About Cleveland-Cliffs Foundation
The Cleveland-Cliffs Foundation concentrates its giving on large, strategic investments in environmental conservation and local community development, with a secondary emphasis on K–12 education innovation. The foundation makes a small number of sizable grants—often repeated to the same institutions—favoring established intermediaries (a national conservation fund and a regional community foundation) and an urban school operator. Its pattern suggests priority for landscape-scale natural resource projects alongside targeted support for community and education initiatives in Ohio.
Focus Areas
Landscape-scale freshwater and wildlife conservation (via National Fish and Wildlife Foundation)Regional community foundations and local community development in Ohio (e.g., Middletown area)Urban K–12 charter school expansion and replication/support (e.g., Breakthrough Schools)
Who They Fund
nonprofit organizationscivil society organizations
Giving Approach
Highly concentrated giving: very few but large grants, repeat funding to a flagship environmental intermediary (multiple grants to NFWF), plus sizable one-off gifts to local community and education organizations.
About Cleveland-Cliffs Foundation
A repeated $800,000 commitment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation stands out in The Cleveland-Cliffs Foundation’s recent grant record, signaling a strong preference for large, multi-year support in landscape-scale conservation. The foundation also made major gifts to community intermediaries and education organizations, including a $502,450 grant to Middletown Community Foundation and $500,000 grants to Friends of Breakthrough Schools. Across the recent grants list, the pattern is not broad experimentation but concentrated support for a small set of organizations that appear more than once, often at substantial levels. That mix aligns with a portfolio that supports environmental conservation, local community development, and K–12 education. Ohio is especially prominent in the grant record, but the foundation also funds organizations in Indiana, Minnesota, Illinois, Delaware, and Washington, DC. The recent list includes both general support and grants tied to community-oriented institutions such as Cleveland Metroparks, College Now Greater Cleveland Inc, and United Way affiliates. With annual grants of $18.95 million and a median grant size of $10,000, the foundation combines a few very large awards with many smaller community grants.
What Cleveland-Cliffs Foundation Funds
Environmental conservation is the clearest anchor in the recent record. The foundation gave $800,000 to National Fish and Wildlife Foundation for general support, and another $700,000 grant to the same organization in 2023, showing sustained support for freshwater and wildlife work. Community development is another consistent thread. It gave $502,450 to Middletown Community Foundation and $494,000 to Middletown Community Foundation for general support, indicating repeated backing for a local intermediary in Ohio. Education also appears prominently: the foundation made $500,000 grants to Friends of Breakthrough Schools for general support, and later gave $470,000 to College Now Greater Cleveland Inc for general support. The record also includes smaller education-related grants to Magnet and ASM Materials Education Foundation.
How Cleveland-Cliffs Foundation Gives
Grant size is bimodal: p25 is $5,000, the median is $10,000, and p75 is $25,000, but the recent grants list also includes several awards in the $100,000-$800,000 range. The foundation gives through a mix of repeat support and one-off awards, with multiple organizations appearing in consecutive years, including National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Friends of Breakthrough Schools, Middletown Community Foundation, and Cleveland Metroparks. It is a regular funder rather than a DAF and does not fund individuals. The active programs show both invited and unsolicited pathways, with a letter-of-inquiry process for some community grants and an employee matching-gift program for eligible nonprofits, schools, and public safety departments.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$3.2M
Total Assets
$6.7M
Total Revenue
$6M
Total Expenses
$3.2M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $5K and $25K, with a median of $10K.
25th Percentile
$5K
Median
$10K
75th Percentile
$25K
Geographic Reach
Regional27 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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