Liz Claiborne & Art Ortenberg Foundation

The Liz Claiborne & Art Ortenberg Foundation is one of conservation philanthropy's most selective private grantmakers. Founded in 1987 by fashion designer Liz Claiborne and her husband Art Ortenberg after a transformative East African safari, the foundation operates from a deeply personal ethos: that wildlife survival and community vitality are inseparable. This philosophy permeates every aspect of its grantmaking — including the decision to remain strictly invitation-only.

The foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals under any circumstances. This is not a soft policy subject to exceptions; it is operationally enforced. Contact name on record is Kent Wommack (lcaof@lcaof.org, 212-333-2536). The only legitimate pathway to funding is through cultivated relationships with staff, trustees, or existing grantees — and this cultivation typically unfolds over years before any grant conversation occurs.

What distinguishes LCAOF's philosophy from many peer foundations is its insistence on systemic 'enabling conditions.' Rather than funding isolated projects, the foundation maps five conditions that must be present or achievable for conservation to be durable: (1) sound ecological information and science, (2) well-managed protected areas and viable wildlife corridors, (3) supportive government agencies and sound policies, (4) empowered and supportive local communities, and (5) sustainable and diverse financial sources, including land tenure security. Grant-seekers should frame their work against these five conditions explicitly — not species-specific metrics alone.

The foundation's advisory board includes globally recognized field conservationists: Dr. David Western (Advisory Board Chairperson, Amboseli conservation pioneer), Dr. Ullas Karanth (Wildlife Conservation Society tiger program), Yolanda Kakabadse (former IUCN president), William Conway (former Wildlife Conservation Society director), and Douglas Chadwick (wildlife writer and scientist). Awareness — or better, endorsement — from any of these individuals carries significant weight with program staff.

Grant cycles follow a 3-year structure as the dominant pattern, with some relationships extending to 4 years (e.g., Maliasili Initiatives, currently in a Year 1 of 4 cycle). LCAOF's portfolio spans the full organizational spectrum: from global institutions like Wildlife Conservation Society ($4.14M across 17 grants) to local specialists like Yaak Valley Forest Council ($52,500). A separate Capacity & Organizational Strengthening track provides smaller, rapid-deployment grants to existing grantees — primarily smaller international NGOs — for governance, staff development, and planning.

LCAOF's financial profile is substantial and growing. Total assets reached $229.5 million in FY2024, up from $209.9 million in FY2023 and $217.6 million in FY2022. Revenue in FY2024 was $33.2 million — driven largely by $27.2 million in asset sales — with $11.9 million in charitable disbursements recorded. Annual giving has risen sharply from historical baselines of $6-8 million per year (FY2013-FY2020) to $13-14 million in FY2022-FY2023, representing a roughly doubling of grantmaking capacity over the decade.

Individual grant sizes vary significantly by relationship type. Across 158 grants totaling $26.3 million in the foundation database, the median grant is $61,207 and the average is $166,308. The actual per-grant distribution follows a three-tier structure:

• Anchor multi-year relationships ($500K-$4M+ cumulative): Wildlife Conservation Society ($4.14M, 17 grants across Madagascar, Asia, Africa, Latin America), Heart of the Rockies Keep It Connected Initiative ($3.95M, 3 grants), Rewild ($3.93M, 7 grants in Argentina and Belize), Maliasili Initiatives ($1.76M, 7 grants).
• Mid-tier steady partners ($100K-$1.2M cumulative): Greater Yellowstone Coalition ($1.23M), Wildlife Conservation Network ($983K), African Conservation Centre ($916K), PAMS Foundation Tanzania ($681K), MakeWay Foundation Canada ($620K), Mica Group ($505K).
• Specialist and smaller grants ($50K-$250K): Saola Foundation Laos ($200K), Health in Harmony Indonesia ($200K), Well Grounded Congo Basin ($151K), Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance ($50K).

Geographically, Montana dominates U.S. grantmaking with 48 grants tracked in the database — more than any other state by a wide margin. International giving clusters in Sub-Saharan Africa (Tanzania, Kenya, Mozambique, Gabon, Madagascar), Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Thailand, Laos), and Latin America (Argentina, Colombia, Belize/Guatemala). The 3-year grant structure is nearly universal: Blackfoot Challenge, Clark Fork Coalition, Park County Environmental Council, Montana Association of Land Trusts, and Montana Wilderness Association all show sequential 3-grant cycles. FY2023 grants paid of $9.8 million vs. total giving of $13.1 million indicates the foundation typically approves multi-year commitments that disburse over time.

The table below compares LCAOF with four foundations operating in overlapping conservation philanthropy space:

LCAOF occupies a distinct mid-tier niche among conservation funders: sufficiently capitalized ($229M) to sustain multi-million-dollar anchor relationships with international NGOs, yet curated enough to maintain genuinely personal program officer relationships with each grantee. This contrasts sharply with the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which operates at 30-40 times the grantmaking scale with more institutionalized processes. Wilburforce Foundation is perhaps the closest structural analog — similarly invitation-only, similarly Rockies-focused — but lacks LCAOF's global reach across Africa, Asia, Madagascar, and Latin America. The most notable competitive differentiation is LCAOF's community integration requirement: unlike purely ecological funders, LCAOF explicitly requires that local communities benefit from and support conservation outcomes, a criterion that aligns it increasingly with Nia Tero's indigenous conservation philosophy.

No major public press releases or formal announcements from 2025-2026 have been identified for LCAOF. The foundation maintains an intentionally low public profile — consistent with its invitation-only operating model — and does not publicize individual grant awards or strategic shifts.

The most observable recent activity derives from IRS 990 data and the foundation's grant database. Notable developments include: the launch of a Maliasili Conservation Fund Year 2 of 4 relationship (ongoing), reflecting deepened confidence in African capacity intermediaries; initiation of a Year 1 of 3 grant to Aves Argentinas for Ansenuza National Park, Argentina ($204,400), suggesting geographic expansion in the Southern Cone; and a new Year 1 of 3 investment in Wild Foundation's Indigenous-Led Initiative ($230,000).

FY2024 total assets grew to $229.5 million from $209.9 million in FY2023, with total revenue of $33.2 million — primarily from asset sales of $27.2 million. This implies the endowment performed strongly and may support increased annual grantmaking of $13-15 million in 2025-2026. Officer compensation totals were $288,333 in FY2023 (slightly up from $238,333 in FY2022), suggesting stable staffing. Trustee Victor Kovner (compensated at $83,333) and Trustee Alison Richard ($50,000) continue in leadership, alongside Advisory Board Chair Dr. David Western ($35,000). Contact name on public record remains Kent Wommack, indicating continuity in program management.

Because LCAOF strictly does not accept unsolicited proposals, conventional grant-writing tactics are largely irrelevant. The path to funding is relational — built over years before any formal conversation. The following tips are specific to LCAOF's documented behavior, grantee patterns, and operating philosophy.

Enter through sector convenings, not cold outreach. LCAOF funded the 2023 African Community Conservation Forum through grantee Maliasili Initiatives and has supported multiple grantees' attendance at the African Protected Areas Congress (APAC). These events are credible on-ramps. Target the IUCN World Conservation Congress, Society for Conservation Biology annual meeting, and APAC — forums where LCAOF advisory board members Dr. David Western, Dr. Ullas Karanth, and Yolanda Kakabadse are active presences.

Use the five enabling conditions as your proposal architecture. LCAOF's grant evaluation framework maps five conditions: ecological science, protected area management, government policy, community empowerment, and diverse funding. Organizations invited to submit proposals should explicitly map their landscape-level theory of change against these five conditions — not just describe project activities. The foundation responds to systemic thinking over project deliverables.

Lead with community benefit, not species outcomes. LCAOF's mission links wildlife survival to community vitality. Grant narratives that position conservation as a vehicle for sustainable livelihoods, indigenous land rights, and community self-determination are strongly preferred. The $505,000 committed to Mica Group for 'Advancing Indigenous-led Conservation through Restoration of Iinnii' and the $620,000 to MakeWay Foundation for indigenous-led conservation in British Columbia exemplify the model LCAOF rewards.

Target geographic alignment precisely. Montana and the Transboundary Rockies (48 grants), Sub-Saharan Africa (Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Madagascar, Gabon), Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, Argentina, and Belize are all active landscapes. Novel geographies — even within LCAOF's stated regions — require a strong case for why a new landscape merits attention. Do not pitch work in LCAOF's regions generically; demonstrate knowledge of specific landscape dynamics.

Contact Kent Wommack directly but judiciously. Email lcaof@lcaof.org with a concise one-page landscape introduction — not a full proposal. Reference a specific LCAOF grantee whose work intersects with yours and explain the complementarity. Phone: (212) 333-2536. Notifications to eligible organizations happen in January-February each year; align outreach to precede that cycle.