Grant Guidelines

WWF Funding Criteria

Washington Women’s Foundation funds projects that address at least one of the following criteria:

• Responses to urgent and critical need;
• Bold new ventures; and/or
• New approaches to ongoing problems.

The Foundation funds broadly – it does not limit funding to women’s causes. It funds organizations that, in the opinion of Foundation members, are able to make the best use of a large impact grant of $50,000 - $100,000.

The Foundation funds five organizations each year, one in each of the following funding areas: arts and culture, education, environment, health and human services.

The Foundation accepts Letters of Inquiry; full grant proposals are accepted by invitation only. Twenty-five organizations, five in each of the funding areas, are invited to submit full proposals each year.

Guiding Principles

• Our grant making process balances two goals: to make high-impact funding decisions, and to make the process as educational and hands-on as possible for our members.
• Significant impact is one of the primary goals of our grant making: on individuals, the organization and/or the community at large.
• The Foundation also looks for potential for leveraging other funds, collaboration or other partnerships.
• Charity fills an immediate need; philanthropy makes change happen. We are looking to make change happen.

Eligibility Criteria:

• Only organizations that qualify as 501(c)(3) entities under the Internal Revenue Service code, and who provide services in the state of Washington, will be considered for funding.
• Funding for special projects, capital campaigns and operating expenses will be considered.
• Funding requests for endowments will not be considered.
• Organizations that discriminate on the basis of age, race, national origin, ethnicity, gender, physical ability, sexual orientation, political affiliation or religious belief and organizations that serve an exclusively sectarian purpose will not be considered for funding.
• Organizations that have previously received a WWF pooled fund award are again eligible for consideration it if has been a minimum of five years since the initial grant award (i.e., for the 2009 grant cycle, awarded in 2004 or before).