OVERVIEW: The Margaret A. Cargill Foundation is one of the largest foundations in the US. It supports work that demonstrates the potential for lasting and measurable impact. Grantmaking is competitive. Cargill’s past grantmaking indicates that the foundation does pay attention to community-based organizations, and does not restrict its focus to large national and international organizations.
IP TAKE: Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies is a confusing entity, composed of three separate foundations with distinct mandates and separate pots of money. It's also still very much a work in progress, and some of its grantmaking programs are still in development. They don't accept unsolicited proposals or make it easy for grant seekers to figure out what's what. This funder is also bureaucratic in its approach to funding.
Cargill believes that the best way to exact lasting change on the issues with which it is concerned is "by investing in long-term relationships with key grantees, strengthening [its] combined abilities to make a meaningful difference in the world." As a result, the foundation seeks projects and programs it can support for multiple grant cycles. In addition, in order to fund a project or program, the foundation expects its grantees' work to thrive well after its grant support has ended.
PROFILE: Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies is an umbrella organization that includes the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation (MACF). Margaret Anne Cargill was the granddaughter of W.W. Cargill, the founder of the Midwest agricultural giant, and one of the eight heirs to the Cargill fortune. The MACF was created out of Cargill’s estate after her death in 2006, and seeks to “provide meaningful assistance and support to society, the arts, and the environment.” The MACF's grantmaking strategies address seven areas: arts and cultures, disaster relief and recovery, environment, animal welfare, quality of life, teachers, and legacy and opportunity.
Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies is the umbrella name for several trusts: the Anne Ray Charitable Trust, the Akaloa Foundation, and the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation. All of these entities share the same leadership, and we treat them as a single entity in this and other posts. The Anne Ray Charitable Trust and the Akaloa Foundation are so-called "supporting organizations," and only give to a limited set of grantees that Cargill designated as beneficiaries. The Margaret A. Cargill Foundation is Cargill’s primary grantmaking organization.
Grants for Arts, Culture and Indigenous
MACF funds the arts through its arts and culture program, which supports "folk arts, Native American art, music, tactile art, and artistically significant crafts that foster human creativity." Within the scope of this program, the foundation offers two subprograms: native arts and cultures, and folk arts and cultures.
The native arts and cultures supports organizations in the Upper Midwest, Montana, Idaho, the Pacific Northwest and the Southwest. While the foundation prioritizes these areas, it also funds organizations beyond them. Cargill supports work that strengthens networks of Native artists and their communities.
The folk arts and cultures program funds projects that foster a “deep understanding, wide practice, and broad recognition of Scandinavia folk arts and culture.” Grants are generally restricted to organizations located in the Upper Midwest and the Appalachian folk culture of the Southeast. Past arts grantees include organizations like North House Folk School in Minnesota and First People’s Fund in South Dakota.
Grants for Humanitarian and Disaster Relief
The MACP takes a long-view of its disaster relief efforts and thus focuses on preparing communities for future catastrophes through preparedness, relief, and recovery efforts. Cargill’s related grantmaking emphasizes building resilience amongst vulnerable populations in areas of the world with a history of experiencing recurring disasters. Past grantees include Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Feeding America, and Legal Services Corporation.
Grants for the Environment
Cargill offers various climate change and conservation opportunities through its program dedicated to the environment. The program supports community-based solutions focused on the "conservation of natural resources and protection of natural habitats." The foundation’s marine conservation grants prioritize the Alaskan and British Columbia coasts, Micronesia, and the Sunda-Banda Seascape in Indonesia; however, it funds projects across the globe. Cargill climate change and environmental grants support international and community-based approaches to combat ecosystem degradation and climate change on coastal, river, tropical forest, and grassland communities. Its animal and wildlife grants prioritize the well-being of domestic animals, rehabilitation of injured wild animals for eventual re-release, and programs to increase compassion toward animals.
Grants for Marine Conservation
The foundation primarily conducts its marine-related grantmaking through two subprograms, coastal ecosystems and freshwater ecosystems. Cargill's coastal program addresses "coral reefs, mangroves, and coastal wetlands for their survival." The foundation's work in this area seeks to develop strategies that sustain "themselves in harmony with their environment, particularly in the face of rising sea levels and other climate change impacts." Similarly, the freshwater program supports "important river basins and the development of sustainable strategies for the communities who depend on these ecosystems to thrive." Past marine conservation grantees include the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Lake Ponchartrain Basin Foundation.
Grants for Climate Change and the Environment
Cargill’s climate change and environmental conservation grantmaking happens via its tropical forests and grasslands programs. Grants for tropical forests help communities “develop symbiotic strategies to sustain themselves and their vital forest ecosystems.” Finally, grasslands grants support “grassland-dependent communities with community-based conservation programs and sustainable strategies to preserve these vanishing ecosystems.” Past grantees include Climate and Land Use Alliance, Alliance for Conservation Evidence and Sustainability, and the Center for Marine Conservation in Bali, Indonesia.
Grants for Animals and Wildlife
MACF’s animal welfare program funds efforts to boost the well-being of domestic animals and injured wild animals and to increase empathy toward animals among children and adults. Cargill’s animal welfare features three subprograms. The Companion Animals subprogram helps local shelters with community outreach programs, spay/neuter programs, and sheltering homeless animals. The Empathy through accredited zoos and aquariums subprogram awards grants to organizations that “[foster] strong connections between humans and other animals, focusing on children and teens. The wildlife rehabilitation/restoration subprogram supports groups helping sick, orphaned, and injured wild animals recover with the goal of releasing them back into the wild. This subprogram also funds habitat restoration projects. Past grantees include National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Wildlife Conservation Society, and Animal Shelter of the Wood River Valley.
Grants for Work and Opportunity
Cargill’s quality of life grantmaking supports “evidence-based interventions that address the needs of vulnerable individuals and families in key transitional stages of life.” One component of this centers around post-secondary success. Grants in this area work to “improve the retention, attainment, skill development, graduation, and employability of these students” by “increasing institutional commitment to student success” and “investing in interventions across key moments of the student experience.” MACP also funds efforts concerning family stability, which “help vulnerable families achieve greater stability, build supports, and increase self-sufficiency.” The MACP favors grants that focus on community-based programs, which support underserved or low-attention areas and causes, rather than policy initiatives or endowments.
Cargill’s legacy and opportunity program grants “provide flexible funding for opportunities aligned with MACP's values and philosophy and support for specific geographies” important to Margaret Cargill, including the Upper Midwest and Southern California. Past grantees include College Possible, American Indian College Fund, and the Jeremiah Program.
Grants for Arts Education
MACF’s education grantmaking prioritizes teachers and seeks to fund programs and organizations that “support recruitment, training, and retention of qualified people for the teaching profession.” Cargill’s arts education program “focuses on improving development and increasing recruitment of qualified students and teachers so that more high quality educators who teach the arts exist and remain in K-12 schools.” This program prioritizes Wisconsin and Alaska. Past grantees include Alaska State Council on the Arts, Juneau School District, and School District of Menomonie.
Grants for Public Health
Cargill also makes grants that prioritize support for “life’s journey at vulnerable stages for children, young adults, families, and older adults.” Consequently, its aging program enables “older adults in targeted rural communities to live their lives with autonomy and dignity.” These grants seek to “engage older adults and their caregivers in their own health, promote social engagement, provide access to services and supports, and strengthen the quality of care provided by formal and informal caregivers.” The foundation’s youth camping & swimming program seeks to “support camps, swimming, and other enrichment experiences that provide positive, affirming, and safe exposure to nature and build character and community for all youth.” MACF has also established a limited fund to address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic within local communities.
Past public health grantees include Pathfinder International, Empire Health Foundation, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, Save the Children Federation, and Helen Bader Foundation.
Important Grant Details:
Grants range from $100,000 to over $3 million. However, grant seekers should note that grantmaking is competitive. The foundation's approach to grantmaking emphasizes strengthening the "effectiveness and capacity of [its] key grantee partners by investing in their leadership, management, and operational capabilities." Cargill does not accept unsolicited requests for funding.
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