Free funder guide · Missouri · Last checked 27 September 2026
Which Missouri environmental funders actually accept applications
Most private foundations in Missouri have already told the IRS they won't read your proposal. This page explains how to spot them, and lists 13 secular funders of environmental and conservation work in Missouri that do take applications, with what they fund, what they have given, and when they next open.
Missouri has plenty of open private foundations, but most of the ones that paid environmental grants also gave to churches or religious charities in their latest filing (92 of 116), so they are left off. The list leans on state, regional and federal programs and on community foundations, which is where most of the open conservation money here is.
From my own read of IRS filings, September 2026
In Missouri, 1,178 of the 1,559 private foundations with $1 million or more in assets tick the box on their tax return saying they don't accept unsolicited requests. That is 76%.
That leaves 381 larger Missouri foundations that say they will read an application. It is a higher share of closed doors than in Virginia (71%, 586 of 820), and the same share as in Maryland (76%, 559 of 739), counted the same way.
How I counted: every private non-operating foundation with a Missouri address on the IRS Exempt Organizations Master File (September 2026 release) reporting assets of $1 million or more, checked against its most recent e-filed Form 990-PF (tax years 2023 to 2026, almost all 2025). Operating foundations, which mostly run their own programs, are left out, as they were for Virginia and Maryland. Counting them too gives 76% (1,340 of 1,752).
What the checkbox means
One small box on the tax return tells you whether to bother.
Every private foundation files Form 990-PF with the IRS each year. Part XIV, line 2 of that return has a checkbox. A foundation that ticks it is telling the IRS, in writing, that it chooses its grantees itself. A proposal sent to it is usually wasted work.
"Check here if the foundation only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and does not accept unsolicited requests for funds."Form 990-PF, Part XIV, line 2
A foundation that leaves the box empty has to fill in lines 2a to 2d instead: who receives applications, what form they should take, any deadlines, and any limits on who or what it funds. For many small family foundations, those four lines are the only published guidelines they have.
The box does not tell you whether a foundation funds your kind of work. For that, read line 3a, the list of grants it actually paid. Check both before you write a letter of inquiry. Any foundation's return can be read free on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.
13 funders
Open to applications, and funding environmental work in Missouri.
Every funder below is secular, says it accepts applications (on its website or its tax return), and has paid grants to environmental or conservation groups in its most recent filing. Government programs are the exception: they file no tax return. Community foundations are listed by the program that fits environmental groups. Grant examples come from each funder's latest IRS filing unless the funder's own site is named.
Verified date on the funder's own site on 27 Sept 2026Expected based on last cycle; next not yet postedRolling applications any timeFiling only no website; from the tax return, confirm first
Statewide and regional public grantmakers
01
Missouri Department of Natural Resources: Section 319 Nonpoint Source Subgrants
Jefferson City · statewide
Federal Clean Water Act money passed through the state to restore and protect waters harmed by runoff. It pays either to write a 9-element watershed based plan or to carry out practices in a plan the state and EPA have already accepted. Nonprofit 501(c)(3) groups can apply directly.
Typical grant
$50,000 to $400,000 under the current request for proposals, for projects of up to three years, with a 60/40 federal to non-federal match that can be cash or in kind (its site). Administration and salaries are capped at 10% of the grant.
Next deadline
Applications are open now and close December 31, 2026 Verified. A new request for proposals is normally issued in early January.
How to apply
Through the department's Funding Opportunities Portal; new users must first submit a portal access request and pick Water Protection as a program of interest.
Federal trail money administered by Missouri State Parks for building, restoring and maintaining public trails and trailheads, trail easements and land, and accessibility assessments. Nonprofits can apply, and projects must be open to the public.
Typical grant
Up to $250,000, with at least a 20% match; Missouri receives $1 million to $1.5 million a year for the program (its site).
Next deadline
The 2027 round opens in December 2026, per the program page; the closing date is not posted yet Expected. The 2026 round is closed.
How to apply
Application and Open Project Selection Process posted on the program page when the round opens; Missouri State Parks also holds an application workshop each winter.
Missouri Department of Conservation: Community Forestry and Community Conservation Cost-Share
Jefferson City · statewide, through MDC regional offices
Cost-share for community forests (tree inventories, management plans, planting, pruning, risk-tree removal, volunteer training and tree-care education), open to nonprofit corporations as well as local governments. A second cost-share pays for native plantings, woodland management, invasive species control and aquatic work on public land or land open to the public.
Typical grant
Not published; the department says funding is limited.
Next deadline
Funds open each July and are awarded first come, first served until they run out Rolling.
How to apply
Contact your MDC regional office; applicants that do not own the land need a letter of permission from the owner.
Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District: Project Clear Rainscaping Grants
St. Louis · MSD's rainscaping program areas in the St. Louis area (check its eligibility map)
Reimbursement grants for rain gardens and other green stormwater projects that cut combined sewer overflows to the Mississippi River and River Des Peres. Large Grants suit groups with sites and engineered plans; Small Grants, run with the Missouri Botanical Garden, cover smaller installations on institutional land.
Typical grant
Small Grants up to $10,000 for institutional projects; Large Grants through development review up to $180,000 per acre of drainage managed, and the annual call has no set maximum (its site).
Next deadline
Large Grants annual call: September 1 to October 30, 2026, 5 p.m. Verified. Small Grants are open all year, though River Des Peres funds for 2026 are used up and those applications are waitlisted until July 2027 Rolling.
How to apply
Large Grants: application and instructions on the Large Grants page, with plans signed and sealed by a licensed engineer. Small Grants: orientation video and survey, then a mailed or hand-delivered application.
Mid-America Regional Council Solid Waste Management District: Grants
Kansas City · Cass, Clay, Jackson, Platte and Ray counties
Grants for waste reduction, reuse, recycling and composting projects in the Kansas City area, open to nonprofits, and a good fit for groups whose environmental work includes waste or food rescue.
Typical grant
Small Project Assistance up to $3,500 for six-month projects. Annual grants for larger projects; 2026 awards include Bridging the Gap $219,788 (mattress recycling), Re.Use.Full $65,465 and The Prospect KC $49,000 (its site).
Next deadline
Small Project Assistance: next review deadline November 3, 2026 Verified. Annual grant call: the last call took pre-applications by April 21 and full applications by July 20, 2026; next call about April 2027 Expected.
How to apply
Online through MARC's solid waste application site; the annual call requires a pre-application before the full application.
Pays for qualified conservation nonprofits, local governments and tribes to buy private forest land outright and keep it as a community forest with public access. Conservation easements are not eligible.
Typical grant
Up to $600,000, covering at most 50% of project costs with a 50% non-federal match (its site).
Next deadline
Applications go to your state forester by October 13, 2026 Verified.
How to apply
Notice of funding opportunity USDA-FS-2026-CFP on Grants.gov; the application goes to the state forester (in Missouri, the Department of Conservation, which lists this program on its funding page).
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: Five Star Program
Washington, DC · Columbia, Kansas City and St. Louis (the 2026 Missouri priority areas)
Community restoration of streams, wetlands, shorelines and urban habitat with hands-on outreach and education. Each project needs five or more partners.
Typical grant
$30,000 to $150,000, with at least a 1:0.75 match (2026 request for proposals). Missouri grants in its filing for the year to September 2025, which does not name the program: Missouri Conservation Heritage Foundation $122,972 (Indiana bat hibernaculum), Heartland Conservation Alliance $65,132 (youth restoring the Blue River watershed), Kansas City Community Gardens $34,495.
Next deadline
About June 2027 Expected. The 2026 round closed June 4, 2026; the 2027 request for proposals is not posted yet.
Community Foundation of the Ozarks: Explore the Ozarks Fund
Springfield · southern and central Missouri (the CFO's listed counties)
Grants for hands-on conservation education for K-12 students in the Ozarks: programs and curriculum, materials and training, field trip transportation and entry costs. The CFO's regional affiliates also run small open community grant cycles through the fall.
Typical grant
Not published; grants must be matched 1:1 in new cash, not in kind (its site). Environmental grants in its filing for the year to June 2025 include Ozark Greenways $157,000, Ozarks Water Watch $76,000, Springfield Community Gardens $74,924, Watershed Committee of the Ozarks $26,180 and Ozark Land Trust $21,355 (the filing does not separate open grants from donor-advised gifts).
Next deadline
Listed as ongoing Rolling.
How to apply
Online application form linked from the fund's page.
Truman Heartland Community Foundation: Community Grants
Independence · Eastern Jackson County (east of I-435), suburban Jackson County and Cass County
The annual competitive Community Grants program, whose focus areas include wildlife conservation alongside arts, health, human services and community betterment. Each organization may apply for one grant a year.
Typical grant
Typically $5,000 to $7,000, maximum $10,000, about $370,000 a year in total (its site). Its 2024 filing shows few environmental grants, for example Powell Gardens $8,700 (in kind).
Next deadline
Applications open the first week of January 2027 and are due March 22, 2027 Verified. Decisions in early October 2027.
How to apply
Online grants portal; it holds a free grants workshop each February.
St. Louis Community Foundation: Gateway Regional Environment Fund
St. Louis · St. Louis metro area
Grants for projects that measurably cut greenhouse gas emissions in the St. Louis region, such as the tree nursery supplying community plantings that it gives as an example. Its request lists conservation, advocacy and litigation, food production, recycling and research as not its focus. Applicants need at least two permanent staff and a budget of at least $200,000.
Typical grant
One-year grants up to $100,000, renewable for up to two more years (2026 request). Environmental grants in the foundation's 2024 filing include Missouri Coalition for the Environment Foundation $22,500, Audubon Center at Riverlands $21,955, Great Rivers Greenway Foundation $14,250 and Great Rivers Environmental Law Center $11,500 (the filing does not say which fund paid them).
Next deadline
About February to March 2027 Expected. The 2026 request opened February 4 and letters of interest were due March 9, 2026.
How to apply
Letter of interest (up to four project ideas) through the St. Louis Community Foundation grants portal; invited groups send a full proposal and host a site visit.
Its website did not load when I checked, so everything here comes from its 2024 tax filing. Grants for environmental law and enforcement, and for democracy and civil liberties work; its environmental grants that year went to litigation and advocacy groups outside Missouri.
Typical grant
15 grants in 2024, median $100,000. Environmental examples: Earthjustice $200,000, John Muir Project of Earth Island Institute $180,000, Tulane Environmental Law Clinic $155,000, Crag Law Center $115,000.
Next deadline
None stated in the filing Filing only.
How to apply
A letter of inquiry to Michael P. Fischer, Deer Creek Foundation, 800 Market St, Suite 1650, St. Louis, MO 63101, describing the problem, objectives and activities, with budgets, a list of other funders, a board list, the tax status letter and the latest audit or 990. It normally does not fund endowments or capital campaigns.
No website; everything here comes from its 2025 tax filing. Almost all of its grants go to animal shelters and rescues; wildlife and bird rehabilitation groups are the environmental fit.
Typical grant
18 grants in 2025, median $10,500. Wildlife examples: World Bird Sanctuary $30,000, Wild Bird Rehab $24,000, Bi-State Wildlife Hotline $6,000.
Next deadline
None stated in the filing Filing only.
How to apply
A letter of request to Charles A. Amen, 10733 Sunset Office Dr, Suite 425, St. Louis, MO 63127 (per its filing).
No website; everything here comes from its 2025 tax filing. Small capital and equipment grants to charities serving central Missouri, including a multi-year pledge to a nature school.
Typical grant
8 grants in 2025, $1,000 to $40,000. Environmental example: Boone County Nature School $37,500 (final payment on a four-year capital pledge).
Next deadline
Its selection committee meets in January and July each year, per the filing Filing only.
How to apply
Ask the Trust Department, Simmons Bank, 801 East Broadway, PO Box 1867, Columbia, MO 65205, for the application form it keeps on file (per its filing).
It is not exhaustive and it is not a ranking. Deadlines and guidelines change, so open each funder's own page before you start. Grants are competitive, and past grant sizes describe what a funder gave, not what it will give you. I list secular funders only.
The full version
Want this done for your own organization?
A Funding Roadmap ($1,200, flat fee) gives you ten to fifteen funders matched to your mission, place and size, the grants each one paid to groups like yours, how to apply, and a 12-month grant calendar. Every deadline is labeled the same way as on this page.
Email me your organization's name, rough budget and what you'd like funded. You'll get a written reply within two business days.
You fill in a short intake questionnaire, then answer one round of written follow-up questions.
About three weeks later you get the roadmap, a two-page note on how to use it, and 14 days of email questions.
Everything happens in writing. There are no calls or meetings.