OVERVIEW: The Trellis Charitable Fund makes grants for human rights, journalism and visual arts projects. This funder tends to offer ongoing support to a select group of grantees working in its areas of interest.
IP TAKE: The Trellis Charitable Fund is not transparent in that it does not articulate specific grantmaking goals or interests, but it does provide ongoing support to a select group of grantees in human rights, journalism and visual arts. This is a good funder to know for multi-year support, but it’s not an easy nut to crack. The fund is not accessible, but prospective grantees may reach out via email or telephone. Contact information is provided below.
PROFILE: The Trellis Charitable Fund was established in 1998 in Washington, D.C. According to its website, this family foundation “gives voice to the voiceless, exposes injustice and advocates for change both here and abroad.” Trellis’s grantmaking prioritizes “groups whose rigorous research and strategic interventions successfully change people’s lives” and “organizations who tackle the toughest and most complex societal issues.”
This funder maintains a sparse website, but according to its recent tax filings, Trellis makes grants for human rights, journalism and visual arts projects and organizations that focus on social justice.
Grants for Global Security and Human Rights
The Trellis Charitable Trust provides ongoing support to a corps of large human rights organizations and NGOS that operate globally. Recipients include Human Rights Watch, the Global Witness Foundation and the Fund for Global Human Rights.
Grants for Journalism
Trellis demonstrates a strong, but broad commitment to journalism and news organizations involved in human rights and social justice reporting. Grantmaking in this area has steadily increased over the past several years. Recent journalism grantees include ProPublica, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting and the Marshall Project, which focuses on criminal justice issues in the U.S.
Grants for Visual Arts
The Trellis Charitable Trust does not outline specific goals for its visual arts grantmaking, but has demonstrated an interest in photographic exhibitions. Grants have gone to the National Gallery of Art and the Yale Art Gallery.
Important Grant Details:
The Trellis Charitable Fund makes about $1 million a year in grants. Grants range from $5,000 to $200,000, with an average grant size of about $50,000. Over the past several years, the fund has provided ongoing support to a small corps of well-established organizations in its areas of interest. For additional information about past grantmaking, see the fund’s recent tax filings.
This funder does not accept unsolicited proposals or letters of inquiry. Staff may be reached via email or telephone at 202-966-4317.
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