OVERVIEW: The McKinstry Charitable Foundation supports a broad range of causes across the U.S. It prioritizes education and the states of Washington, Colorado and other western states.
IP TAKE: The McKinstry Charitable Foundation’s largest grants support education in the state of Washington, but this corporate funder’s broad range of thematic interests is surprising. Unfortunately, McKinstry is not particularly approachable. Connect with an employee or past grantee to arrange an introduction.
PROFILE: Established in 1998, the McKinstry Charitable Foundation is affiliated with the Seattle-based McKinstry Company, a national leader in designing, constructing, operating and maintaining high-performing buildings. The company’s Building Good page briefly outlines some of the foundation’s interest areas, as well as some information about the company’s employee giving and volunteer programs, but provides limited information about the grantmaking process. According to tax records, the McKinstry Charitable Foundation funds grantmaking related to education, mental health, housing, food systems, the environment and climate change. Giving is national in scope, with the foundation’s largest grants going to organizations based in Washington.
Grants for Higher Education
Some of McKinstry’s largest grants support higher education in Washington. Giving appears to prioritize the state’s public institutions, including Eastern Washington University, the University of Washington, Western Washington University and Washington State University. The foundation has also provided support to the Seattle Colleges Foundation.
Grants for K-12 and STEM Education
K-12 education appears to be another area of strong interest for this funder, with giving prioritizing educational initiatives and programs in Washington. Grantees include the Washington STEM Center, the Washington Alliance for Better Schools, Sister Schools of Seattle and the Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett. Outside of Washington, the foundation has given to Teach for America, the ACE Mentor Program, Girls 4 Science and Denver Public Schools.
Grants for Housing, Homelessness and Mental Health
McKinstry’s giving emphasizes housing and services for homeless and vulnerable people, especially youth. In Washington, the foundation has given to Seattle’s Treehouse, the Low Income Housing Institute, the Black Diamond Community Center and Vanessa Behan, which provides “immediate refuge for children and support to strengthen families.” In other states, the foundation has given to Project 48 of Oregon, Dallas’s Family Place, the Griffith Centers of Colorado and the Outreach United Resource Center, also of Colorado.
Grants for Nutrition and Food
Food systems appear to be an area of focus for this funder, with many small grants supporting distribution programs and food banks across the U.S. Grants have gone to Wisconsin’s River Food Pantry, the Roadrunner Food Bank in New Mexico, Second Harvest Inland Northwest of Spokane and the Food Bank of Northern Nevada, among others.
Grants for Environment, Climate Change and Clean Energy
Mckinstry does not outline goals for its environment and climate change grants, and it has supported a broad range of organizations in the areas of conservation, clean energy and sustainability. Grantees include Trout Unlimited, the Nature Conservancy, Washington Trails Association, Seattle’s Sustainable Capitol Hill, the St. Croix Environmental Association and the New Energy Coalition, among others.
Grants for Animal Welfare and Wildlife Conservation
According to tax filings, the foundation gives to some small, specialized animal welfare and wildlife conservation organizations in Washington and across the U.S. Sarvey Wildlife Care Center, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Doge Gone Seattle, the Rescue Ranch of Yreka, California, and Kataluna Horse Rescue of Redmond, Washington.
Grants for Racial Justice, Indigenous Rights and LGBTQ Causes
McKinstry’s grants have supported many organizations pursuing social justice, with grants to organizations supporting racial equity, Indigenous and LGBTQ causes. These grants tend to be modest in size. Grantees include Duwamish Tribal Services, the Native American Rights Fund, the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the NAACP Springfield Branch in Oregon, the Equal Justice Initiative of Montgomery, Alabama and the Trevor Project.
Grants for Women, Girls, Maternal and Reproductive Health
Women’s causes, especially reproductive health, are another area of commitment for McKinstry, although grants tend to be on the small side in this area. Grantees include the Northwest Abortion Access Fund, Dress for Success Worldwide, Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Employment for Women of Renton, Washington, and Mary’s Place, a women’s shelter in Seattle.
Grants for Public Health and Diseases
Health is a smaller area of giving for this funder, and the foundation does not name priorities for its health giving. Recipients include the Seattle Children’s Hospital, the Children’s Hospital of Colorado, the Feminist Women’s Health Center of Atlanta, Washington, the Dan Lewis Foundation for Brain Regeneration Research and the Dravet Syndrome Foundation.
Important Grant Details
With very few exceptions, grants range from $300 to $100,000.
This funder gives across a broad range of areas to organizations of every size; smaller organizations are well represented among its grantees.
Education grantees tend to receive the largest sums.
Giving is national in scope, but Washington, the home state of the foundation’s parent company, is an area of priority.
This funder does not accept applications for funding.
The McKinstry Company also runs employee matching and volunteering programs.
For information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s tax filings.
The foundation does not provide a way to get in touch, but its phone number is listed as 206-762-3311 and its parent company maintains a contact page.
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