$1.5M
Kqed · San Francisco, CA · 2023
Strengthening civic engagement
$1.4M
Amalgamated Charitable Foundation · Washington, DC · 2024
Centering unrepresented voices in the environmental movement, encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels, fostering youth development and leadership, supporting humanitarian relief
$1.4M
Tides Center · San Francisco, CA · 2023
Strengthening civic engagement, encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels
$1.4M
Movement Strategy Center · Oakland, CA · 2024
Supporting indigenous communities' land stewardship, self-determination, and cultural representation, encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels, working towards a resilient and equitable food system
$1.3M
Resource Matters · 2024
Protecting human rights in africa, centering unrepresented voices in the environmental movement
$1.3M
Apparel Impact Institute · Oakland, CA · 2023
Advancing sustainable materials
$1.2M
Center for Biological Diversity · Tucson, AZ · 2024
Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels
$1.2M
Food & Water Watch · Washington, DC · 2024
Working towards a resilient and equitable food system, encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels
$1.1M
Earthjustice · San Francisco, CA · 2024
Supporting indigenous communities' land stewardship, self-determination, and cultural representation, encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels
$1.1M
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution · Woods Hole, MA · 2023
Ocean stewardship and research
$1.1M
Food & Water Watch · Washington, DC · 2023
Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels, working towards a resilient and equitable food system
$1.0M
Swaniti Initiative · Houston, TX · 2024
Capacity building
$1.0M
University of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2023
Capacity building for partners
$1.0M
Amalgamated Charitable Foundation · Washington, DC · 2023
Advancing diversity and equity in the environmental movement
$1.0M
Fisheye Collaborative · Arlington, VA · 2024
Ocean stewardship and research
$1.0M
Center for Biological Diversity · Tucson, AZ · 2023
Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels
$1.0M
University of Washington · Seattle, WA · 2023
Ocean stewardship and research
$1.0M
American Independent Foundation · Washington, DC · 2024
Strengthening civic engagement
$1.0M
The Voter Participation Center · Washington, DC · 2024
Strengthening civic engagement
$1.0M
University of Chicago · Chicago, IL · 2024
Capacity building
$1.0M
Mother Jones · San Francisco, CA · 2023
General operating support
$1.0M
Climate Central · Princeton, NJ · 2022
Capacity building for partners
$1.0M
Conservation X Labs · Washington, DC · 2022
General operating support
$1.0M
Sustainable Markets Foundation · New York, NY · 2022
Capacity building for partners
$1.0M
Voteorg · Oakland, CA · 2022
Strengthening civic engagement
$980,000
The University of Western Australia · 2024
Ocean stewardship and research
$949,200
University of California Santa Barbara · Santa Barbara, CA · 2022
Ocean stewardship and research
$900,000
Ekvnv Yefolecvlke · Weogufka, AL · 2024
Supporting indigenous communities' land stewardship, self-determination, and cultural representation
$884,000
Illuminative · Lafayette, CO · 2024
Supporting indigenous communities' land stewardship, self-determination, and cultural representation
$865,000
Groundswell International · Washington, DC · 2024
Advancing sustainable agriculture in africa, working towards a resilient and equitable food system
$857,500
Social & Environmental Entrepreneurs · Calabasas, CA · 2024
Working towards a resilient and equitable food system, encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels, centering unrepresented voices in the environmental movement, strengthening civic engagement, protecting human… read allWorking towards a resilient and equitable food system, encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels, centering unrepresented voices in the environmental movement, strengthening civic engagement, protecting human rights (us or general) less
$856,666
Oo Project · Washington, DC · 2024
Ocean stewardship and research
$850,000
Greenpeace Fund · Washington, DC · 2024
Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels, strengthening civic engagement
$845,000
Fund for Global Human Rights · Washington, DC · 2023
Protecting human rights in africa, protecting human rights (us or general)
$840,000
First Nations Development Institute · Longmont, CO · 2024
Supporting indigenous communities' land stewardship, self-determination, and cultural representation
$820,000
Multiplier · San Francisco, CA · 2023
Working towards a resilient and equitable food system, encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels, ocean stewardship and research
$812,500
Earthworks · Washington, DC · 2023
Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels, advancing diversity and equity in the environmental movement
$800,000
Curators of the University of Missouri · Columbia, MO · 2024
Fostering education in journalism
$800,000
Institute for Local Self Reliance · Washington, DC · 2024
Working towards a resilient and equitable food system, encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels, ocean stewardship and research
$800,000
Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute · Moss Landing, CA · 2024
Ocean stewardship and research
$800,000
Voter Registration Project · Washington, DC · 2023
Strengthening civic engagement
$785,000
American Jewish World Service · New York, NY · 2024
Protecting human rights in africa, protecting human rights in haiti
$770,000
Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa · 2024
Advancing sustainable agriculture in africa
$750,000
Communities for a Better Environment · Huntington Park, CA · 2024
Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels
$750,000
Center for Biological Diversity · Tucson, AZ · 2022
Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels
$745,000
University of Haifa · 2024
Ocean stewardship and research
$735,000
Physicians for Social Responsibility · Los Angeles, CA · 2024
Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels, local community support in california
$717,000
Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples · Eureka, CA · 2024
Supporting indigenous communities' land stewardship, self-determination, and cultural representation
$715,000
Community Foundation for Nantucket · Nantucket, MA · 2023
Nantucket: encouraging resilience and innovation, supporting local communities
$700,000
Fund for Global Human Rights · Washington, DC · 2024
Protecting human rights (us or general), protecting human rights in africa
$700,000
Mother Jones · San Francisco, CA · 2024
Capacity building
$700,000
National Black Food and Justice Alliance · Atlanta, GA · 2024
Working towards a resilient and equitable food system
$700,000
Center On Race Poverty & Environment · Delano, CA · 2023
Working towards a resilient and equitable food system, encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels, general operating support
$700,000
Virunga Foundation UK · 2023
Protecting human rights in africa
$700,000
American Jewish World Service · New York, NY · 2022
Protecting human rights in africa
$700,000
Partners in Health a Nonprofit Corporation · Boston, MA · 2022
Supporting local communities
$684,000
Comite Civico Del Valle · Brawley, CA · 2023
Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels
$680,000
Tides Center · San Francisco, CA · 2024
Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels
$650,000
Advocates for Community Alternatives · New York, NY · 2024
Protecting human rights in africa
$650,000
Western Organization of Resource Councils Education Project · Billings, MT · 2024
Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels, strengthening civic engagement, working towards a resilient and equitable food system
$650,000
Communities for a Better Environment · Huntington Park, CA · 2023
Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels
$650,000
Apparel Impact Institute · Oakland, CA · 2022
General operating support
$650,000
Food & Water Watch · Washington, DC · 2022
Encouraging a just transition away from fossil fuels

View all 1,851 grants →

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Source: IRS Form 990-PF, Part XV, as filed by the foundation. These are grants already paid — a record of what this funder backs, not an open call.