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Paul G. Allen Family Foundation Awards $9.6 Million in Grants

  • Latest grants benefit nearly 100 nonprofit organizations in the Pacific Northwest

SEATTLE, Wash. – October 16, 2007

A shared information technology project to serve children with special needs in Yakima, Wash.; the renovation of a historic theater to house a symphony orchestra in Spokane, Wash.; a capital campaign to build a crisis service center in Anchorage, Alaska; and the expansion of a much-needed medical clinic in Seattle’s Pike Place Market. These are just four of the initiatives that will be advanced by funding from the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation (PGAFF) through its philanthropic grants from the spring 2007 application period.

The Foundation announced today that a total of $9,604,500 has been awarded to 96 nonprofit organizations throughout the five-state Pacific Northwest region (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and Alaska). In the current giving cycle, PGAFF continues to direct a majority of its funding in the form of capacity building and capital grants, which enhance a nonprofit organization’s ability to achieve its mission effectively and to sustain itself over the long term. These types of grants focus on improving infrastructure and technology, funding facility improvements and enhancing organizational development to improve the services provided to clients and customers.

“The Foundation’s goal is to advance the efforts of nonprofit organizations that improve the quality of life in the Pacific Northwest,” said Susan M. Coliton, senior director of the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation. “We believe one of the best ways to do that is by providing funds and tools that help nonprofits become stronger, more self-sustaining, and better able to serve their communities over the long-term. We are pleased that these latest grants will empower a wide range of nonprofit organizations in the Northwest to achieve their charitable goals more effectively and create lasting change within our local communities.”

Currently, few foundations and venture philanthropists have committed to investing in the organizational capacity of the nonprofits that they fund. A 2005 survey by the Foundation Center, a leading authority on philanthropy, revealed that only 20 percent of grants awarded by more than 1,200 private and community foundations were for capacity building and operating support. A 2007 report by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations points out that the current level of capacity building grants is small in comparison to other forms of charitable giving. By contrast, over 50 percent of grants awarded by PGAFF during its latest giving cycle – totaling about $5 million – were geared towards building organizational capacity within nonprofits.

Charitable contributions in the most recent grant cycle were focused in three program areas, with $3,955,500 for arts and culture grants, $3,905,000 for community development and social change programs, and $1,744,000 for youth engagement programs.

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