About American Vineyard Foundation
A leader in maintaining industry progress, the AVF provides the unique opportunity to unify the grape and wine industry through collaborative research efforts. The AVF is a non-profit organization that relies on voluntary industry support for research funding.
Focus Areas
viticultureenologypest and disease managementirrigation and water managementbreeding and germplasmeducation and outreachsustainability
Who They Fund
vineyards / grape growerswine industry stakeholders (winemakers, vineyard managers)agricultural researchers and extension programshorticultural technology developers
Funding Style
About American Vineyard Foundation
American Vineyard Foundation concentrates its giving on applied research and student support for the grape and wine industry, with a strong emphasis on viticulture, enology, pest and disease management, irrigation, breeding, and sustainability. Its recent awards show a pattern of funding projects that move research into vineyard and winery practice, including a $669,374 grant to Uc Regents Davis for various cloning and disease-related work and a $592,445 grant to the same institution in the prior year for the same general area. The foundation also supports university-based work on vineyard problems such as smoke exposure, powdery mildew, and water management, alongside scholarships and fellowships for students in viticulture and enology. AVF’s grantmaking is tied to collaborative industry research, with coordinated funding cycles and competitive research grants for projects that address issues affecting grape growers, winemakers, and agricultural researchers. The named fellowship structure and repeated university partnerships show that the foundation funds both near-term industry questions and the training pipeline for future researchers.
What American Vineyard Foundation Funds
A major theme in the foundation’s grantmaking is disease and stress management in vineyards. It gave $175,100 to Uc Regents - Berkeley for grape powdery mildew work and $48,250 to Uc Regents Riverside for nematode-resistant rootstock development. Another area is climate and vineyard operations: Oregon State University received $210,250 for grape smoke exposure research, while CSU Fresno Foundation received $235,950 for VRI scheduling systems. The foundation also supports sensor-based tools and applied technology, including grants to National Grape & Wine Intitiative for a sensor project in multiple years. Student support is another recurring thread, with scholarships and named fellowships for viticulture and enology education and graduate research.
How American Vineyard Foundation Gives
The typical grant size sits at a median of $148,650, with the lower quartile at $23,538 and the upper quartile at $216,675. Recent awards range from small support grants to six-figure research projects, which points to a mixed pattern of project sizes within a competitive research portfolio. The recent record also shows repeated support to the same institutions across multiple years, especially university partners, rather than one-off relationships. AVF is a foundation rather than an operating charity, and it uses competitive research grants and scholarship programs; some research programs accept unsolicited proposals, while the student fellowship and scholarship programs are not unsolicited.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$2.5M
Total Assets
$3.4M
Total Revenue
$1.2M
Total Expenses
$1.4M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $24K and $217K, with a median of $149K.
25th Percentile
$24K
Median
$149K
75th Percentile
$217K
Geographic Reach
Regional6 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
RACHEL ASHLEY
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