OVERVIEW: The Marcus Foundation supports a variety of environmental conservation efforts. Its public health-related funding focuses on food insecurity and systematic challenges associated with hunger.
IP TAKE: This funder does not award a larger number of grants per year. This funder is a good resource for smaller community organizations focused on food security and sustainability.
PROFILE: The Marcus Foundation was established in 2009 when it became a separate entity of the Grace and Alan Marcus Foundation. It seeks to support “organizations that are making a difference in the delivery of community food resources or are expanding the understanding and implementation of sustainability.” It funds and partners with both local community groups and larger national organizations. While this is not an accessible foundation, it likes to work closely with its grantees, offering its foundation officers’ help as needed. This collaborative foundation also works with other funding organizations to help make their resources available to grantees. Its small size prevents it from being able to take on a large influx of grant requests, but its grants are no less focused and supportive.
Grants for Environmental Conservation and Justice
The foundation’s environmental grantmaking focuses on “supporting efforts to change underlying structural obstacles and incentives that hinder efforts to bring sustainable practices to the mainstream.” Past grantees include CERES, which received funding to support its general operating costs, Audubon Naturalist Society, and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. To learn more about the types of organizations supported by the Marcus Foundation, explore its brief recent grants list.
Grants for Public Health and Food Systems
Its food security grants support groups that help to meet the “short-term critical needs” of their local communities, and organizations that address the systemic challenges related to hunger. Previous grantees include Delaney Community Farm, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, and MAZON. To learn more about the types of organizations supported by the Marcus Foundation, explore its recent grants list.
Important Grant Details:
This is a small family foundation that awards modest sized grants. Most grants range between $1,000 and $20,000. In general, the foundation awards about 10 to 20 grants per year. Most grants support smaller and local organizations, such as food banks and community garden groups.
The foundation does not, however, accept unsolicited grant applications or requests for funding. It does accept written inquiries regarding funding in its stated areas of grantmaking interest.
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