How much funding does Barr Foundation Grants provide?

Funding amounts vary. Check the grant details for specifics.

When is the deadline for Barr Foundation Grants?

This grant has a rolling deadline or the deadline has not been announced.

Who is eligible for Barr Foundation Grants?

Eligible applicants: Organizations. Geography: Massachusetts. Not funded: Individuals or scholarships; Rarely funds capital projects; Event sponsorships.

How often is Barr Foundation Grants offered?

Barr Foundation Grants accepts applications on a rolling basis.

Barr Foundation Grants

Barr Foundation

Foundation Rolling Grants for Nonprofits Grants for Arts Environmental Grants Grants for Education

Funding Amount

Varies

Deadline

Rolling / Open

Grant Type

Foundation

Deadline history & next window

Cycle: Rolling — applications accepted year-round
Tracked since: September 2026

Source: the cycle recorded on this listing. Confirm dates with the funder.

Can we apply?

Check your organization against each line. Taken from the listing; confirm with the funder's guidelines.

Eligible organizations

Organizations

Geography

Massachusetts

Not eligible / not funded

Not eligible: Individuals or scholarships
Not eligible: Rarely funds capital projects
Not eligible: Event sponsorships

Overview

The Barr Foundation (Boston, MA) is a large private funder ($130M+ awarded in 2025) focused on Arts + Creativity, Climate, Education, and Sector Effectiveness across New England. There are multiple pathways to a grant - building on existing partnerships (most grants), proposals invited by staff, occasional open Requests for Proposals (RFPs) announced via newsletter, and inquiries from potential new partners (submit via the relevant program pages). 15-30% of grants each year go to organizations Barr has never funded before. Barr does NOT make grants to individuals or scholarships, and rarely funds capital projects or event sponsorships. FLAG: contact-first / largely invitation-based - no open application form or deadline; new organizations should submit an inquiry via a program page and subscribe to the newsletter for RFPs.

How to Apply

Review Barr's program pages (Arts + Creativity, Climate, Education, Sector Effectiveness) and submit an inquiry via the relevant program form; watch the newsletter for open RFPs.

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What Barr Foundation actually gave

Source: IRS Form 990-PF, 2024

Grants in 2024: 903
Total given: $123.24M
Median grant: $80K
Range: $100–$3.27M

70% of its 2024 grant dollars went to recipients in Massachusetts, where this grant's project is located.
By dollars: Massachusetts 70%, New York 7%, California 6%. Top recipient cities: Boston, MA; Washington, DC; New York, NY.
30% of grants with a stated purpose were for general or operating support.
>99% of recipients were new grantees, not repeat recipients.

Example grants

(855) United States Energy Foundation · San Francisco, CA

To accelerate the transition to clean energy in the northeast

$3.27M
(219) Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts · Springfield, MA

To support the valley creates initiative

$2.9M
(552) National Center for Civic Innovation Inc · New York, NY

To continue to lead the technical assistance for the schools in the beyond ene (engage…

$1.55M
(126) Boston Ujima Project Inc · Boston, MA

To provide core support

$1.2M
(551) National Center for Civic Innovation Inc · New York, NY

To build organizational capacity to scale school observation visits and to provide…

$1.18M