Stewart R. Mott Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Stewart Mott Foundation is a small, but strategic funder that is primarily concerned with nuclear proliferation and overpopulation, but also supports organizations related to civil rights and civil liberties.
IP TAKE: The Stewart R. Mott Foundation supports U.S.-based organizations with a national focus and generally supports the foundation’s cadre of existing grantees. This is a crowded, inaccessible space. The foundation is also currently spending down its assets and plans to end all grantmaking programs by the summer of 2022, so this is not an ideal funder depending on the kind of work you need to fund.
OVERVIEW: Established in 1968, the Stewart R. Mott Foundation (formerly known as the Stewart R. Mott Fund) was created with funds secured through Mott’s family’s large foundation, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. When Stewart suggested that his father’s foundation refocus its priorities to the threats of nuclear war and overpopulation, his ideas were rejected, leading him to form his own charitable outfit, the Stewart R. Mott Foundation. The foundation’s current areas of focus are: Peace, Arms Control and Foreign Policy; Population Issues and Reproductive Rights; Government Reform and Public Policy; and Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. This funder is currently spending down its assets and mainly supports its existing corps of grantees with grants of up to $10,000. Funding is limited to organizations operating in the U.S. with “a national focus.”
Grants for Civic Engagement and Democracy
The Mott Foundation supports programs related to democracy and civic engagement through its Civil Rights and Civil Liberties program. The foundation prefers to give small amounts in order to help like-minded nonprofits garner funding attention from other sources. Current grantees include the Center for Constitutional Rights, Defending Rights and Dissent and the Global Press Institute.
Grants for Public Health
The Mott Foundation supports projects related to public health through its Population Issues and Reproductive Rights program. Recent grantmaking has focused on reproductive rights, with grants supporting Catholics for Choice, the Center for Reproductive Rights, Planned Parenthood Global and Population Action International.
Grants for Global Security
Mott’s global security stems from its Peace, Arms Control and Foreign Policy, which maintains a strong interest in nuclear nonproliferation policy and education in the fields of peace studies and international relations. Grantees include the Arms Control Association, the Center for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, the Institute for Policy Studies and the Global Security Institute.
Grants for Journalism
The Mott Foundation’s Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and Government Reform programs have supported a significant number of journalism organizations in the U.S. Recent grants have gone to the Global Press Institute, the Women’s Media Center, the Center for Investigative Reporting and the Institute for Nonprofit News.
Important Grant Details:
The Mott Foundation gave away about $12 million in a recent year. Its recent grants have ranged from $5,000 to $10,000. This funder is currently spending down its assets and plans to end all grantmaking programs by the summer of 2022. At this time, it mainly supports existing grantees. Grantseekers may review the foundation’s current grantees for more information on its grantmaking habits.
The Stewart R. Mott Foundation is no longer accepting unsolicited proposals. General inquiries may be directed to the foundation via email or telephone at 202-543-3156.
PEOPLE:
Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).
LINKS: