Pennsylvania Grants for Nonprofits
Learn about grants for Pennsylvania nonprofits and top funders below. Members can also research funding opportunities in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania using the search tool for GrantFinder. Become a member.
Funding Landscape and Giving Trends in Pennsylvania
With a population of more than 13 million, Pennsylvania is the fifth most populous U.S. state. One of the oldest states in America, Pennsylvania has experienced a series of economic eras, from the rural agricultural economy of the 17th and 18th centuries to the industrial economy of the 19th and early 20th century to today’s service-based economy. Pennsylvania now has the sixth-highest GDP in the U.S.
Pennsylvania is home to more than 5,800 foundations that collectively awarded more than $3.8 billion in grants in 2023, according to data from Candid. Education and health are top funding priorities of Pennsylvania foundations. Education is also a top funding priority of individual donors who make grants for Pennsylvania through donor-advised funds at Vanguard Charitable.
Spanning more than 46,000 square miles and with two metropolises – Philadelphia and Pittsburgh – Pennsylvania is large and heterogeneous enough to have two regional associations of grantmakers: Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia and Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania. Both funder networks skew progressive, with recent topics of discussion among Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania including arts equity, barriers to funding local food systems, and the need for more capacity-building support for Pittsburgh-area nonprofits serving communities of color. Numerous Pennsylvania grantmakers issued statements early in the second Trump administration expressing their commitment to supporting grantees affected by federal funding cuts as well as Trump attacks on marginalized communities and equity initiatives.
That said, Pennsylvania is also home to more conservative grantmakers such as the Allegheny Foundation, one of several Pittsburgh-based foundations endowed by influential conservative Richard Mellon Scaife. IP previously reported on the foundation’s locally focused grantmaking in southwestern Pennsylvania.
While Scaife foundations notoriously supported climate change denial, another southwestern Pennsylvania–focused grantmaker, the Richard King Mellon Foundation is an important and relatively accessible environmental funder. The Heinz Endowments’ environmental funding focuses on Pittsburgh as well as Pennsylvania’s river systems, while also addressing coal and fracking pollution and supporting small Pennsylvania arts organizations. The William Penn Foundation is an important and accessible grantmaker focused on the Philadelphia area.
Important community foundations in Pennsylvania include the Pittsburgh Foundation and the century-old Philadelphia Foundation.
