Dorrance Family Foundation

Dorrance Family Foundation is a US private foundation based in Scottsdale, AZ.

Profile derived from the foundation's IRS Form 990-PF filings (TY2024, TY2023, TY2022) and its website, with every statement checked against those sources. Sources read on 7 October 2026.

Priority Areas

Its stated mission is to improve community quality of life by supporting education and natural resource conservation. The Foundation’s primary emphasis is on place-based, evidence-oriented initiatives that can produce tangible, viable and measurable outcomes and catalytic leverage. Its core emphases are nature-based restoration and regeneration of natural resources; human and environmental health; protecting the health of species and places valued by nature and people; and sustainability-forward systems that advance resilience and positive change. Through the Marine Conservation Initiative, it supports high-performing non-profit organisations with demonstrated expertise in restoring and protecting ocean health, marine habitat and biodiversity. It favours clear objectives, strong local leadership, community engagement and co-management, rigorous evaluation, and work with potential for scale, replication or institutional uptake. Its partners are located in Central and Southern California and the Island of Hawaiʻi; local focus areas also include children’s health, animal welfare and therapy, and sustainable agriculture.

Themes

• Education
• Natural resource conservation
• Human and environmental health
• Species and valued places
• Resilience and sustainability
• Animal welfare and therapy
• Sustainable agriculture

Geographic Focus

USA. Priority: Central and Southern California; Island of Hawaiʻi.

What They Don't Fund

• Organisations that are not public charities or have not had tax-exempt 501(c)3 status for a minimum of 3 years
• Start-ups
• Government agencies are not eligible to apply directly
• The benefit of specific individuals
• Capital campaigns except for capital needs and/or equipment that significantly and measurably improve organizational or program effectiveness and impact
• General operating expenses (overhead and other administrative costs are acceptable for the program and project for which funding is being requested)
• Endowment
• Activities that promote religious beliefs
• Lobbying – IRS-defined lobbying activities are prohibited by federal law
• Partisan research and analysis and non-permissible policy-related activities
• Re-granting to other organizations or individuals (unless indicated in a grant agreement)

Submit an initial inquiry form. If the project aligns with the Foundation’s mission and goals, it emails a private link for completing a full online proposal.

Deadlines: Full proposals are reviewed from September; proposals received after 15 September are considered in the following cycle.

• Repeat giving: In its TY2024 filing, 65% of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded in its TY2022 filing.
• Grant size: Across its TY2022 and TY2024 filings, half of its 138 grants to organisations were $25,000 or less.

What the foundation says:

• Projects should define clear, measurable objectives, benchmarks and timelines that demonstrate their impact.
• Applicants should demonstrate organisational capacity, expertise and credibility to achieve the intended outcomes.
• It favours strong local leadership, community engagement and co-management, rigorous evaluation, and potential for scale, replication or institutional uptake.
• It values site access and site-specific progress reports for the locations and habitats where the work takes place.
• It favours place-based work engaging Indigenous and local communities and leadership and incorporating science and cultural expertise.
• Long-term research-only or advocacy-only projects without tangible outcomes are not suggested.