Walton Family Foundation
Grants for sustainable fisheries and marine conservation
Principal Office: USA
The Walton Family Foundation (WFF) pursues a philanthropic mission established by Sam and Helen Walton, founders of Wal-Mart, one of the world’s leading retail companies.
WFF originally focused on philanthropy in the southern USA, where Wal-Mart began. The Foundation retains that interest – while adding new ones in education and environment.
Grant Programs for Agriculture, Energy, Environment, Natural Resources
Environment. The Foundation’s grant making in Environment has two thematic areas: (i) fisheries and ocean conservation, and (ii) river basin management. The program in ocean conservation operates internationally.
Fisheries and Ocean Conservation. The Foundation promotes marine biodiversity and fisheries management in selected ocean ecosystems, including in Indonesia and the Americas (USA, Mexico, Peru, Chile).
River Basin Management. WFF makes grants to sustain healthy and resilient communities of wildlife and people in the USA’s Colorado and Mississippi river systems. This includes helping communities in the Mississippi River Delta to recover from the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
About the program
Grant recipients are mainly large conservation organizations, policy institutes, and universities in the USA. The Foundation also makes grants to conservation organizations in other countries — e.g., Mexico and others.
Grant size is highly variable. Grants range from under US$50 thousand to multi-million dollars.
APPLICATION: Organizations interested in applying for a grant begin by sending a brief letter of inquiry (LOI). The LOI should describe the organization and the proposed project; the relevance of the project to WFF’s funding priorities; and an estimate of the funds required.
For grants in environment, the LOI is mailed to WFF in Washington DC. There are no calendar deadlines.
If the LOI is of interest to WFF, the Foundation may invite a formal proposal and budget.
About how to apply
Geographical Distribution of Grant Activities in Developing Countries
Southeast Asia and Pacific Islands
Latin America and Caribbean
The Foundation posts annual grant reports.
In addition to grants for fisheries and ocean conservation, WFF makes other grants in support of conservation, several of which are international in scope. These other grants are included in the Foundation’s grants list.
WFF provides contact information.
January 2021