Masto Foundation
OVERVIEW: The Masto Foundation provides unrestricted multi-year support to grassroots groups working in the areas of human rights, racial and Indigenous justice, women’s and LGBTQ causes and related fields of interest.
IP TAKE: The Masto Foundation makes strides to move its philanthropy away from a “framework of givers and takers to a perspective where we are all one community, working in solidarity, and fighting for the same things.” This funder grants decision-making power to respected leaders in its areas of interest and does not bog grantseekers down with complicated applications. Masto’s grants generally provide unrestricted, multi-year support that decreases over time.
While this funder does not accept unsolicited proposals, grantseekers who represent “grassroots organization[s] led by/for people of color and/or LGBTQ+ people with a strong commitment to promoting equity, justice, and power-building in communities that have experienced systemic discrimination” should reach out via the foundation’s contact form.
PROFILE: The Masto Foundation was established in 1977 by Harry and Maisie Masto. The Mastos were among more than 100,000 Japanese Americans who were forced to live in internment camps during World War II. By agreeing to grow potatoes for the U.S. government in Idaho, they were permitted to leave the camp after a few months. The Mastos eventually bought the land they farmed and later set up a successful potato processing and dehydrating plant in the state of Washington. The Masto Foundation was established upon the sale of the company but remained inactive until Maisie’s death in 2018, when the couple’s granddaughter, A. Sparks, a philanthropy veteran, took the reins.
A signatory of the GUTC, the Masto Foundation’s mission consists of a commitment to “to promoting diversity, equity, and justice by investing in grassroots social change.” The foundation rejects “dominant” conceptions of philanthropy as “transactional” and pursues giving that is, instead, “relational.”
The foundation’s philanthropic approach draws on Japanese and Japanese-American traditions and is conducted as “an expression of gratitude, respect, and a desire to contribute.” Masto does not name specific areas of thematic focus, but its giving focuses on human rights, racial and Indigenous justice, women’s and LGBTQ causes, and related work in the area of community development.
Grants for Human Rights, Racial Justice, Women, LGBTQ Causes and Community Development
The Masto Foundation does not organize its grantmaking into distinct programs but works “holistically,” through “a lens of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation.” As a rule, the foundation supports “organizations that are led by/for the community.” This funder’s grantmaking process is atypical in several ways.
- There are no formal applications. Instead, the foundation has “conversations” and considers “challenges and barriers that organizations face in seeking our funding and limit[s] the amount of time and stress on the community in the process.”
- This funder likes to collaborate with giving circles and other trusted groups to whom the foundation “release[s] total control of decision-making.”
- Masto typically makes unrestricted multi-year grants that decline in amount over time. The foundation helps its grantees “identify and secure other funding before the end of our grant.”
- The foundation also offers strategic support beyond the duration of its grants and stays involved with its grantees for the purposes of evaluation, learning and information sharing.
The Masto Foundation’s current Trust Black Women Initiative was launched in 2020. The foundation engaged in conversation with Atlanta’s SisterSong, a “reproductive justice collective,” and other Black philanthropic leaders and asked, “If you had $20k to give right now to support the leadership development of Black women and girls, who would you give to and why?” Grantees of this initiative include Digital Undivided, Chicago’s Affinity.
Other grantees of the Masto Foundation include the Southwest Indigenous Women’s Coalition, Asian American Futures, the Vibe Theater Experience of Brooklyn and the Asian-American Women’s Political Initiative.
Important Grant Details:
Masto’s grants range from about $2,500 to $72,000 and occur nationally.
- This funder supports organizations of all sizes, but as a rule grantees must be led by members of the groups they serve.
- Masto’s grantmaking is unrestricted and typically offers multi-year support that declines over time.
- Masto also provides strategic support to its grantees during and after the terms of its grants, and engages its grantees in evaluation and learning opportunities.
- This funder does not run a formal application process. Instead it engages in conversations with respected leaders in areas of interest to determine organizations in need of support.
- For information about past grantees, see the foundation’s Trust Black Women and Grantee Highlights pages.
Submit questions to the Masto Foundation via its contact page.
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