Who We Fund

Applications Due – October 1 each year.  Please be conscientious with your request.  Do not automatically request our maximum. 

Our mission: is “Ensuring the survival & recovery of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) in their habitats by building funds to support research, conservation and education.” Please note that we will only consider and respond to grant applications that involve Enhydra lutris. While worthy and needed, we do not fund river otter (i.e. freshwater otter) initiatives. We fund only those impacting Enhydra lutris; no species of lutra, lontra, pteronura or aonyx will be considered.    

Additionally, please investigate what we will/will not fund as indicated below & in our indirect cost policy. 

2022 Application:

2022 MS-Word-Sea-Otter-Foundation-Trust-grant-application-form Q4

Our Indirect Cost Policy:

Sea Otter Foundation & Trust Indirect Cost Policy 9-2022

Awardee report documents:

• Zoological facilities caring for sea otters with funding designated specifically to sea otters, especially sea otter related equipment purchases or capital expenditures
• Sea otter-based educational organizations, agencies and groups
• Universities conducting specific sea otter research
• Sea otter-oriented educational or conservation campaigns
• K-12 schools with students interested in studying the sea otter
• University/College applicants with a sea otter-specific project or study.

Overall, we do not fund (see comprehensive list & details in our Indirect Cost Policy above; modified 9/2022):

• Individuals or for-profit entities
• General operating expenditures such as, but not limited to, salaries or contractual service wages, insurance, rent, and/or utility expenses
• Non-project-related travel and/or accommodations to study specific sea otter populations exceeding 2% of total project budget – please contact us prior to/in conjunction with your application submittal
• Living expenses or stipends
• Events and sponsorships
• Fundraising and/or marketing initiatives
• Any aspect of website development and/or technology advancements related to website creation or upgrades

For questions regarding whether your program/project will fulfill our requirements, is outside of our funding priority or if your program/project would be considered for funding, please feel free to contact us at grants@seaotterfoundationtrust.org.  Additionally, please contact us if you would like either version of the application (PDF or MS Word) e-mailed to you directly.

We welcome all applicants within our funding criteria indicated in our application and/or above.