Hayes Foundation

About Hayes Foundation

A recurring pattern in The Hayes Foundation’s giving is support for conservation organizations that work on specific species and landscapes, alongside a second track of community service, youth, and health grants. Among the largest recent awards are multiple six-figure grants to the Wolf Conservation Center and the Himalayan Cataract Project Inc, showing that the foundation backs long-running relationships rather than only one-time gifts. The grant list also includes continued support for Safe Passage in Maine, Girls Inc Santa Fe, and Connecticut Foodshare, indicating attention to child services, youth education, and basic-needs infrastructure. The foundation’s portfolio mixes local and national grantees. In New England and the Southwest, it has funded land preservation, food access, and cultural institutions, while also supporting organizations working on global medical intervention and wildlife protection. Recent wildlife-related awards extend beyond broad environmental work to species-focused efforts, including wolves and snow leopards. That combination of conservation science, community resilience, and humanitarian aid defines the foundation’s grantmaking pattern. Its grants often appear at sizes that can support program activity rather than purely symbolic gifts, and the same organizations recur across multiple years. That repetition suggests sustained funding relationships with mission-aligned nonprofits in several sectors.

What Hayes Foundation Funds

In wildlife conservation, The Hayes Foundation has backed the Wolf Conservation Center with awards of $100,000 in 2023 and 2024, then $60,000 in 2025. It also supported Snow Leopard Trust with $50,000 in 2025 and Mission Blue with $50,000 in 2025, showing interest in both species-specific and broader marine or habitat protection work. In basic needs and family support, the foundation gave $115,000 to Safe Passage in 2025 and $50,000 in 2024. It also supported Connecticut Foodshare with $60,000 in 2025, $50,000 in 2024, and $50,000 in 2023, indicating repeat funding for food access. In youth and community development, Girls Inc Santa Fe received $85,000 in 2025, and Harlem Children’s Zone received $50,000 in 2023. The foundation also funded cultural institutions such as the Museum of New Mexico Foundation and Georgia O’Keeffe Museum with $50,000 each in 2023.

How Hayes Foundation Gives