The tangled web of policy support: foundations and environmental NGOs

It has long been recognized that foundation support is a crucial element for NGOs, particularly for those championing the environment. However, exactly how foundations and NGOs match has been understudied. Here we address this concern with a particular focus on Environmental NGOs (ENGOs). Applying recent developments in ideal point estimation technology, we estimate the latent ideologies of ENGOs and their foundation supporters in a common space with other political actors. We find both that, while foundations and ENGOs are left-leaning, there is considerable heterogeneity. Using IRS 990 information for foundation contributions to ENGOs from 2003–2017, we then examine the extent to which ideological matching affects foundations’ contribution decisions, uncovering robust evidence of such matching even accounting for other factors that should contribute to foundation support.