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Our pooled grants support five areas:
Arts & Culture
Education
Environment
Health
Human Services
Fueled by the combined strength of member giving, Washington Women’s Foundation makes annual “pooled grants” of $50,000 to $100,000 in each of five areas, given over two to three years. These grants help nonprofits meet critical needs, spur new projects and foster innovation. And, because the Washington Women’s Foundation’s grant-making process is respected nationwide for its rigorous analysis and intensive member involvement, a grant from us often serves as a catalyst for leveraging other foundation grants and individual donations. Learn more about the pooled grant-making process.
Since our inception, 58 nonprofits – and the countless communities and individuals they serve – have benefited from the large pooled fund grants. Building a children’s theatre in a rural area. Offering safe shelter to homeless families. Supporting sustainable farmland. Helping foster kids reach their potential. Advancing research into pediatric brain cancer. Washington Women’s Foundation pooled grants change lives.
Our members also direct a part of their own personal giving through the Foundation. Each member recommends up to three nonprofits that may receive grants totalling $1,000 each year. Learn more about the individual grant-making process.
Our impact does not stop when we write a check. As investors in the nonprofits we support, we conduct annual follow-up assessments for members to know the real impact of our grants.
To read the full report of our current grantees and the impact of the Foundation's grant, click below:
Impact Assessment Committee Report 2010
Success Story:
Transforming lives through job training in the culinary arts
A $100,000 grant from the Washington Women’s Foundation in 1998 propelled FareStart’s job placement and training program for homeless men and women to unprecedented levels.The nonprofit’s entrepreneurial approach to job and life-skills training for the homeless has sparked so much interest that communities around the country continue to work to replicate its success.
“The Foundation took a chance on a new, innovative nonprofit,” says Executive Director Megan Karch. “This grant gave us the push we needed to move forward.”
The money allowed FareStart to double both its budget and the number of people it served over the life of the three-year grant. It lent the organization much-needed recognition and credibility, which led to a succession of grants from other foundations and individuals. Karch sums up the impact of the Washington Women’s Foundation grant quite simply: “It put us on the map.”
Today, FareStart has provided opportunities for more than 2,000 people to transform their lives, while also serving nearly 3 million meals to disadvantaged men, women and children.
Team Read
2006 Grantee
“When I gave $50 here and there to different causes, I didn’t have time to look carefully at those organizations and I didn’t really know what impact my small gifts were making. What resonated with me about Washington Women’s Foundation was the larger and more informed impact that a group of women like this could make.”
Anne Payne Barker
member since 2003
member since 2003
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