Turner Foundation

OVERVIEW: The Turner Foundation supports land, water and wildlife conservation and initiatives to advance the transition to clean energy in the U.S.

IP TAKE: The Turner Foundation, an ally of conservation and clean energy initiatives, works mainly with state-level and regional organizations. As the family foundation of Giving Pledge signatory Ted Turner, also considered a champion of the environment, work here demonstrates a commitment to educating and enlisting affected communities across focus areas. To this end, this foundation claims it is willing to “bold and take risks towards (its) priorities.”

This funder is not accessible, but is transparent about where funds go. Reach out to this funder’s foundation via its contact page to learn how to get on its funding radar. Be ready with a concise funding pitch. Securing funding can be challenging here, but one thing is clear, this foundation is a great ally to have in conservation and U.S.-based climate change efforts.

PROFILE: Conservation and clean energy are serious business for Ted Turner, who established the Turner Foundation in 1990, in Atlanta, Georgia. Both a media mogul and one of the largest landowners in the U.S., Ted Turner describes protecting the environment as an “effort to ensure the survival of the human species.” He has also been a major support of UN climate efforts. In this vein, the Ted Turner Foundation is on a mission to “protect and restore the natural systems – air, land, and water – on which all life depends.” A family operation, Ted Turner serves as the foundation’s chair, while his five children occupy director positions. Stated grantmaking priorities include land, air, water, and growing the movement, which promotes “conservation engagement across all ages, ethnicities, political associations, and interest groups.”

In addition to his family foundation, which reflect his largest philanthropic efforts, Turner’s philanthropy includes the Captain Planet Foundation, which helps children to make a positive impact on their own lives and the health of their communities; the Turner Endangered Species Fund, which works to conserve biodiversity by emphasizing restoration efforts of endangered or imperiled species on the Turner properties; and the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a foundation he co-chairs with former Senator Sam Nunn. Ted Turner’s combined philanthropic contributions exceed $1.3 billion, more than his original pledge, and counting.

Grants for Environmental Conservation and Justice

The Turner Foundation’s land initiative “supports the restoration and protection of both private and public lands.”

  • Public land funding prioritizes defense of conservation laws, expansion of public land protection, large-scale restoration of habitats and ecosystems and the creation of “opportunities to shift attitudes and management practices from extraction to conservation.”

  • Private land conservation focuses on regional programs for private land conservation, the recruitment of landowners for conservation and protection initiatives and support for initiatives that “protect corridors and buffer zones to adapt to a changing climate.”

  • In a recent year, the foundation supported the Malpai Borderlands Group, an organization that supports the conservation of private ranchlands in the areas where the states of New Mexico and Arizona border Mexico. Another land conservation grantee, the Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards, organizes young people “to educate, cultivate and empower an engaged public in the stewardship of public lands.” Other grantees include the Urban Food Forest, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, the Trust for Public Land and the Western Landowners Alliance.

 Grants for Animals and Wildlife

While the Turner Foundation does not have a dedicated giving program for wildlife and ecosystem conservation, it funds related issues across all its grantmaking initiatives, giving to organizations that work regionally and nationally on public and privately-owned land and waterways.

A major recipient in this area of grantmaking is the Turner Endangered Species Fund, which is also steered by the Turner family, and which focuses on “species with historic ranges on properties owned by Ted Turner.”

Another recent grantee, Save Florida’s Gopher Tortoises, rescues and relocates endangered tortoises from soon-to-be developed areas. Other grantees involved in wildlife conservation include Montana’s Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, the International Crane Foundation, the National Audubon Society and the Property and Environmental Research Center, which promotes the maintenance of migratory corridors in the American West.  

Grants for Marine and Freshwater Conservation

Turner’s water initiative prioritizes the maintenance of marine and freshwater ecosystems.

  • In the marine conservation area, the Turner Foundation funds natural water infrastructures, water efficiency, the preservation of aquatic ecosystems, sustainable fishing and supporting watershed organizations in the U.S.

  • In the freshwater conservation area, sustainable aquaculture and sustainable fisheries feature as prominent issues.

Recent marine and freshwater grantees include the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, which aims to protect and preserve the Chattahoochee River Basin in Georgia, and the River Network, an organization that aims to increase the number of water conservation and restoration projects in Colorado and neighboring states. Other past grantees include the Finding the Flint, Captains for Clean Water, Flint Riverkeeper, the Georgia River Network and Virginia’s Trout Unlimited, which protects sensitive watersheds in New Mexico.

Grants for Climate Change and Clean Energy

The Turner Foundation does not have a dedicate climate change program, likely because it makes related grants across all of its focus areas. According to state interest areas, the foundation works to “catalyz(e) the transition to a clean energy future.”

It does so primarily through the air program, which aims to scale clean energy technologies, emphasizing wildlife-friendly and affordable sources of energy. In contrast from other focus areas, the foundation is quieter about climate change-related funding, but is very much active in this area. The foundation also aims to engage businesses and investors in the move towards clean energy in the U.S. and abroad.

One recent grantee, Atlanta’s Greenlinks Analytics, Inc., works with municipalities to create transitional plans toward 100% clean energy. Another grantee, the Nava Education Project, engages indigenous communities in “a collective learning process on energy policy.” Other climate change grantees include Kansas’s Climate Change and Clean Energy Project, New Mexico’s Prosperity Works and the Southeast Energy Efficiency Alliance, Inc.

Other funding opportunities:

Ted Turner himself is a major supporter of women’s equal rights, as well as issues of overpopulation. As well, look to his other foundations listed in the above profile, but on which his name doesn’t appear for further giving opportunities.

Important Grant Details: 

Over the past several years, the Turner Foundation has made between $2.5 and $6 million in grants a year. Its average grant size is about $35,000.

  • This funder tends to work with state-level or regional organizations with specific goals in the areas of land, water and wildlife conservation or the transition to clean energy sources.

  • Geographic priorities in the U.S. include: Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, New Mexico, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

  • For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s past grantees page.

This funder does not accept unsolicited proposals and is not able to review unsolicited materials. General inquiries may be made via the foundation’s contact page or by telephone at 404-681-9900.

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