OVERVIEW: The Wild Geese Foundation prioritizes grantmaking to organizations that are committed to creating a fair and just society and environmental causes. It funds groups and projects related to LGBTQ issues, youth causes, food security, reproductive freedom, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color organizing, and environmental justice.
IP TAKE: This approachable funder supports progressive organizations across the United States and emphasizes community-based, grassroots organizations. Smaller groups will find this to be an accessible grantmaker. However, new grantseekers should be aware that the foundation announced in February 2021 that going forward it would “shift resources […] to fund organizations and projects that primarily serve Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities and/or are led by BIPOC leaders.” Note that grantmaking is national, not international here.
PROFILE: In 2009, Sara Whitman and her sister founded the Two Sisters and a Wife Foundation. After her sister passed, Sara decided the original name of the foundation no longer fit. She decided to change the name to the Wild Geese Foundation based on Mary Oliver’s poem “Wild Geese.” Wild Geese seeks to “defend human rights and promote environmental justice” through grantmaking, which "supports work that promotes equality and respects the diversity of human expression and identity." The foundation does so by investing in the LGBTQ community; racial justice; community-based efforts to "create sustainable agriculture and to further environmental justice"; BIPOC organizing; climate justice; and women's reproductive freedom and women working in non-traditional fields.
Grants for LGBTQ+, Climate Justice, Racial Justice, Women and Girls, and Sustainable Agriculture
Wild Geese prefers a broad-approach to giving rather than dedicating itself to distinct programs; however, it does prioritize support for six focus areas: LGBTQ, Youth, Food Justice, Reproductive Justice, BIPOC Organizing, and Climate Justice. It makes grants to LGBTQ individuals through its commitment to a “creat[ing] a safe space for all from cradle to grave,” and funds “projects that uplift youth and young people knowing that a society in which youth cannot thrive is unsustainable and unlivable.”
Its community-based food justice effort primarily makes grants to organizations in Massachusetts that work to create sustainable agriculture and to expand access to affordable and healthy food. Wild Geese grants support the right to reproductive freedom and fund organizing by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to “liberate BIPOC communities from centuries of white supremacy and violence.” Finally, its environment-based efforts “support climate justice to wean us from extractive methods of energy production and fossil fuels and to build resilient and regenerative economies in healthy communities.”
Important Grant Details:
This is a modest-sized, family foundation that awards approximately $600,000 in grants each year. The average grant is $10,000 while grants range from $2,500 to $15,000. To get a sense of the types of organizations Wild Geese supports, explore its grants list.
Wild Geese supports smaller, community-based, and grassroots groups through its grantmaking, and will not consider applications from organizations with budgets over $5 million. The foundation accepts unsolicited grant applications and requests for funding. Deadlines for submissions are May 15 and October 15 each year.
Wild Geese does not accept applications for international funding at this time.
PEOPLE:
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