About National Park Foundation
The National Park Foundation’s recent grantmaking is anchored by very large awards for park protection work, including repeated funding for National Mall and Memorial Parks and other site-specific projects across the national park system. Across the latest grants, it supports a mix of national parks, partner nonprofits, conservancies, and park friends groups, with awards tied to protection, access, mitigation, connect, and park operations. The pattern shows a funder working through the National Park Service and local partners rather than through individuals. Recent large grants reached Yellowstone Forever for Protect, Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument for PROTECT, and the Emmett Till Interpretive Center for PROTECT. The foundation also backed Conservation Legacy, Friends of Acadia, and Yosemite Conservancy, indicating sustained support for organizations that help carry out park-related work on the ground. Its giving is broad in scope but consistently linked to preserving park resources and improving the visitor experience. The scale of the recent awards ranges from six-figure grants to multi-million-dollar commitments, including several grants above $1 million in 2024 and 2025.
What National Park Foundation Funds
On conservation and resource protection, the foundation funded Everglades National Park for MITIGATION and Protect, showing support for park resources and response work at the site level. For visitor access and connection, it gave $2,375,985 to American Conservation Experience for Connect and $1,525,354 to Mount Rainier National Park for Connect. The grant list also shows investment in park operations and partner capacity: Midwest Regional Office received $2,175,576 for Protect, and National Capital Regional Office received $1,269,000 for Protect. The foundation also supports historic and interpretive sites, including Independence National Historical Park for Protect and the Emmett Till Interpretive Center for PROTECT. Together, these grants point to a funder that uses project-based support across preservation, access, operations, and interpretation.
How National Park Foundation Gives
Typical grant size sits at a p25 of $21,200, a median of $50,000, and a p75 of $128,346, while the recent grant list also includes several awards above $1 million. The pattern is partnership-driven: grants go to parks, conservancies, friends groups, and regional offices rather than individuals. Recipients appear across multiple years, including repeated awards to National Mall and Memorial Parks, Conservation Legacy, Independence National Historical Park, and Friends of Katahdin Woods and Waters. The foundation is classified as a regular funder and does not fund individuals or make program-related investments. The grant data also reflects recurring project labels such as Protect and Connect across separate awards.
