NOTE: In recognition of shelter in place ordinances among our communities, our requirements for the 2020 Sponsorship Program have changed. It is important that we continue supporting changemakers while we collectively observe social distancing. 

Overview

Thanks for your interest in Beneficial State Foundation. We are a unique foundation in that our primary role is to protect and support the triple bottom line missions of Beneficial State Bank. We help ensure that the banks meet the goals of generating prosperity for people and the planet, and avoids extractive practices while being financially sound.

Beneficial State Bank is helping to build human and environmental prosperity primarily by providing fair and honest loans and financial services to businesses and nonprofits that are striving to be a force for good. We at the foundation support this work in the ways described here.

Sponsorships

We fund and manage the sponsorships of Beneficial State Bank. From day one, Beneficial State Bank has been committed to supporting our community above and beyond its lending by providing sponsorships to 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations each year — before the bank has made any profits. Historically we have provided the equivalent of 10% or more of Beneficial State Bank’s profits. That’s ten times the U.S. average corporate giving of less than 1% (0.76%).

Sponsorships

We will continue to help the bank provide sponsorship to 501(c)(3) organizations in California, Oregon, and Washington that are engaged in transformative social justice and environmental work in our target sectors:

Social:

• Affordable and Multi-family Housing
• Arts, Culture and Community Building
• Education and Youth Development
• Beneficial Financial Services
• Economic, Business and Job Development
• Making, Manufacturing and Production
• Social Justice

Environmental:

• Environmental Sustainability
• Health and Well-being (non-food)
• Healthy Food
• Other Mission Categories (Business Ownership, Structures and Practices)

We choose to make small sponsorships available to many organizations; most of our sponsorships since 2013 were less than $1,000.

NOTE: We expect to fund very few proposals that come to us via unsolicited contact. As such, we have no formal process for accepting such proposals and may not respond to inquiries. In general, we expect to identify most giving opportunities via proactive searching and networking. If you would like to suggest that we consider a grant — whether for your project or someone else’s — please contact us.

Open Philanthropy Project Focus Areas

So far, the focus areas we have selected fall into one of two broad categories: Global Health and Wellbeing and Longtermism, led by Open Philanthropy co-CEOs Alexander Berger and Holden Karnofsky, respectively. We summarize the key differences between these portfolios as follows: 

• While Longtermism grants tend to be evaluated based on something like “How much this grant raises the probability of a very long-lasting, positive future” (including by reducing global catastrophic risks), Global Health and Wellbeing grants tend to be evaluated based on something like “How much this grant increases health (denominated in e.g. life-years) and/or wellbeing, worldwide.”
• The Global Health and Wellbeing team places greater weight on evidence, precedent, and track record in its giving; the Longtermism team tends to focus on problems and interventions where evidence and track records are often comparatively thin. (That said, the Global Health and Wellbeing team does support a significant amount of low-probability but high-upside work like policy advocacy and scientific research.)
• The Longtermism team’s work could be hugely important, but it’s very hard to answer questions like “How will we know whether this work is on track to have an impact?” We can track intermediate impacts and learn to some degree, but some key premises likely won’t become very clear for decades or more. By contrast, we generally expect the work of the Global Health and Wellbeing team to be more likely to result in recognizable impact on a given ~10-year time frame, and to be more amenable to learning and changing course as we go.

Focus Area: Global Health and Wellbeing

• Effective Altruism Community Growth (Global Health and Wellbeing) - We want to increase the number of people who work to improve health and wellbeing by as much as possible, and help them to achieve their goals.
  • We support organizations and projects that connect people who work to improve the lives of humans and animals around the world. We hope to grow and empower the community of people who use reason and evidence to do as much good as they can.
  • Many of those people describe themselves as effective altruists, and we think of Open Philanthropy as an organization focused on effective altruism — while acknowledging that this term is subject to multiple interpretations, not all of which apply to us.
  • This focus area uses the lens of our global health and wellbeing portfolio, just as our longtermism community growth area uses the lens of our longtermism portfolio. The work we fund in this area is primarily focused on identifying and supporting people who are or could eventually become helpful partners, critics, and grantees.

• Farm Animal Welfare - We seek to improve the lives of the billions of animals confined on factory farms.
  • We believe that phasing out the worst factory farm practices and working to promote alternatives could significantly reduce animal suffering.
  • We are particularly interested in advocating for reforms that would improve the lives of the greatest number of animals. Especially when directed at chicken and fish — the two most numerous vertebrate farmed animals — we think that these reforms could potentially impact a large share of the animals confined on farms today.
  • Successfully developing animal-free foods that are taste- and cost-competitive with animal-based foods might also prevent much of this suffering. We have accordingly worked to accelerate the development and commercialization of plant-based foods and other alternatives to animal products.
• Global Aid Policy - We hope to contribute to a future where wealthy countries’ foreign aid improves the well-being of more people.
  • Many high-income countries spend less than 0.7% of their GNP on official development assistance each year. We believe there could be ways to increase aid levels and to increase the impact of current aid spending. We’re interested in funding effective strategies for doing so.
  • We are open to any approach that could substantially increase the quantity and/or quality of aid and other forms of development finance. We do not have sector or geographic restrictions, and we may support a range of tactics, from advocacy to technical assistance to research.
  • Below are preliminary areas of interest, which we developed largely based on conversations with leading practitioners and funders. We look forward to talking to a wide range of people to refine and shape this list.
    • Using policy research and/or advocacy to help expand high-return programs and investments within existing aid institutions.
    • Advocating for new, cost-effective global health programs (e.g. PEPFAR for other areas).
    • Developing strategies to increase high-level political support for aid investments.
    • Building and strengthening aid policy & advocacy fields in high-income countries.
    • Supporting investments to improve the cost-effectiveness or quality of existing aid programs.
    • Expanding access to capital or helping to reduce debt burdens, e.g. by supporting governments in negotiating more favorable terms from development finance loans.
  • We launched our Global Aid Policy program in April 2022. We expect to spend at least $15 million in 2022, and hope to grow the program substantially in future years. Below are several related grants we made prior to launching the program. 
• Global Health & Development - We believe that every life has value — and that philanthropic dollars can go particularly far by helping those who are living in poverty by global standards.
  • Most of our giving in this category is to organizations recommended by GiveWell, with whom we have a close relationship. We are excited to support cost-effective interventions to save and improve lives in low- and middle-income countries. An additional subset of our giving supports scientific research we believe can help address diseases that disproportionately afflict the global poor.
• Global Health R&D - We seek to support the development of new vaccines, drugs, and other tools to improve global health.
  • Historically, health technologies like vaccines and drugs have saved millions of lives around the world. However, diseases primarily affecting the world’s poorest people, such as tuberculosis, malaria, diarrheal diseases, rheumatic heart disease, and sickle cell disease receive much less research and development spending relative to their health burdens than diseases affecting the wealthy. Further investments could prevent millions of deaths and illnesses caused by neglected diseases.
  • Open Philanthropy has supported scientific research for human health since 2016. Over time we have learned that there are many excellent opportunities in global health R&D that we could support with increased resources and specialized staff. As a result, we launched this new program in 2023, substantially increasing our total funding in the area.
  • The Global Health R&D team works in parallel and in collaboration with our Scientific Research team, but with a greater focus on supporting tools and treatments through the development life cycle, including those requiring early proof of concept studies, human efficacy trials or implementation research. We are interested in funding research and development for new vaccines, diagnostics, drugs, monoclonal antibodies, and vector control tools for diseases with a large global health burden, as well as efforts to make these products more affordable and accessible.
• Innovation Policy - We hope to safely accelerate scientific and technological progress to make life better for billions of people.
• Historically, economic growth and scientific innovation have created enormous social benefits, lifting billions of people out of poverty and improving health outcomes around the world. At the same time, innovation carries risk; some technologies have the potential to do far more harm than good. 
• Our goal is to accelerate growth and innovation, without unduly increasing risks from emerging technology such as artificial intelligence or genetic engineering. Even small changes to the annual growth rate can compound to great effect over time, which gives us the opportunity to make high-leverage grants.
• We’re interested in pursuing a wide range of strategies. Our current interests include:
  • Advocating for policy reform to help more migrants, especially highly-skilled migrants, move to countries operating on the scientific and technological frontier.
  • Improving the quality of published scientific research, especially in the social sciences, e.g. by encouraging efforts to replicate influential papers.
  • Supporting efforts to accelerate clinical trials for new drugs, without sacrificing standards for quality and safety.
  • Providing financial support for the synthesis and communication of published academic research, in order to increase its impact.
• Land Use Reform - We seek to reduce the harms caused by excessively restrictive local land use regulations.
  • Local laws often prohibit the construction of dense new housing, leading to higher housing prices, especially in a few large high-wage metropolitan areas (e.g., New York, Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington D.C.). More permissive policy could contribute to both affordable housing and the continued growth of centers of economic activity, allowing more people to access high-wage jobs and encouraging economic growth through returns to agglomeration. Working toward more permissive policy in those key regions from a public-interest perspective (as opposed to lobbying for specific developments) appears neglected considering the significant potential gains. For more about our strategy in this area, see our land use reform cause report.

• Scientific Research - We are interested in research that could affect a large number of people.
  • We primarily support biomedical research but our interests are not limited to any particular field, disease, condition, or population. Instead, we seek to identify scientific research that has the potential for high impact and is under-supported by other funders. We are excited to support high-risk and unconventional science when the potential impact is sufficiently large.
  • We are broadly interested in research that may lead to improved understanding of topics related to human health. We are most interested in research that could affect a large number of people. We typically start by looking for metrics related to the number of lives affected (often starting with the World Health Organization’s Global Health Estimates and IHME’s Global Burden of Disease Study). We begin with landscaping exercises to identify important research topics that could have the greatest impact in a given area.
  • Once we understand the research gaps in these fields, we assess which gaps are underfunded and seem most amenable to progress if funded. Often as part of this process, we will attend scientific conferences and interview scientists as advisors, peer reviewers, or potential grantees. For more information, see our Guide for Grant Seekers.
  • Some aspects of the following topics are currently of particular interest: broad spectrum antiviral drugs, vaccine development, basic immunology, some aspects of cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease, predicting mouse to human translation, control of inflammation, epigenetics, novel scientific tools and methods, malaria, and research on how biomedical research may be improved. 
• South Asian Air Quality - We are working to improve health by reducing air pollution in South Asia.
  • South Asia experiences some of the world’s highest air pollution levels. Our understanding is that poor air quality contributes significantly to negative health outcomes for more than 1.8 billion people in the region, and that reducing the levels of particulate matter present in the air could save millions of lives. We have seen relatively little philanthropic attention on this issue.
  • We have identified a number of activities that could significantly improve South Asia’s air pollution levels, including implementing more widespread and accurate air quality monitoring programs, conducting research to better understand the sources and effects of air pollution in the region, and increasing the salience of air quality among stakeholders. We believe that supporting these activities, and potentially others, could help inform the design, implementation, and enforcement of more effective air pollution abatement policies.

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.

Since its inception, the Foundation, which is still led by Lester T. Sunderland's descendants, has focused on supporting construction projects, awarding grants to nonprofits in the Kansas City region and other markets traditionally served by the Ash Grove Cement Company. 

 The Foundation prefers to make grants for construction and special interest projects rather than for annual operating expenses. 

Grants for planning, design, construction, renovation, repairs and restoration of facilities are considered. Areas of interest include higher education, youth serving agencies, health facilities, community buildings, museums, civic projects and energy efficient affordable housing projects sponsored by qualified tax-exempt organizations. 

Funding Areas

In recent grant cycles, the Board of Trustees has awarded the majority of grants in four broadly defined areas:

Health Care and Hospitals

A growing area of need in many of the communities the Foundation serves. In 2017, more than $2.9 million was awarded to hospitals and health-care groups to build and improve their facilities. 

Human Services

The Foundation awarded over $7 million to human service nonprofits in 2017, and the majority of grants in this area were awarded to groups that provide essential services to youth and families. Grantees included a range of youth-focused groups, including the Kansas 4-H Foundation, Kids TLC, Ronald McDonald House & Boys & Girls Clubs. 

Higher Education

In 2017, the Foundation awarded more than $10 million to over 45 educational organizations. Grantees included community colleges, private colleges, and public universities. 

Arts and Culture

Arts and culture projects received $7 million in 2017, including grants to the Eisenhower Foundation in Abilene, Kansas; the Kansas City Symphony, the Nelson Gallery Foundation and many more.

NOTE: Grant requests must be endorsed by a Perdue Associate in order to apply.

Perdue Farms is the family-owned parent company of Perdue Foods and Perdue AgriBusiness. Perdue Farms are dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for everyone we touch through innovative food and agricultural products.

Through Perdue Farms Perdue, Harvestland and Coleman Natural food brands; through Perdue Farms agricultural products and services; and through Perdue Farms stewardship and corporate responsibility programs, Perdue Farms are committed to making Perdue the most trusted name in food and agricultural products.At Perdue, Perdue Farms believe in responsible food and agriculture.What We SupportWe believe in putting our resources where there is direct benefit to a broad-based spectrum of the community.We strive to strengthen our communities by focusing our efforts on education, agriculture, the environment, health and social services, public safety and fighting hunger and poverty.We also support events that celebrate the heritages and cultures of our communities.

NOTE: Perdue Farms states in their guidelines that they "... may give additional preference to organizations in which [their] associates have direct involvement, but the overarching consideration is the betterment of the community." However, please note in their online form if you select  "No" when answering the question "Is this grant request endorsed by a Perdue Associate?", you will be considered ineligible for a grant.

Perdue Farms is the family-owned parent company of Perdue Foods and Perdue AgriBusiness. Perdue Farms are dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for everyone we touch through innovative food and agricultural products.

Through Perdue Farms PERDUE®, HARVESTLAND® and COLEMAN NATURAL® food brands; through Perdue Farms agricultural products and services; and through Perdue Farms stewardship and corporate responsibility programs, Perdue Farms are committed to making Perdue the most trusted name in food and agricultural products.

At Perdue, Perdue Farms believe in responsible food and agriculture.

What We Support

We believe in putting our resources where there is a direct benefit to a broad-based spectrum of the community.

We strive to strengthen our communities by focusing our efforts on education, agriculture, the environment, health and social services, public safety, and fighting hunger and poverty

We also support events that celebrate the heritages and cultures of our communities

NOTE: Letters of Intent (LOIs) will be screened for responsiveness to this PCORI Funding Announcement (PFA) and for fit to program goals. Only those invited will be permitted to submit full proposals. Notification of invitation to submit a full proposal or rejection of the LOI will occur within 60 days of the LOI deadline.

About Us

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) was authorized by federal law in 2010 and reauthorized for an additional ten years in 2019 as a nonprofit, nongovernmental organization. PCORI’s purpose, as defined by our authorizing legislation, is to help patients, caregivers, clinicians, policy makers, and other healthcare system stakeholders make better-informed health decisions by “advancing the quality and relevance of evidence about how to prevent, diagnose, treat, monitor, and manage diseases, disorders, and other health conditions” and by promoting the dissemination and uptake of this evidence.

PCORI is committed to transparency and a rigorous stakeholder-driven process that emphasizes patient engagement. PCORI uses a variety of forums and public comment periods to obtain public input to enhance its work. PCORI helps people make informed healthcare decisions and improves healthcare delivery and outcomes by producing and promoting high-integrity, evidence-based information that comes from research guided by patients and other stakeholders.

Engagement Award Priorities

The Engagement Award program supports PCORI’s Engagement Imperative—defined in our Strategic Plan—and provides a platform to increase engagement in research, that is, the meaningful involvement of patients, caregivers, clinicians, and other healthcare stakeholders throughout the research process. We expect projects selected for an Engagement Award to result in tools and resources that may be useful to other awardees for increasing patient and/or other stakeholder engagement in PCOR/CER, PCORI, and the broader PCOR community.

Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award: Stakeholder Convening Support

The Engagement Awards program is now accepting LOIs for the Engagement Award: Stakeholder Convening Support, a research support funding opportunity, for projects up to one year in duration, and up to $100,000 in total costs. This program does not fund research studies.

Through this award, PCORI seeks to fund projects designed by organizations and communities to hold multi-stakeholder convenings, meetings, and conferences that include a combination of patients, caregivers, researchers, clinicians, purchasers, payers, health system leaders, and/or other stakeholders. PCORI is receptive to applications encompassing a wide range of research support project topics. These convenings must have a focus on, and commitment to, supporting collaboration around PCOR/CER.

Convenings supported under this funding opportunity should be designed with the active collaboration and partnership of patients, community groups, and/or other stakeholder organizations. Projects should bring together diverse stakeholders around a central focus or shared priority that unifies stakeholders (e.g., geography, health condition, population) to explore issues related to PCOR/CER or communicate PCORI-funded research results to targeted end-user audiences.

NOTE: BECU member nominations are accepted through the Letter of Inquiry deadline, above. Nonprofit supplemental applications are due by the full proposal deadline.

Nominate a Nonprofit

Not all heroes wear capes. Some work to end hunger, others push for social equity and justice, and others transform lives through mentorship, education or the arts. Heroism takes many forms, and we're counting on you to help us identify the heroes among us.

The People Helping People Awards is an annual, member-driven program that recognizes members and nonprofits that help others. Each winner receives up to $50K in grant funds. This year, through our Black Community Development Project (BCDP), a five-year, $5 million commitment to Black communities and racial equity, we're giving up to $150K in additional funding to Black-led nonprofits nominated by BECU members.

So look around you for heroes who deserve recognition, and nominate a nonprofit for a BECU People Helping People Award today.

Giving Areas and Subcategories

Advancing Education (Pre K Through College) 

Access to education, mentoring, educational materials and programming, classroom/school and PTSA funding for educational programs/materials/experiences

Arts And Culture 

Equitable access to art experiences, underrepresented art and cultural organizations, cultural programs

Creating Economic Opportunity 

Living-wage jobs, small and startup businesses, job quality for low-wage workers

Preserving Health And Promoting Wellness 

Access to healthcare, illness prevention/cure, mental health, patient support, disabilities, veteran advocacy

Preserving Or Restoring The Environment 

Conservation, stewardship, sustainability

Providing For Basic Human Needs 

Affordable housing, homelessness, senior advocacy, infant and child advocacy, food/diaper/clothing banks

Strengthening Local Communities 

Neighborhoods, public safety, search and rescue, outdoor spaces, rotary/chambers of commerce.

.ORG Impact Awards

Now in its fifth year, the 2023 .ORG Impact Awards (OIAs) recognizes and rewards those who have achieved meaningful success, often overcoming difficult challenges with few resources. These people and organizations work tirelessly – together – in pursuit of their missions – not for recognition or financial gain, but to simply make the world a better place.

Nominations are open and if successful, your nomination submission will win the award for your nominee so don’t underestimate its importance.

Category Descriptions

• Health and Healing: Recognizes an organization or individual who is dedicated to providing health and wellness resources to the community including education and awareness, vaccine development, equitable distribution of medical supplies, and mental health resources.
• Quality Education for All: Recognizes an organization or individual for contributions in providing education for all, without regard to race, gender, or financial status.
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Recognizes an organization or individual for efforts toward furthering diversity, equity, and inclusion in society through creation of policies, programs, and initiatives that address systemic challenges and historic injustices.
• Environmental Stewardship: Recognizes an organization or individual that works to combat the increased threats to our environment and promotes responsible consumption and environmental sustainability in communities around the world.
• Hunger and Poverty: Recognizes an organization or individual who has made significant contributions and innovations in the fight to end hunger, alleviate poverty, and reduce resource inequalities on a local, national, or global scale.
• Community Building: Recognizes an organization or individual whose efforts have contributed to changing or enhancing the lives of those in the community the nominee serves, whether on a local, national, or global level.
• Rising Star: Recognizes an individual under the age of 25 by December 31, 2023, who has created a positive impact in their community through leadership on a project, platform, task, or campaign.
• The .ORG Impact Awards .ORG of the Year - Recognizes an organization or individual for outstanding achievement as evidenced by results and/or contributions to its sector, constituents, community or society at large. The finalists in the other seven categories are automatically eligible for this award.
  • As the .ORG of the Year award will be selected by PIR, no submissions or nominations for this category will be accepted.

Why Submit an Entry

• Receive a Significant Cash Donation
  • This year, we’ve increased donation amounts and expanded the donations to include finalists. We will provide winning .ORGs up to a $50,000 USD contribution to the nonprofit of their choice.
    • .ORG of the Year – $40,000 USD
    • Category Winners – $10,000 USD
    • Category Finalists (non-winners) – $2,500 USD
• Drive Community Reach and Support
  • Show the world how your .ORG is impacting the community! Build support, generate funding, and rally others to your cause. Serve as a shining example to others who are striving to make a better world for us all.
• Receive a Prestigious Award and Attend Our Awards Ceremony
  • Proudly display your custom .ORG Impact Award and dedicated digital logo mark to let the world know that your organization is achieving amazing results and making a difference. Finalists will be invited to attend our in-person gala in Washington DC (including travel and accommodations)!
• Raise Awareness and Your Profile
  • Finalists and winners will be featured across a variety of .ORG platforms throughout the year, including videos, articles, social posts, and more! We’ve expanded our programs to focus more attention on award finalists and winners than ever before!