NATEM Foundation concentrates its giving on community-centered environmental and social infrastructure, primarily funding intermediary organizations that support local stewardship and programs for Indigenous women. Grants are large and targeted, delivered through fiscal sponsors or community foundations to channel resources to grassroots projects rather than direct service delivery.
Natem Foundation Inc. makes large, targeted grants through fiscal sponsors and community foundations, with much of the giving routed to intermediary organizations rather than direct recipients. A defining line in its portfolio is support for infrastructure for programming for Indigenous women, alongside a repeated commitment to community-led food forests and to projects tied to social well-being. The foundation’s recent record shows multiple years of funding for the same themes, especially through Tides Foundation and Santa Fe Community Foundation. One of the largest reported awards was $2,180,000 to Santa Fe Community Foundation for support infrastructure for programming for Indigenous women. The foundation also backed Tides Foundation with $507,767 in 2025, $507,767 in 2024, and $507,664 in 2023 for support food forests stewarded by local communities. In another recurring line, it funded contemplative sciences through Tides Foundation in 2025, 2024, and 2023. The pattern suggests a grantmaker focused on sustained support for community stewardship, Indigenous cultural infrastructure, and intermediary-led delivery.
In community-led agroecology, Natem Foundation Inc. gave $507,767 to Tides Foundation in 2025 for support food forests stewarded by local communities, following similar grants of $507,767 in 2024 and $507,664 in 2023 for the same purpose. The foundation also backed farming communities and sustainable farming practices with $457,005 to Tides Foundation in 2023. Its cultural and knowledge-related funding includes $152,334 to Tides Foundation in 2023 for support for archives at University of Colorado and another $152,334 in the same year for support for digitizing archives. It also gave $25,433 in 2025 to Tides Foundation for support free educational content. On community well-being, the foundation awarded $132,284 to Tides Foundation in 2024 for support community medical care, and later gave $203,198 in 2025 for support programs designed to promote social well-being.
Typical grants are substantial: the 25th percentile is $62,310, the median is $152,334, and the 75th percentile is $418,908. The portfolio includes repeated support to the same intermediary organizations and recurring themes across multiple years, especially Tides Foundation and Santa Fe Community Foundation. That repeat pattern is visible in grants made in 2023, 2024, and 2025 to the same recipients for related purposes. Natem Foundation Inc. is not listed as funding individuals, and no program-related investments are indicated.
$2.4M
$6.7M
$7.1M
$2.7M
Most grants fall between $62K and $419K, with a median of $152K.
25th Percentile
$62K
Median
$152K
75th Percentile
$419K
About 0% of grants go to recipients in CA.
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Highly concentrated giving: a very small number of large grants (two recipients account for 100% of giving), repeated multi-grant support to an intermediary (Tides) and one substantial one-off gift to a regional community foundation—indicating preference for funding via intermediaries to reach local projects.
Notable grantees: TIDES FOUNDATION, SANTA FE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION, Community-based food forest steward groups (funded via fiscal sponsorship)
Grant recipients are entirely in the United States, with New Mexico receiving the most grants. Santa Fe Community Foundation in Santa Fe, NM appears repeatedly in the record, while Tides Foundation in San Francisco, CA accounts for a large share of the recent grants list. The foundation gives 0% of grants to recipients in its headquarters state of Texas, so its giving footprint is distinct from its Houston base.
The foundation supports community-led food forests and urban agroecology, infrastructure and capacity building for Indigenous women’s programs, contemplative sciences, solutions journalism, archives digitization, community medical care, and hunger and food system transformation. Several of these themes appear in repeated grants across 2023 through 2025.
Yes. The same intermediaries appear across multiple years, including Tides Foundation and Santa Fe Community Foundation. For example, Tides Foundation received repeated support in 2023, 2024, and 2025 for food forests, contemplative sciences, and solutions journalism-related work.
The grant size profile is relatively large. The 25th percentile is $62,310, the median is $152,334, and the 75th percentile is $418,908. The recent list also includes several awards above $500,000.
New Mexico is the top state by grant count. Santa Fe, NM appears repeatedly in the recent grants list, including support routed through Santa Fe Community Foundation for Indigenous women’s programming, Indigenous culture in New Mexico, community theater, and social justice-related activities.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $1,167,967 | 2025 | SUPPORT CONTEMPLATIVE SCIENCES |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $507,767 | 2025 | SUPPORT FOOD FORESTS STEWARDED BY LOCAL COMMUNITIES |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $203,198 | 2025 | SUPPORT PROGRAMS DESIGNED TO PROMOTE SOCIAL WELL-BEING |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $152,437 | 2025 | SUPPORT RESEARCH OF EDUCATIONAL METHODOLOGIES |
| SANTA FE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION | SANTA FE, NM | $150,000 | 2025 | SUPPORT COMMUNITY, ARTS ACCESSIBILITY, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ACTIVITIES |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $101,580 | 2025 | SUPPORT HUNGER AND FOOD SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $50,914 | 2025 | SUPPORT INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS OF SOLUTIONS JOURNALISM |
| SANTA FE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION | SANTA FE, NM | $50,000 | 2025 | SUPPORT COMMUNITY THEATER |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $35,586 | 2025 | SUPPORT COMMUNITY MEDICAL CARE |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $25,433 | 2025 | SUPPORT FREE EDUCATIONAL CONTENT |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $609,289 | 2024 | SOLUTIONS JOURNALISM |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $507,767 | 2024 | SUPPORT FOOD FORESTS STEWARDED BY LOCAL COMMUNITIES |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $254,010 | 2024 | SUPPORT CONTEMPLATIVE SCIENCES |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $152,437 | 2024 | SUPPORT RESEARCH OF EDUCATIONAL METHODOLOGIES |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $132,284 | 2024 | SUPPORT COMMUNITY MEDICAL CARE |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $101,675 | 2024 | SUPPORT GRASS ROOTS WORK TO ADDRESS HUNGER AND TRANSFORM OUR FOOD SYSTEM |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $50,914 | 2024 | SUPPORT INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER OF SOLUTIONS JOURNALISM |
| SANTA FE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION | SANTA FE, NM | $45,000 | 2024 | SUPPORT FOR HEALING INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $25,431 | 2024 | SUPPORT FOR FREE EDUCATIONAL CONTENT |
| SANTA FE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION | SANTA FE, NM | $2,180,000 | 2023 | SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PROGRAMMING FOR INDIGENOUS WOMEN |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $711,000 | 2023 | SOLUTIONS JOURNALISM |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $507,664 | 2023 | SUPPORT FOOD FORESTS STEWARDED BY LOCAL COMMUNITIES |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $457,005 | 2023 | SUPPORT FOR FARMING COMMUNITIES AND SUSTAINABLE FARMING PRACTICES |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $304,619 | 2023 | SUPPORT CONTEMPLATIVE SCIENCES |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $152,335 | 2023 | SUPPORT INDEPENDENT PUBLISHER OF SOLUTIONS JOURNALISM |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $152,334 | 2023 | SUPPORT FOR DIGITIZING ARCHIVES |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $152,334 | 2023 | SUPPORT FOR ARCHIVES AT UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO |
| SANTA FE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION | SANTA FE, NM | $100,000 | 2023 | SUPPORT INDIGENOUS CULTURE IN NEW MEXICO |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $96,497 | 2023 | SUPPORT COMMUNITY MEDICAL CARE |
| SANTA FE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION | SANTA FE, NM | $45,000 | 2023 | HEALING OF INTERGENERATIONAL TRAUMA |
SUPPORT COMMUNITY, ARTS ACCESSIBILITY, AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ACTIVITIES
SUPPORT GRASS ROOTS WORK TO ADDRESS HUNGER AND TRANSFORM OUR FOOD SYSTEM
SUPPORT INFRASTRUCTURE FOR PROGRAMMING FOR INDIGENOUS WOMEN
SUPPORT FOR FARMING COMMUNITIES AND SUSTAINABLE FARMING PRACTICES