Grantmaking: Stewarding Community Resources

The Satterberg Foundation no longer accepts unsolicited letters of interest, proposals, or grant applications.

​Instead, we have made up to 10-year commitments to over 250 non-profit organizations in WA, CA, AZ and nationally. Here’s why.

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How We Fund

We provide general operating support to organizations that serve and partner with communities most impacted by historical and systemic racism. We return resources via the following granting programs: Core Support, RAF (Reparative Action Fund), Invitational Grants and Family Awards, and Community Partnerships/Collaborations.

We also let go of the application-and-reporting approach to grantmaking, which has long been linked to inequity in funding and re-funding. Instead, we are working to identify and build relationships with BIPOC led and serving groups to return resources. This approach will allow our funding to be more flexible, adaptive, and responsive to community needs and help us get out of the way of our Grantee Partners*, whose time is much better spent on doing their core work than on seeking and keeping funding.

We no longer accept unsolicited grant applications.

Core Support Grants

The Core Support grant program supports over 200 organizations with multi-year, unrestricted funding and deep, relationship-based support. Our Core Support Grantee Partners do the majority of their work in Washington state and California and are closely aligned with Satterberg’s mission and priorities.

We no longer accept unsolicited grant applications for Core Support.

Reparative Action Fund

In addition to prioritizing grantmaking to communities and organizations most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, in the summer of 2020, Satterberg pledged to intentionally partner with and center grantmaking with Black- and Indigenous-led organizations. We committed an additional $50 million dollars over the next ten years, at a minimum, to support this new strategy. This approach includes supporting M4BL (Movement for Black Lives) with $5 million over ten years. We are also funding regional and national coalitions; coordination tables and movement ecosystems (such as M4BL); and place-based organizing and advocacy where Black and Indigenous-led movement has been and will continue to be vital for social transformation (Georgia, Louisiana, Arizona, and New Mexico as examples.) Our funding strategy for reparations in Black and Indigenous communities will be supported by our place-based Core Support grants in our current priority states—California, Washington state, and Arizona.

We do not accept applications for the Reparative Action Fund.

Invitational Grants & Family Awards

A small portion of our funding is distributed at the discretion and invitation of our Board and family members.

We do not accept applications for Invitational Grants or Family Awards.

Community Partnerships/Collaborations

Satterberg Foundation’s Community Partnerships are multi-year, large-scale grant partnerships. Community Partners represent trusted intermediary institutions who are supporting non-profits and evolving the philanthropic sector through Regranting, Capacity Building, and Policy and Advocacy. We prioritize partners with BIPOC-led and centered staff and a strong commitment to racial equity.

Satterberg also invests in funder collaboratives and co-funding partnerships (pooled funds) to engage in learning, increase our impact, and strengthen bridges across funders and communities.

We do not accept applications for Community Partnerships and Collaborations.

Who We Fund

Learn more about our Grantee Partners: Grantee Partner Stories and Grantee Database.

Why don’t we take grant applications anymore?

Reflecting upon the dual pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism allowed the Satterberg Foundation to fully acknowledge the deeply harmful impacts of entrenched inequities, and the immediate need for the wealthy to share not just funds but power. To honor and fulfill our commitments to our grantee partners, we are shifting from grantmaking to retention. Instead of taking new applications, we are focusing on the 300+ non-profits with whom we are in deep relationships, and we have added the $50 million Reparative Action Fund and launched the Metropole building initiative. We remain committed to a 10% payout plus operational expenses, and our grantmaking will continue to evolve based on the wisdom of our non-profit leaders, organizations, and community.

*Each Grantee Partner is:

  • A 501(c)3 tax-exempt non-profit or fiscally sponsored by a 501(c)3 organization
  • Nondiscriminatory in its policies and practices in regard to sex, race, color, marital status, national origin, religious affiliation, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, and age
  • Nonevangelical in its work
  • Aligned with the mission, vision, and values of the Satterberg Foundation