Grantmaking Guidelines

The Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation funds high‐impact projects in the state of Texas at the nexus of environmental protection, social equity, and economic vibrancy.

To accomplish our goals, we develop long-term, strategic guidelines for our grantmaking and make disciplined and intentional funding decisions based on these guidelines. We continually monitor and adjust our strategies to accommodate the evolving accomplishments and opportunities in the areas in which we work.

Current sustainability grantmaking programs focus on the following initiatives:

Clean Energy>

Land Conservation>

Shale Sustainability>  

Sustainability Education>

Water>

To learn more about our current or previous initiatives, visit the Programs section of this website.

The following guidelines will help applicants determine if a proposed project fits within the foundation’s grantmaking strategies.

As a general rule, applicants should base their determination on three criteria. The proposed project must

  • align with a specific foundation program;
  • focus on the state of Texas; and
  • clearly demonstrate how the project supports the relevant foundation grantmaking strategy.

What We Do Not Fund

The foundation's grantmaking has several limitations:

  • In general, the foundation is unable to provide grants to organizations that are not classified as 501(c)(3) public charities by the Internal Revenue Service.
  • The foundation does not support research unless it contains an explicit and practical policy application or outcome.
  • Projects that are viewed favorably by the foundation will contain a viable and sophisticated communications strategy for rolling out the results of the funded effort.
  • The foundation is unable to make grants intended to support candidates for political office or to lobby in support of or against legislation.
  • The foundation does not fund the research, development, commercialization, or demonstration of technology.
  • The foundation does not fund demonstration projects.
© 2012-2024 Cynthia and George Mitchell Foundation.