What Environmental Grantmakers Association does

The Environmental Grantmakers Association (EGA) is a nonprofit membership association founded in 1987 to convene and support environmental philanthropic foundations. Headquartered in New York City with a small staff of 1-10 employees, EGA serves over 200 member foundations spanning North America and the globe. The organization provides its members with access to the Tracking the Field (TTF) research program — a secure searchable online database covering over 200,000 environmental grants totaling $27 billion in cumulative giving dollars — alongside working groups, affinity groups, policy briefings, an annual Fall Retreat, and custom data analysis services.

EGA's revenue model is built on recurring membership dues from foundations, supplemented by event registration and bespoke data projects. The organization has expanded its programmatic surface in recent years with the 2024 launch of the Executive Grantmaker Fellowship (an 18-month peer learning journey for foundation presidents and trustees focused on racial equity integration) and the 2025 creation of The Accords on the Future of Environmental Philanthropy, a sector-wide framework now soliciting external endorsements. EGA also operates the publicly accessible Job Board, publishes topical research including the Racial Equity in Environmental Philanthropy Report, and runs webinars for peer learning.

The organization holds an adjacent operating subsidiary, Blue Sky Funders Forum, focused on clean energy and blue sky funding. EGA is led by President & CEO Tamara Toles O'Laughlin and governed by a board of directors drawn from member foundation leadership. In 2023, EGA members collectively granted a record $3.2 billion to environmental causes, a 19% increase from 2022, with Energy & Climate receiving 42% of total funding.

Name

Environmental Grantmakers Association

Legal name

Environmental Grantmakers Association

Website

https://ega.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Environmental Grantmakers Association is a 38-year-old nonprofit membership association serving over 200 environmental foundations worldwide through its Tracking the Field grants database, convenings, working groups, and leadership programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropy Association Services

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental & Climate Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI), Public Charities & Grantmaking Intermediaries (BPAGAKAE)

Keywords

• Environmental philanthropy
• Grantmaker association
• Foundation research
• Membership services
• Grantmaking analytics

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: EGA operates as a membership-based organization serving over 200 environmental foundations. Members gain access to the TTF searchable database, publications, working groups, affinity groups, and exclusive events.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Environmental Grantmakers Association is a nonprofit membership association that supports over 200 environmental foundations through peer networking, convenings, working and affinity groups, flagship events, and the Tracking the Field (TTF) research program. Its core sellable offerings include membership access to the TTF searchable grants database (over 200,000 grants, $27 billion tracked), the Executive Grantmaker Fellowship, custom data analysis services, the Racial Equity in Environmental Philanthropy framework, publications, and the public Job Board.

Product overview

The Environmental Grantmakers Association operates as a membership organization offering a suite of programs and services for environmental philanthropy. The core offerings include the Tracking the Field (TTF) research program with a searchable grants database covering $27 billion in environmental giving, the Executive Grantmaker Fellowship (an 18-month leadership program), the Racial Equity POV framework, a Job Board for members, Working Groups and Affinity Groups for collaboration, custom data analysis services, and flagship events including the Annual Retreat and Winter Briefing. EGA also publishes research reports and resource guides. The organization connects over 200 foundations across North America and the globe, supporting just philanthropy in environmental causes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Tracking the Field (TTF) research program A research program at EGA that deepens understanding of trends, challenges, and critical needs in environmental philanthropy. TTF now covers over 200,000 grants totaling $27 billion in giving dollars, maintained in a secure searchable online database accessible to EGA member foundations.
• Executive Grantmaker Fellowship (EGF) An 18-month fellowship program for foundation presidents and trustees to bridge the gap between helm and heart, supporting holistic integration of racial equity into leadership in environmental grantmaking. Limited to current foundation executives as a structured peer-learning cohort.
• Racial Equity in Environmental Philanthropy Report / Racial Equity POV EGA's Racial Equity Point of View framework and supporting Research Report, providing a racial equity lens for understanding ecosystem impacts and decision-making in environmental grantmaking, plus baseline demographic data on funding to BIPOC-led organizations.
• TTF Searchable Grants Database Secure online database allowing EGA members to explore Tracking the Field data down to the individual grant, sortable by EGA taxonomy across different time frames. Provides the analytical interface for the TTF research program.
• Custom Data Analysis Services Custom research projects including data runs, custom data visualization and presentations, and research briefing reports for funders and affinity groups who need bespoke analyses of environmental grantmaking beyond the standard TTF database access.
• Annual Fall Retreat EGA's flagship annual multi-day convening of environmental grantmakers for learning, networking, and collective strategy alignment. Serves as a key membership acquisition and retention touchpoint and as the venue for major community initiatives such as The Accords.
• Winter Federal Policy Briefing Annual focused policy briefing convening environmental grantmakers, movement leaders, and government stakeholders to advance cross-sector collaboration on climate, democracy, and environmental policy.
• EGA Webinars Recurring virtual convenings and online events that provide a peer space for environmental grantmakers to discuss sector priorities, issues, and challenges in real time.
• EGA Member Job Board Public-facing job board where EGA member foundations can post open positions to support environmental philanthropy hiring. Open to broader public visibility to support transparent and equitable hiring practices across the sector.
• EGA Working Groups and Affinity Groups Member-only collaborative groups providing structured venues for EGA members to engage on specific topics, issue areas, and strategies within environmental philanthropy, coordinated by EGA staff.
• EGA Publications Recurring research publications produced by EGA, including Tracking the Field reports, the Racial Equity in Environmental Philanthropy Report, sector-specific funding analyses, and resource guides. Full reports are available to EGA members, with executive summaries publicly accessible.

Quantifiable outcome

• $3.2 billion in environmental funding by members in 2023 (19% increase from 2022)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Confluence Philanthropy: Confluence Philanthropy is a membership network of foundations and impact investors focused on aligning capital with environmental and social well-being. Like EGA, it convenes funders around climate and equity themes and produces peer learning programming, directly competing for environmental funder mindshare.
• Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders (SAFSF): SAFSF is a membership network of funders focused on sustainable agriculture and food systems. Like EGA, it is a niche funder association that convenes grantmakers, produces research, and runs peer learning programs — a structural twin in an adjacent thematic area.
• Candid (formerly Foundation Center): Candid operates the largest open database of U.S. foundations and grants and serves as a primary data/research infrastructure for the philanthropic sector. It competes with EGA's TTF data program as a source of grantmaking intelligence and shares the mission of strengthening philanthropy through transparency.
• The Funders Network: The Funders Network is a membership association of foundations working on place-based, sustainable, and equitable development. It mirrors EGA's membership-based, peer-learning, and field-building model in adjacent sustainability and community development funder spaces.
• National Center for Family Philanthropy: NCFP is a membership association serving family foundations with peer learning, research, and convening programs. It shares EGA's membership-based model, peer learning programming, and focus on building foundation effectiveness, though it serves a different foundation segment.

Broad incumbents

• Council on Foundations: The Council on Foundations is the largest U.S. membership association of philanthropic foundations, serving a similar member-driven, dues-based model with peer learning, policy advocacy, and research. It operates more broadly across all foundation types rather than specializing in environmental philanthropy, making it the closest broad incumbent.
• Tides Foundation: Tides Foundation is a major public charity and fiscal sponsor that channels philanthropic capital to environmental, social justice, and progressive causes. As an established environmental and equity grantmaking institution, it overlaps EGA's member constituency and represents the type of foundation EGA serves as a member.
• ClimateWorks Foundation: ClimateWorks Foundation is a major climate-focused foundation that aggregates and regrants philanthropic capital to climate initiatives globally. It is both a peer organization in environmental philanthropy and a representative member-foundation type within EGA's network.

Emerging players

• Inside Philanthropy: Inside Philanthropy is a media and intelligence platform covering foundation strategy and grantmaking. While for-profit, it provides the kind of grantmaking intelligence and field analysis that partially overlaps with EGA's TTF data program for foundation leaders.

Regional players

• Philanthropy Northwest: Philanthropy Northwest is a regional membership association of foundations across the Pacific Northwest. It mirrors EGA's peer-learning, convening, and capacity-building model but operates regionally rather than nationally, making it a comparable smaller-scale association.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/egaconnects
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/environmental-grantmakers-association

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Environmental Grantmakers Association