OVERVIEW: The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation makes grants for conservation, climate change, public health, in the areas of the environment, health and community development with a strong focus on its home state of Washington.
IP TAKE: This funder emphasizes innovation and aims to solve pressing problems concerning climate change, environmental degradation and health. While this funder does not state geographic priorities, it tends to fund organizations based in or serving Seattle and the West Coast. Recent years have seen an increase in support for national organizations and organizations operating in other areas of the U.S.
Unfortunately, the Paul G. Allen Foundation does not respond to unsolicited inquiries for funding. This is a tough funding nut to crack, but network with other recent grantees of this family foundation to see how to get on its radar.
PROFILE: Established in 1988 by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and his sister Jody Allen, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation is based in Seattle, Washington. The foundation aims to “preserve ocean health, protect wildlife, combat climate change, and strengthen communities.” Its four current grantmaking programs focus specifically on oceans, climate, conservation, community and bioscience. Grantmaking prioritizes the Pacific Northwest, but grants to national organizations, as well as organizations operating in other parts of the U.S., has increased over the past several years.
Grants for Climate Change and Clean Energy
Recent climate grantmaking focused on “reducing human impacts on our climate and funding research that improves understanding of climate models and data.” Recent grantees include research at the California Institute of Technology and the University of Washington, among others. The foundation has also run a signature climate program, the Smart Cities Challenge, for which the foundation partnered with the U.S. Department of Transportation to create systems and practices that significantly reduced emissions produced from urban transportation in the City of Columbus, Ohio, which will serve as a model for similar projects across the country.
Grants for Marine Conservation, Animals and Wildlife
The Allen Foundation’s oceans program is currently focused on “ improving understanding of sharks, rays, and coral reefs through academic research and applying that knowledge toward conservation efforts.” The foundation has participated in several high-profile initiatives in this area, including 50 Reefs, a project that develops conservation strategies for coral reefs and that is also funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Tiffany Foundation. Another funded project, Sea of Opportunity, consists of research about plastic pollution in oceans and investment opportunities in the field of ocean mitigation. The Allen Foundation also funds initiatives for animal and ecosystem conservation in the Pacific Northwest and Africa via its conservation program, which has made grants to Wildlife Crime Prevention, the Lilongwe Wildlife Trust, the Puget Sound Restoration Fund and the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington.
Grants for Public Health and Science Research
The Allen Foundation’s bioscience program mainly supports research in the life sciences. Much of this funding is given to projects at the Allen Institute and its subdivision, the Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group. Funded projects tend to be large-scale, interdisciplinary and have the potential to break ground on new discoveries or technologies. Recently funded projects include a study of the link between the brain and the gut in the establishment and disruption of circadian rhythms. The group also ran a “computational challenge” program to encourage computer scientists and others to apply their knowledge to problems in the field of biomedical research. Other grantees in the general areas of health and research include the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of Los Angeles, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Germany and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
Grants for Housing Homelessness and Community Development
The foundation’s communities initiative supports efforts in the Pacific Northwest and around the world to strengthen communities, especially those facing “new or ongoing challenges.” A significant portion of this programs grantmaking has recently addressed COVID-19 response and recovery. Grants have supported response efforts run by the University of Washington and the Seattle Fund. Other recent grantees of the communities program include Seattle’s Mercy Housing, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Tulalip Tribes of Washington and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Washington State.
Important Grant Details:
The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation made about $48 million in grants in a recent year. Grants range widely from $5,000 to over $2 million, with many grants falling in the $100,000 to $250,000 range. The largest area of funding is disease research, followed by the foundation’s in-house science programs. Grants stemming from the communities program tend to be smaller and go to small- to medium-sized community organizations. Across all areas, the foundation prioritizes the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest. Additional information about funded projects and organizations is available at the foundation’s individual program pages.
The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding and does not respond to inquiries.
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