OVERVIEW: The Flinn Foundation’s primary grantmaking purpose is to support biosciences in Arizona and establish the state’s reputation as a leader in research. However, the Phoenix-based foundation also supports arts and culture, scholarships, and civic leadership.
IP TAKE: The Flinn Foundation is a strictly regional funder that aims to improve Arizona’s reputation as a center of research, higher education, and culture. The foundation’s main focus is bioscience research, and while the bulk of its funding goes to invitation-only initiatives and partnerships, it has a generous granting program for advanced-stage research and early-stage entrepreneurship. Flinn’s arts and culture grantmaking is also very practically-minded, aimed at improving the financial and operational health of arts organizations serving the community. It is also majorly involved with civic engagement and leadership in its giving area, although these grants are mainly by invitation only.
This is a transparent funder, with a database of past grants detailing the types of research and projects they went to support. While the vast majority of its funding is not open to the public, it is still a relatively accessible funder with several granting programs accepting annual applications. These grants are highly competitive, however, as they only award a few each year. A successful applicant, whether in bioscience or the arts, must be able to successfully demonstrate the viability of their project and their commitment to expanding and optimizing operations in accordance with the foundation’s standards.
PROFILE: Established in 1965 by Dr. Robert S. and Irene P. Flinn, the Flinn Foundation awards grants that are focused on science and technology in Arizona. Robert Flinn practiced medicine for about fifty years and was the head of cardiography and electrocardiography at Phoenix’s St. Joseph’s Hospital. He was the chief of medical staff at both St. Joseph’s and Phoenix Memorial Hospital and co-founder and first president of the Arizona affiliate of the American Heart Association. Although the foundation’s grantmaking originally focused on healthcare in Arizona, its programming expanded and broadened in the mid-1980s. Today, the foundation’s broad mission is to “improve the quality of life in Arizona to benefit future generations”; to that end, it seeks to “advance the state’s bioscience sector, provide a top-notch education to high-achieving students at an Arizona public university, boost the fiscal and creative capacity of the state’s arts and culture organizations, and develop future state-level civic leaders.” Its current focus areas are Bioscience, Flinn Scholars, Arts and Culture, and Civic Leadership.
Grants for Science Research
The Flinn Foundation’s Bioscience grantmaking centers around a long-term plan to make Arizona a national leader in such fields as “precision medicine, cancer, neurosciences, bioengineering, diagnostics, and agricultural biotechnology.” This strategy involves promoting entrepreneurship, putting research into practice, cultivating talented researchers, and promoting collaboration with institutions in neighboring states and countries. Flinn awards two grants out of this focus area.
The Seed Grants program awards up to $100,000 for an 18-year period to approximately ten Arizona-based research teams with “innovative solutions to well-defined and compelling clinical needs” in the above stated areas. Grantees are expect to use the funding to “de-risk its product/process, refine its design, and/or acquire key validation data and stakeholder feedback” in order to move the project forward into a viable product or clinical service. At the end of each term, the foundation typically selects up to two successful projects to receive an additional $100,000.
Flinn’s Entrepreneurship Program makes grants of up to $30,000, along with “professional support, connections, and networking opportunities,” to a handful of early-stage bioscience firms each year. The primary aim of these grants is to help promising companies develop a “yearlong plan specific to the needs of the individual companies that helps them advance to commercialization and become investor-ready.”
Recently, Arizona State University received several grants to study topics relating to lymphoma, autism, and antibiotic resistant bacteria; the Mayo Clinic received funding to research asthma and squamous cell carcinoma; and the University of Arizona received grants to research external ventricular drain technology, monoclonal antibodies, and cervical cancer, among others. Past grantees for bioscience entrepreneurship include Delta Development Team, EMR Data Cloud, Reference Medicine, Televeda, The Patient Company, and TheraCea Pharma.
Grants for Higher Education
The Flinn Foundation’s Flinn Scholars program makes grants to three Arizona public universities—Arizona State University, University of Arizona, and Northern Arizona University—to fund full-ride scholarships covering tuition, fees, housing, and meals to for high-achieving students graduating from Arizona high schools. In addition to funding, scholarship recipients will have access to two fully-funded study abroad experiences, University Honors College facilities at their university, personal mentorship resources, and networking in the broader community of Flinn Scholars. This is a merit-based scholarship. Applicants must be graduating in the top 5%, as well as demonstrating participation and leadership in extracurricular activities or sports. While enrolled in university, Flinn Scholars are required to maintain a full-time course load and at least a 3.2 GPA, and are expected to attend Flinn Scholars events and activities.
Grants for Arts and Culture
The Flinn Foundation’s Arts and Culture program mainly supports Arizona cultural institutions through its Initiative for Financial and Creative Health. The purpose of this initiative is to help organizations “identify priority capitalization needs and design strategies to impact those needs” in order to strengthen the programmatic core of “products, services, connections, experiments, and approaches that allow an institution to achieve its goals.” Flinn, along with Arizona Community Foundation and Piper Charitable Trust, is also a major supporter of the Arizona operations of SMU DataArts center, a national initiative active in nine states. This initiative collects and shares data from participating organizations and provide “ financial and technical reports, free consulting resources, and comparative data and benchmarking services” in order to improve their capacity to stay solvent, expand operations, and serve their communities. Past grantees include Arizona Commission on the Arts, Arizona Science Center, Museum of Northern Arizona, Phoenix Theatre, Mesa Arts Center, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, Arizona Opera, and Heard Museum.
Grants for Civic Engagement
The Flinn Foundation supports civic engagement and leadership through its Arizona Center for Civic Leadership, which aims to “enhance civic life in Arizona through civic education, engagement, and leadership-development programs.” The foundation maintains several initiatives in this area:
Flinn-Brown Fellowship: an award for civic leaders in “tribal, rural, and urban communities across Arizona” to “expand their knowledge, skills, and networks to help address Arizona’s long-term issues.”
Civic Leadership Collaborative: an initiative to increase collaboration between Arizona civic leaders and build a “pipeline of civic education, engagement, and leadership across the spectrum.”
Arizona Civic Life Partnership: a collaboration with the Center for the Future of Arizona to “define, track, and measure Arizona’s progress on civic participation and connected communities, and offer the opportunity to frame conversations and prompt action.”
Flinn Young Leaders: an initiative to launch the Leadership, Civics, and You program in Arizona high schools, an “approved civics learning program for high-school students who are pursuing the Arizona Department of Education’s Seal of Civics Literacy.”
CivEx: a series of seminars open to the public intended to “help Arizonans deepen their commitment to public service, grapple with complex problems, and explore different viewpoints.”
IMPORTANT GRANT DETAILS:
Many foundation grants are between $25,000 and $500,000. Special grants in Biosciences may range into the millions of dollars. See the active grants page of the foundation website to learn more about past grantees.
The Flinn Foundation’s giving is generally restricted to universities, research institutes, and regional organizations based in and serving the state of Arizona. It occasionally funds or collaborates with national organizations with a branch of operations or initiatives in Arizona.
The foundation accepts applications for Bioscience Seed Grants, Bioscience Entrepreneurship Grants, Arts and Culture Initiative for Financial and Creative Health, Flinn Scholars, and Flinn-Brown Fellows. Eligibility and deadlines vary by program.
The foundation rarely supports new building construction or building refurbishments, ongoing operating expenses or sponsor events. It also does not support fundraising campaigns or groups advocating for a public policy or political perspective.
To contact the Flinn Foundation, reach out to the staff at 602-744-6800 or via email at info@flinn.org.
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