Mission

It is our mission to support our customers, colleagues and communities by helping them achieve their aspirations and helping their communities thrive. This shapes our work as a responsible corporate citizen. We deliver high-impact funding and initiatives that support people, businesses and non-profit partners so that together, we can make a meaningful difference in the world.

Ben B. Cheney Foundation Grant

The Foundation is open to a wide variety of programs serving the communities where we give. If you have any questions about the eligibility of your community or the Foundation's level of giving in your community, please see our Where we give page.

Type of Grant

The Foundation is open to a wide variety of programs serving the communities where we give. We prefer to focus on project grants rather than ongoing operating support. However, we know the needs in the nonprofit sector are anything but typical right now. At this time, we will consider requests for both project and operational grants.

A project has three distinguishing features:

• A specific time period with a beginning and an end,
• Specific accomplishments for the project, and
• A specific budget that outlines both what resources the organization needs to achieve the stated accomplishments and where the organization plans to obtain those resources.

Project Grants

We prefer to fund projects that:

• Invest in equipment or facilities that will have a long-lasting impact on community needs.
• Demonstrate local community support with a base of local community funding.
• Develop new and innovative approaches to community problems.
• Expand existing programs to serve more people and/or areas.

Project grants are generally given on a one-time basis. The Foundation will evaluate an organization's plans for sustaining the impact of project grants, especially those for program expansion or starting new programs. That evaluation will include these questions:

• Are there identified sources of support capable of sustaining the program?
• Is the organization committed to a strategy to gain those sources of support?
• Does the project plan include activities towards gaining that sustainability?

While the Foundation understands that fund raising is a part of many organizations' budgets, we feel that this approach allows us to respond to needs that go above and beyond the annual operating budget. As a result, projects for one-time capital or equipment needs often gain priority.

Through this approach the Foundation is able to make grants to a number of first time grantees every year. Since 1975 the Foundation has supported 1,200 organizations.

Program Areas

The Foundation organizes its grant making into eight categories. They are displayed here for information purposes only. The Foundation does not budget to categories in advance and grant seekers are not required to apply by category.

• Charity - Programs providing for basic needs such as food, shelter, and clothing.
• Civic - Programs improving the quality of life in a community as a whole such as museums and recreation facilities.
• Culture - Programs encompassing the arts.
• Education - Programs supporting capital projects and scholarships, primarily for six pre-selected colleges and universities with a record of service to Pierce County.
• Elderly - Programs serving the social, health, recreational, and other needs of older people.
• Health - Programs related to providing health care.
• Social Services - Programs serving people with physical or mental disabilities or other special needs.
• Youth - Programs helping young people to gain the skills needed to become responsible and productive adults.

Note: We do not accept unsolicited letters of inquiry and do not have an open application process. If you have thoroughly reviewed the Foundation’s priorities and grantmaking activity on the website and you believe your organization is a good match for our mission, you can email our staff with a brief description of your work. 

Laird Norton Family Foundation

The Laird Norton Family Foundation (LNFF) is a private family foundation in Seattle, Washington, with a mission to honor and reflect the family’s shared values through giving and engage the family in philanthropy as a platform for strengthening family connections. 

Programs

Arts in Education

The goal of the Arts in Education program is to increase arts education and to improve pre-K through grade 12 student learning through the arts. Funding will be directed toward programs that seek to enhance students’ educational outcomes rather than to simply increase participation in, or appreciation for, the arts.

The Arts in Education program will consider funding programs that:

• Encourage the adoption and/or growth of arts integration within a public school or school district. We will prioritize programs that integrate the arts as a tool within greater, diverse curriculum content areas over arts enrichment or direct arts instruction programs.
• Advocate systemic change within schools, districts, or at the state level to encourage arts in education, and
• Utilize the arts as a tool to reduce the educational achievement gap.

Climate Change

Climate change poses a significant global threat, one which we are addressing by striving to ensure an equitable, resilient, habitable, and enjoyable world for current and future generations. While our work is focused on climate change, we believe in the value of ecosystems services and in the stability and resiliency of healthy natural systems. We also believe it is essential that the cost of externalities be incorporated into lifestyle, policy, and business considerations.

 We are focused on investing in regenerative biological systems that influence the carbon cycle (“biocarbon”) and reducing dependency on fossil fuels. We have chosen to focus our grantmaking on efforts to hasten the demise of coal and other fossil fuels and on work that increases the abilities of the forests, agricultural lands, and estuaries of the Pacific Northwest to sequester carbon.

Human Services

The goal of the Human Services program is to support, empower, uplift, and create opportunities for long-term success and a brighter future for unaccompanied youth and young adults (age 12-24) who are in crisis, have experienced trauma, or are aging out of the foster care system. We want to support these youth and young adults in their journey from surviving to thriving.

We will consider funding organizations or programs that provide support for youth/young adults suffering from trauma, mental illness, or addiction, with priority given to homeless youth and those impacted by the foster care system. While the full spectrum of services for youth in crisis is essential, we expect to do the bulk of our grantmaking in two areas:

• Prevention and early intervention work to keep young people from sleeping in unsafe situations — or at a minimum make that a very brief and one-time occurrence, and
• Support for long-term stability support services.

Watershed Stewardship

Watersheds have social, ecological, and economic significance. The goal of the Watershed Stewardship program is to create enabling conditions for long-term social and ecological health and resilience in places of importance to the Laird Norton Family. Currently, we prioritize work in Minnesota and Wisconsin as well as a few key watersheds in the Western United States, consistent with the Laird Norton family's priorities.

About

The Medina Foundation is a private family foundation working to improve lives by funding human service organizations that provide direct support to Puget Sound residents.

We support organizations across our 14 county funding region that are addressing a wide range of human services, including homelessness, youth development, education and economic opportunity.   

Since our founding in 1947, we have granted over $93 million in grant dollars resulting in countless services and programs that help make lives better.

Funding Areas

The Medina Foundation funds in the following focus areas:

Positive Pathways for Youth: Helping youth achieve positive outcomes.

We support organizations that:

• Ensure that young people’s basic needs such as safe, stable housing are met
• Mentor, tutor, and support youth as they find their own voice, achieve their own goals, and build new skills
• Support transition points through school, from early education through postsecondary, including job training

Stabilization for Families and Individuals: Ensuring basic needs are met. 

We support organizations that:

• Alleviate hunger, primarily through larger food distribution networks or rural food banks that are also a hub of additional services
• Prevent homelessness or quickly stabilize people who are experiencing homelessness
• Offer programs that prevent or reduce the effects of domestic violence, sexual assault, trauma, and abuse

Economic Opportunities: Helping people secure employment, increase income, and build assets.

We support organizations that:

• Offer job training and entrepreneurship opportunities
• Teach skills and assist with obtaining credentials needed for career advancement
• Provide financial education

What Makes a Strong Proposal

The Medina Foundation considers many qualities of an organization when reviewing proposals.

We look for organizations that are addressing critical community needs, engaging in strategic planning to meet well-mapped programmatic and financial goals, and seeing positive results through their programs. We believe organizations that are driven by strong leadership, through a diverse and engaged board and a dedicated executive director and staff, have a high likelihood of success.

Grant amounts awarded reflect both the needs of the nonprofit and the Foundation's desire to see the presence of other support. Generally, this means no more than 10% of an operating or capital budget. We do consider making exceptions for innovative start-ups. Since grant sizes vary widely, please review the grants list to see the size and types of grants that we have recently awarded. The Foundation’s median grant size is around $25,000.

Our community giving program focuses on addressing behavioral health issues, with a particular emphasis on funding programs that help historically underserved communities, including people of color and low-income populations. Company contribution guidelines align to our company values and current giving priorities.

Premera Social Impact invites proposals that can make changes in the areas of behavioral health, health equity and the intersection of homelessness and behavioral health:

• Program development: Grants to organizations for specific purposes or projects, rather than day-to-day operating costs or the further general purpose or work of an organization.
• Implementation of a community-led effort to create a business case or demonstration projects for interventions, programs, and policies that address behavioral health.
• Capacity building: Grants to organizations for staff support, training, and strategic or long-range planning.

The Community Grant Program is comprised of more than 90 funds established by donors who have given Innovia Foundation the flexibility to make funding decisions that accommodate changing needs and capitalize on timely and compelling opportunities in our 20-county region. This program has one cycle per year and organizations are eligible to submit one application per cycle. The maximum award amount is $30,000, with most grants in the range of $10,000 – $20,000.

Program Areas

Guided by local priorities and engaged residents, Innovia Foundation will invest in programs and initiatives that promote vibrant and sustainable communities where every person has the opportunity to thrive.

Impact Areas

• Education and Youth Development
• Innovia Foundation invests in nonprofit organizations providing access to learning opportunities for all ages – from early childhood reading programs to college campus site visits for first generation college students.
• Arts and Culture
• From rural community theaters to large symphonies, Innovia Foundation partners with nonprofit organizations that support the arts as economic drivers, educational assets, civic catalysts and bridges between cultures.
• Economic Opportunity
• Whether it’s providing job skills training for refugees or developing a commercial kitchen for local entrepreneurs, Innovia Foundation works with nonprofit partners to build prosperity for local families, businesses and communities.
• Health and Wellbeing
• From programs addressing child hunger to those ensuring no senior falls victim to abuse or neglect, Innovia Foundation partners with nonprofit organizations to improve the social determinants of health in our community and meet the basic needs of our most vulnerable populations.
• Quality of Life
• Innovia Foundation recognizes that land conservation, compassion for our furry friends and wellplanned community spaces add so much to the quality of life we enjoy in the Inland Northwest and invests in organizations providing access to these community assets. 

Guiding Principles

Within our impact areas, we aim to fund proposals that are a strong fit with one or more of the following Guiding Principles:

• Respond compassionately to meet basic human needs
• We know that meeting basic human needs is fundamental to improving the quality of life for everyone. Innovia Foundation will collaborate with community partners to address both systemic issues and immediate needs.
• Bring people together to build inclusive communities
• We believe in bringing people together and building connections that enrich us all. We seek to develop places and spaces where everyone feels they belong and can participate in decisions that affect their lives.
• Expand opportunity and reduce inequity
• We recognize that persistent and systemic disparities diminish opportunities. We will bridge the divide that isolates and prevents members of our community from recognizing and reaching their full potential and will invest in organizations that address the root causes of issues and promote self-sufficiency

Project Types

Organizations may request a Community Grant for any of the following project types:

• Build a new program
• Expand an existing program
• Support for an existing program
• Capital projects/equipment
• This could include, but is not limited to, technology, furnishings, equipment, vehicles or building construction or renovation
• Capacity building
• This could include, but is not limited to:
• Collaborating with other organizations to improve services or eliminate duplication
• Strengthening governance, leadership or staff expertise
• Restructuring business models and accounting practices to improve organizational stability
• Building and diversifying revenue streams
• Developing and implementing long-term strategic plans 
• Refining communications, marketing and outreach 
• Improving volunteer recruitment, training and engagement
• Acquiring or improving impact measurement tools and program evaluation capacity 

2023 Deadlines

Early Bird Deadline: Thursday, January 26, 2023

Application Closes: : Thursday, February 16, 2023

Mission

The mission of the Prevent Cancer Foundation® is saving lives across all populations through cancer prevention and early detection.

Purpose

We will provide $25,000 one-year grants for organizations that will develop new or implement existing community projects/programs in cancer prevention and early detection in rural or urban areas. Our goal is to provide the resources needed to fund vital community level activities in cancer prevention (including education or vaccination) or screening. The proposed projects must be aligned with our mission to support community projects or programs across the United States (including tribes and territories) that focus on helping to prevent cancer or find it earlier and that demonstrate a potential to make a positive impact in underserved communities. Awarded projects are selected through a competitive grants cycle.

For the 2022 cycle, we invite applications focused on providing cancer prevention education, outreach and screening in LGBTQ+ communities.

Charitable Foundation

The Paul Lauzier Charitable Foundation was created pursuant to the Last Will and Testament of Paul Lauzier. During his lifetime, Mr. Lauzier made numerous contributions to religious, educational, and community organizations. His legacy of charitable giving continues through annual grants awarded by the Paul Lauzier Charitable

Foundation in support of community development, youth programs, public health and safety, education, and agriculture.

There is no geographical limitation for funding requests. With that said, the Paul Lauzier Charitable Foundation prefers to fund programs and projects geographically located in rural communities in central and eastern Washington, with an emphasis within Grant County.

Pacific Power Foundation

The Pacific Power Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Pacific Power. Our mission, through our charitable investments, is to support the growth and vitality of our communities.

In 2021, the Pacific Power Foundation awarded more than $1 million to local nonprofit organizations.

Apply for a Grant

The foundation manages its grants in four cycles. This helps the foundation carefully review similar requests to ensure maximum benefit.

Community Enhancement

Affordable housing, community resilience, community and recreation centers, economic development, libraries, monuments, memorials and science centers.

Environmental Respect

Animal and wildlife biodiversity; carbon and methane emissions; conservation of natural resources; environmental management systems; parks, trails and gardens; resource stewardship; waste management reduction, and water usage management.