
Waverley Street Foundation is a major climate-focused funder that channels very large gifts to intermediaries, coalitions and advocacy organizations to accelerate decarbonization, policy change, and equitable clean-energy deployment. They prioritize capacity-building, communications, and networks that amplify climate governance and community-centered climate solutions, often funding national and international initiatives from bases in California, DC and New York. Their grants favor pooled funds and fiscal sponsors as a way to scale campaigns and programmatic work rather than direct service delivery.
Waverley Street Foundation’s largest recent gift in the data set is a $36,000,000 grant to Climate Imperative Foundation for general charitable purpose, a sign of how heavily the foundation relies on intermediaries to move climate capital at scale. The pattern continues across multiple years: it backs pooled funds, fiscal sponsors, and coalition vehicles that can channel resources into decarbonization, policy work, and climate justice organizing. Among the most visible recipients is Climate Imperative Foundation, which appears repeatedly with gifts of $18,000,000 in both 2024 and 2025, alongside earlier support at the $36,000,000 level. The foundation also funds organizations that translate climate goals into campaign infrastructure and deployment capacity. Clean Future Forum received $8,000,000 in 2023 and again in 2024, while Thousand Currents was awarded $20,000,000 in 2025 for general operating support after a $10,000,000 grant in 2024. Waverley Street Foundation’s grants commonly support the organizational platforms behind climate action rather than one-off local projects, with recurring funding for national and international initiatives.
A major strand of Waverley Street Foundation’s giving is climate-policy infrastructure. The foundation gave $10,000,000 to Stichting European Climate Foundation in 2025 for the ReNew 2030 Project, and another $10,000,000 in 2024 for Renew2030 Project. It also funded Clean Future Forum with $8,000,000 in both 2023 and 2024 for general charitable purpose, showing sustained support for policy and campaign capacity. Community-level climate deployment is another focus. Grid Alternatives received $8,000,000 in 2024 and $8,000,000 in 2025 for the Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund, tying the foundation to tribal solar work. The foundation also backed California Volunteers Fund with $5,000,000 in 2025 for Climate Corps expansion. Communications and narrative work appear in the portfolio as well. Potential Energy Coalition Inc. received $7,000,000 in 2025 for communications support, while Earth Island Institute received $6,000,000 in 2024 for the Fossil FUEL Nonproliferation Treaty Initiative.
Typical grants are large: the p25 size is $600,000, the median is $1,000,000, and the p75 is $2,100,000. The recent grant list also shows a heavy tail of very large awards, including multiple grants at $5,000,000, $7,000,000, $8,000,000, $10,000,000, $18,000,000, and $20,000,000. Recurring support is common, with several recipients appearing across multiple years and in some cases receiving repeated grants in consecutive years. Waverley Street Foundation is a regular funder, not a DAF, and it funds individuals. The pattern in the data favors operating support, general charitable purpose, and project support through intermediary organizations rather than direct-service grants.
$282.1M
$2.7B
$290.1M
$335.9M
Most grants fall between $600K and $2.1M, with a median of $1M.
25th Percentile
$600K
Median
$1M
75th Percentile
$2.1M
JARED BLUMENFELD
PRESIDENT
Top 10 recipient countries by grant volume for Waverley Street Foundation.
| Rank | Country | Grants | Total | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United StatesDomestic | 269 | $617.2M | 84.3% |
| 2 | United Kingdom |
Sign up for a free Kindora account to access AI-generated insights into this funder's giving patterns, decision-makers, and fit signals.
Get Started FreeFree Kindora accounts unlock side-by-side comparisons with foundations that share this funder's focus areas and giving profile.
Get Started FreeRegístrate gratis para ver qué tan bien se adapta tu organización sin fines de lucro a este financiador, obtener un pitch generado por IA y descubrir fundaciones similares.
Concentrated, high-dollar giving to a relatively small set of repeat intermediaries and advocacy organizations; many multi-million dollar grants and several repeat grants to the same grantees, using fiscal sponsors and public foundations to deploy strategy-driven, large-scale initiatives.
Notable grantees: Climate Imperative Foundation, Windward Fund, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Conservation International Foundation, Deep South Center for Environmental Justice
Waverley Street Foundation gives nationally, with 30% of grants going to recipients in California. The strongest concentration of named recipients is in California cities such as San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Sacramento, and Palo Alto, while Washington, DC also appears repeatedly through intermediary and coalition organizations. Outside the United States, grants in the data go to The Hague / Den Haag in the Netherlands and Amsterdam, as well as London-area and other non-US recipients included in the broader distribution. The recipient mix shows a U.S.-heavy portfolio, but with a consistent international layer tied to climate policy and advocacy.
The foundation mainly funds intermediaries, coalitions, fiscal sponsors, and advocacy organizations working on climate decarbonization, policy change, clean-energy deployment, and climate justice. Recent grants include large awards to Climate Imperative Foundation, Thousand Currents, Clean Future Forum, and several fiscal-sponsor or coalition vehicles.
In the data provided, the p25 grant size is $600,000, the median is $1,000,000, and the p75 is $2,100,000. The recent grant list also includes many larger awards, including multiple grants of $5,000,000 or more.
Yes. Several recipients appear across multiple years, including Climate Imperative Foundation, Thousand Currents, Clean Future Forum, Grid Alternatives, Conservation International Foundation, and Stichting European Climate Foundation. Some of these received repeated awards in consecutive years.
California is the top state by grant count, with 30% of grants going to recipients in the foundation’s HQ state. Named recipient cities in the state include San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley, Sacramento, and Palo Alto.
The grants point to climate policy and governance, tribal solar, communications, community climate capacity, and agroecology. Examples in the recent list include the Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund at Grid Alternatives, the ReNew 2030 Project at Stichting European Climate Foundation, and the Agroecology Fund at Global Greengrants Fund.
2025
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2025.
| 9 |
| $3.9M |
2.8% |
| 3 | South Africa | 7 | $2.2M | 2.2% |
| 4 | Netherlands | 6 | $39.3M | 1.9% |
| 5 | Argentina | 6 | $300K | 1.9% |
| 6 | Australia | 5 | $7.3M | 1.6% |
| 7 | India | 4 | $12.1M | 1.3% |
| 8 | Chile | 4 | $3.1M | 1.3% |
| 9 | Germany | 3 | $10M | 0.9% |
| 10 | Mexico | 3 | $1.2M | 0.9% |
Recipient country reflects the grantee's headquarters per IRS 990-PF and Schedule F filings, not the program's implementation country.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| THOUSAND CURRENTS | San Francisco, CA | $20,000,000 | 2025 | General Operating Support |
| CLIMATE IMPERATIVE FOUNDATION | San Francisco, CA | $18,000,000 | 2025 | General Operating Support |
| CLIMATE IMPERATIVE FOUNDATION | San Francisco, CA | $18,000,000 | 2025 | General Operating Support |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | SAN FRANCISCO, CA | $10,000,000 | 2025 | CALIFORNIA AMBITIONS PROGRAM |
| STICHTING EUROPEAN CLIMATE FOUNDATION | The Hague | $10,000,000 | 2025 | ReNew 2030 Project |
| STICHTING FOUNDATION FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW | Den Haag | $8,333,334 | 2025 | Capacity strengthening |
| GRID ALTERNATIVES INC | Oakland, CA | $8,000,000 | 2025 | Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund |
| CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION | Alrlington, VA | $7,500,000 | 2025 | Broadleaf Initiative |
| POTENTIAL ENERGY COALITION INC | New York, NY | $7,000,000 | 2025 | Communications support |
| WINDWARD FUND | Washington, DC | $5,000,000 | 2025 | HIVE FUND |
| DEEP SOUTH CENTER FOR ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE | New Orleans, LA | $5,000,000 | 2025 | General Operating Support |
| CALIFORNIA VOLUNTEERS FUND | Sacramento, CA | $5,000,000 | 2025 | Climate Corps expansion |
| ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC | New York, NY | $5,000,000 | 2025 | Platform for Agriculture and Climate Transformation (PACT) |
| EARTH ISLAND INSTITUTE INC | Berkeley, CA | $5,000,000 | 2025 | Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative |
| EQUATION CAMPAIGN AND GLOBAL CLIMATE LEGAL DEFENSE | Novato, CA | $5,000,000 | 2025 | General Operating Support |
| VERENIGING MILIEUDEFENSIE | Amsterdam | $5,000,000 | 2025 | General Operating Support |
| CLIMATE JOBS NATIONAL RESOURCE CENTER | New York, NY | $4,750,000 | 2025 | General Operating Support |
| BUILDING DECARBONIZATION COALITION | Petaluma, CA | $4,500,000 | 2025 | Healthy Building, Healthy Communities Project |
| CLIMATE AND CLEAN ENERGY EQUITY FUND | Washington, DC | $4,250,000 | 2025 | General Operating Support |
| CLEAN FUTURE FORUM INC | Washington, DC | $4,000,000 | 2025 | General Operating Support |
| TAPROOT EARTH | Tulsa, OK | $4,000,000 | 2025 | General Operating Support |
| WINDWARD FUND | Washington, DC | $4,000,000 | 2025 | Rural Climate Partnership |
| ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC | New York, NY | $4,000,000 | 2025 | Platform for Agriculture and Climate Transformation (PACT) |
| REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY | Berkely, CA | $4,000,000 | 2025 | Innovative Genomics Institute |
| SELCO FOUNDATION | Bangalore, Ka | $4,000,000 | 2025 | General Operating Support |
| GIRL SCOUTS OF THE USA | New York, NY | $3,500,000 | 2025 | Connecting people to nature |
| THE EARTH SPECIES PROJECT | Berkeley, CA | $3,000,000 | 2025 | General Operating Support |
| GLOBAL GREENGRANTS FUND INC | Boulder, CO | $3,000,000 | 2025 | Agroecology Fund |
| SUSTAINABLE MARKETS FOUNDATION | New York, NY | $3,000,000 | 2025 | Years Project |
| ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC | New York, NY | $2,500,000 | 2025 | Climate project support |
| THE SUNRISE PROJECT AUSTRALIA LTD | Surry Hills, NS | $2,500,000 | 2025 | General Operating Support |
| FUSE CORPS | San Francisco, CA | $2,500,000 | 2025 | Fellowship program |
| FIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE | Longmont, CO | $2,500,000 | 2025 | Regenerative agriculture and conservation |
| THE NEW SCHOOL | New York, NY | $2,400,000 | 2025 | General Operating Support |
| GLOBAL GREENGRANTS FUND INC | Boulder, CO | $2,000,000 | 2025 | Safety training & support |
| NATIONAL LEAGUE OF CITIES INSTITUTE | Washington, DC | $2,000,000 | 2025 | Smart Surfaces Coalition |
| AMALGAMATED CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC | Washington, DC | $2,000,000 | 2025 | The Fund for Equitable Good Food Procurement |
| AVINA AMERICAS INC | Washington, DC | $2,000,000 | 2025 | MapBiomas |
| INTERTRIBAL AGRICULTURE COUNCIL INC | Billings, MT | $2,000,000 | 2025 | General Operating Support |
| TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL EV | Berlin | $2,000,000 | 2025 | Climate Governance Integrity Programme |
| INITIATIVE FOR RESPONSIBLE MINING ASSURANCE | SEATTLE, WA | $1,666,672 | 2025 | General Operating Support |
| FOODCORPS INC | Portland, OR | $1,500,000 | 2025 | FARM TO School programs |
| REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE FOUNDATION | Minneapolis, MN | $1,500,000 | 2025 | Soil Health Opportunities & Tools (SHOT) Fund |
| TIDES FOUNDATION | San Francisco, CA | $1,500,000 | 2025 | Poder Latinx Collective Fund |
| LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS EDUCATION FUND | Washington, DC | $1,500,000 | 2025 | Civic engagement |
| ASOCIACION INTERAMERICANA PARA LA DEFENSA | San Francisco, CA | $1,422,494 | 2025 | Energy transition |
| LA COSECHA COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE | Albuquerque, NM | $1,250,000 | 2025 | Project Food Hub |
| PEOPLE POWERED GLOBAL HUB | Brooklyn, NY | $1,170,486 | 2025 | Civic Engagement |
| PANORAMA GLOBAL | Seattle, WA | $1,000,000 | 2025 | Community health support |
| NIA TERO FOUNDATION | Seattle, WA | $1,000,000 | 2025 | General Operating Support |
STICHTING EUROPEAN CLIMATE FOUNDATION
$10,000,000ReNew 2030 Project
STICHTING FOUNDATION FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW
$8,333,334Capacity strengthening
GRID ALTERNATIVES INC
$8,000,000Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund
ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC
$5,000,000Platform for Agriculture and Climate Transformation (PACT)
EQUATION CAMPAIGN AND GLOBAL CLIMATE LEGAL DEFENSE
$5,000,000General Operating Support
VERENIGING MILIEUDEFENSIE
$5,000,000General Operating Support
BUILDING DECARBONIZATION COALITION
$4,500,000Healthy Building, Healthy Communities Project
ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS INC
$4,000,000Platform for Agriculture and Climate Transformation (PACT)
REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY
$4,000,000Innovative Genomics Institute
SELCO FOUNDATION
$4,000,000General Operating Support
THE EARTH SPECIES PROJECT
$3,000,000General Operating Support
GLOBAL GREENGRANTS FUND INC
$3,000,000Agroecology Fund
THE SUNRISE PROJECT AUSTRALIA LTD
$2,500,000General Operating Support
FIRST NATIONS DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE
$2,500,000Regenerative agriculture and conservation
GLOBAL GREENGRANTS FUND INC
$2,000,000Safety training & support
AMALGAMATED CHARITABLE FOUNDATION INC
$2,000,000The Fund for Equitable Good Food Procurement
TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL EV
$2,000,000Climate Governance Integrity Programme
INITIATIVE FOR RESPONSIBLE MINING ASSURANCE
$1,666,672General Operating Support
REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE FOUNDATION
$1,500,000Soil Health Opportunities & Tools (SHOT) Fund
PEOPLE POWERED GLOBAL HUB
$1,170,486Civic Engagement