Allen Family Foundation, Paul G.

Overview: Established in 2005 in WA. In 2004, the Paul G. Allen Charitable Foundation, along with The Allen Foundation for the Arts, The Paul G. Allen Foundation for Medical Research, The Paul G. Allen Forest Protection Foundation, The Allen Foundation for Music, and The Paul G. Allen Virtual Education Foundation, were consolidated into a new foundation, The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

Areas of Interest

1. The Arts and Culture Program The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation's Arts and Culture Program contributes to the health and vibrancy of cities and towns throughout the Pacific Northwest by nurturing artistic expression and promoting critical thinking through the creation and presentation of compelling artistic programs. We also help cultural organizations improve their financial performance through a range of capacity building efforts.

Due to the downturn in the U.S. economy, many arts organizations are operating under a new level of stress as they grapple with shifts in earned and contributed income; endowments, cash reserves, and other investment portfolios; audience turnout; and corporate, foundation, public, and individual giving.

In response to this new economic landscape, the Foundation's grantmaking in the Arts and Culture Program is focused in two funding priority areas:

Improving Financial Performance: The Foundation supports efforts that help arts organizations strengthen their financial performance so that they can sustain themselves during the recession and beyond. The Foundation invests in capacity building projects, collaborative projects that enable organizations to share systems and resources, testing of new business models, and other adaptive strategies.

Artistic Programming: The Foundation supports individual events and full seasons of artistic programming that feature professional artists, including contemporary works that address current social, political, and cultural issues.

2. Community Development and Social Change Program The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation's Community Development and Social Change Program helps low-income individuals and families acquire the skills and resources needed to achieve long-term economic stability and success. The program also helps libraries meet the educational and cultural needs of growing, diverse populations.

To achieve these goals, the Foundation's grantmaking in Community Development and Social Change is focused in two priority areas:

Building Family Assets: The Foundation supports projects that enable organizations to implement new strategies and enhance services to help families acquire the skills and resources needed to improve their wages, acquire savings, and become more financially stable and resilient.

Libraries for the Next Generation: The Foundation supports projects that help public libraries and library systems engage and serve diverse populations and growing communities.

3. Education and Youth Engagement ProgramThe Paul G. Allen Family Foundation's Education and Youth Engagement Programs enhance the ways children prepare for learning; test new models within the K-12 public education system; and expand opportunities for youth to develop new interests, skills, and abilities. Our hope is that all children enter school excited and ready to learn, and that through their ensuing experiences both in and outside of schools, they become inspired about their future.

To achieve these goals, Foundation grantmaking in Education and Youth Engagement is focused in three priority areas:

Early Childhood Education: The Foundation supports programs that encourage and enable parents and other people who care for children to take an active role in nurturing children's interest in reading.

Great Teachers/Great Schools: The Foundation works with school systems and educators to develop and support new teachers. The Foundation also supports the development of new models of education that integrate a rigorous academic program with opportunities for community engagement and experiential learning.

New Pathways to Learning: The Foundation advances community-based learning in after-school or exploratory programs, community service projects, and internships that foster life-changing experiences for young people
Interest Area Application Procedure

4. Economic Relief Program Providers of emergency relief, including multi-service centers and food banks, report unprecedented increases in requests for services from individuals and families affected by the economic downturn. The people they traditionally serve, including poor and low-income individuals and families without savings or a network of support, are at risk of becoming homeless, foregoing health care, or going hungry as economic conditions worsen.

The Foundation is working with other regional funders and partners to help nonprofits respond to these new economic challenges. Grantmaking in the Economic Relief Program is focused in two priority areas:

Expanding the Safety Net: The Foundation supports collaborative initiatives that help organizations provide our community's most vulnerable residents with food, shelter, and other emergency support. Foundation funding includes increasing resources for immediate needs and supporting efforts that prevent families from becoming homeless and falling deeper into poverty.

Sustaining the Nonprofit Sector: The Foundation supports collaborative efforts focused on helping nonprofit organizations adjust to new economic realities. These grants include support for local and regional funder collaborations and special projects that help organizations address financial challenges.

Consideration will be given to efforts focused on the Foundation's longstanding areas of interest, including libraries, youth engagement, asset building, and arts organizations.

Grant applications for this program are by invitation. Unsolicited proposals and letters of inquiry are not accepted.

5. The Science and Technology Innovations Program advances promising research and technological developments that have the potential to expand knowledge, improve health, and protect the environment.

With the rapid pace of innovation in science and technology, The Paul G Allen Family Foundation strives to apply new ideas, discoveries, and information to complex regional and global challenges. The Foundation supports promising research and new technology development that have the potential to protect the environment, affect global health challenges, and expand our knowledge of the universe.

In order to accomplish these objectives, the Foundation supports multidisciplinary projects with clearly defined goals and milestones, measurable impacts, and a high potential for broad, long-term public benefit. Because projects address a wide range of topic areas, Foundation staff work closely with grantees to develop implementation plans and performance metrics.

Specific areas of interest include the following:

Development and applications of technology to protect the environment and mitigate climate change

Research and study of the intersection of neuroscience and the human genome

Development or deployment of technology to expand our knowledge of the universe

Research that results in breakthroughs in medical research and our understanding of biological systems

The Foundation solicits proposals directly from applicants who are, typically, research, academic, or scientific institutions with demonstrated track records and deep expertise in the Foundation's areas of interest.

Grant applications for this program are by invitation. Unsolicited proposals and letters of inquiry are not accepted.

• Arts & Culture:
• Arts & Culture, Artists Support: The Foundation provides support for the creation and presentation of contemporary arts projects that represent diverse art forms and promote civic dialogue. Priority is given to projects that demonstrate high artistic excellence, feature professional artists and extended residencies, and engage audience members on multiple levels. Projects that provide rural communities with greater access to arts programming will also be considered
• Arts & Culture, Creativity and Culture:
• Arts & Culture, Strengthening Cultural Institutions:
  1. Investments in Effective Organizations
  
  The Foundation is interested in helping nonprofit arts and culture organizations strengthen their infrastructure, improve programs, and/or reach new constituents. In order to accomplish this, the Foundation makes one- to three-year grants that support strategies to improve organizational capacity and enhance community impact.
  
  2. Public-Private Initiatives
  
  The Foundation supports large-scale collaborative initiatives in which organizations work together to address systemic or policy issues in the arts sector with the potential for field-wide impact.
• Civic Affairs and Community Development: The Foundation supports large-scale collaborative projects that address major societal concerns such as hunger, homelessness, or access to healthcare. Such initiatives may include strategies to improve service delivery, expand public financing of health or social services, and reach underserved groups such as migrant workers, immigrants or refugee communities
• Nonprofit Sector Support Initiative: The Foundation is interested in addressing critical community needs by helping nonprofit organizations strengthen their infrastructure, improve programs, and/or reach new constituents. In order to accomplish this, the Foundation makes one- to three-year grants that support strategies to improve organizational capacity and enhance community impact
• Science and Technology: The Innovations in Science and Technology Program advances promising research and new technology development that have the potential to expand knowledge, improve health, and protect the environment.
  
  The goals of the Innovations in Science and Technology program are to:
  
  a. Create new tools, applications, and knowledge that describe and define our universe
  
  b. Partner with leading organizations to freely share information, address technical challenges, and align resources in order to accelerate discovery and expedite results
  
  c. Enable peers, colleagues, and the general public to discuss, utilize, and build upon findings and new tools
  
  We accomplish these goals by soliciting a limited number of research and development proposals. Please note: Proposals in this program area are by invitation only. Unsolicited letters of inquiry and proposals are not accepted.
  
  Research and Development
  
  The Foundation supports multi-disciplinary projects with defined milestones and a high likelihood of producing near-term success.
  
  Areas of interest include:
  
  a. Applications of technology to reduce global warming
  
  b. Research and study of the intersection of neuroscience and the human genome
  
  c. Development or deployment of technology to expand our knowledge of the universe
  
• Youth Development: We support large-scale collaborative efforts in which organizations work together to improve program quality, integrate services, or increase access and capacity. Initiatives should address local and regional issues that affect a broad range of people and communities. The Foundation makes a limited number of grants to support research, development, implementation, and evaluation of strategies to improve teaching and learning in public schools
• Youth Development, Services: The Foundation is interested in helping nonprofit organizations serving youth strengthen their infrastructure, improve their programs, and/or reach new constituents. In order to accomplish this, the Foundation makes one- to three-year grants that support strategies to improve organizational capacity and enhance community impact.

Sample Grants
$ 50,000 to Adelante Mujeres , Forest Grove , OR To support fundraising capacity to diversify its sources of support
$ 50,000 to Boise Art Museum , Boise , ID To support an exhibition of the work of Kendall Buster
$ 30,000 to Book It Repertory Theatre , Seattle , WA To support the production of Kent Haruf's 'Plainsong' and Edith's Wharton's 'House of Mirth' plays
$ 100,000 to Coeur d'Alene Public Library , Coeur d'Alene , ID To support the construction of a new public library
$ 75,000 to Country Doctor Community Health Centers , Seattle , WA To support a capacity building project to implement a new practice management and electronic health records system
$ 125,000 to Food Bank of Alaska , Anchorage , AK To support the Blueprint to End Hunger project in Alaska to improve the effectiveness of publicly funded nutrition programs
$ 40,000 to Holter Museum of Art , Helena , MT To support the 'Traversing Boundaries' exhibition series
$ 90,000 to Log Cabin Literary Center , Boise , ID To support a two-year capacity building project focusing on marketing and resource development
$ 15,000 to Montana Shakespeare in the Parks , Bozeman , MT
$ 10,000 to Philanthropy Northwest , Seattle , WA To support the 2006 Philanthropy Northwest Members Conference
$ 30,000 to Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra (SYSO) , Seattle , WA To support expansion of the Endangered Instruments Program, a music instruction program for at-risk youth
$ 40,000 to Very Special Arts of Washington , Washington , DC To support construction of a new classroom, studio, and computer lab spaces for artists
$ 250,000 to Washington State Farm Worker Housing Trust , Seattle , WA To support the development of short-term and permanent housing for farmworker families Washington State
$ 5,000 to YMCA of Billings , Billings , MT To support the 2006 Contemporary Arts and Lectures Series
$ 75,000 to YouthForce , Seattle , WA To support the implementation of a business development plan in order to expand internship opportunities for high school age youth

Application Procedures::
STEP ONE: LETTER OF INQUIRY (LOI)

LOIs are accepted and reviewed throughout the year. Please keep our proposal due dates in mind when submitting your LOI as LOIs must be submitted at least four weeks prior to the deadline.

All organizations must submit a letter of inquiry (LOI) to be considered for funding. There are two ways to submit an LOI.

a. Online Letter of Inquiry: We prefer that applicants submit an LOI via our online submittal tool. You will be asked to submit basic organizational and project information.

Trying to access your saved letter of inquiry? If you are attempting to access a letter of inquiry that has been submitted online, please visit our online application tool and enter your e-mail address and the password you created when you submitted your letter of inquiry. If you submitted a letter of inquiry via postal mail, you will not be able to access your letter of inquiry online.

b. Postal Letter of Inquiry: If you are unable to submit an LOI online, please print out and complete a copy of our LOI form. You will receive a response to your LOI within four weeks of submittal.

Please plan ahead! Grants are awarded twice a year. The grantmaking process can take up to six months from receipt of proposal to notification of funding decisions.

STEP TWO: PROPOSAL

If your LOI is accepted, we will send you our proposal guidelines to complete, which specifies when your proposal is due. Please do not submit a proposal without an invitation to apply.

Proposals that are submitted without using the proposal guidelines will not be considered for funding.

Grants Paid

2001 ($40,120,000 )

2002 ($33,270,000 )

2003 ($38,920,000 )

2004 ($16,140,000 )

2005 ($23,683,669 )

2007 ($29,993,298 )

2008 ($22,700,000 )

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