What We Fund

In an effort to have a positive impact on the success and sustainability of as many nonprofit organizations in the Puget Sound region as possible, Cedarmere Foundation made the decision in 2020 to limit its grant support to those organizations who are themselves capacity builders. We are no longer inviting organizations who are primarily direct service providers to apply for first-time funding through Cedarmere Foundation.

Types of Grants We Fund:

The Cedarmere Foundation's board believes that strong, effective governance and leadership are essential to the successful implementation of a nonprofit's mission. Because of this belief, strengthening organizational capacity and building sustainability are the goals of our grant making support to community partners. We do not make grants for general operating expenses or for programs because our grants are focused exclusively on activities and support that will enable boards to govern more effectively and senior staff leaders to lead and manage their organizations more successfully. It is our belief that doing so will strengthen the capacity of our community partners to fulfill their missions.

  • Examples of the types of projects that we fund include, but are not limited to, the following:
    • Board assessment, development and training in leadership, governance best practices and fiduciary responsibilities
    • Executive Director and staff development including leadership training, financial management consultations; executive coaching; fundraising training; training in technology systems
    • Retreat facilitation
    • Strategic planning
    • Fund development planning and feasibility studies
    • Succession planning and executive transition management assistance
    • Design and implementation of evaluations
    • Development of knowledge management systems
    • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training
    • Collaborations with other nonprofit organizations to achieve a common goal
    • Higher level of professional financial scrutiny (e.g. from compilation to review; from review to audit)
  • Our grants usually range from $10,000 to $15,000.
  • We usually award one-time grants for specific projects and expect them to be completed within one year of receipt of our grant. However, we recognize that occasionally it will take longer than one year for project completion. There must be agreement between the foundation and a grant recipient prior to the awarding of a grant if the project is expected to take longer than a year to complete. The foundation must be informed when unexpected delays occur and presented with a timeline for project completion.
  • Upon completion of all projects funded by the foundation, grant recipients are required to submit a report summarizing the benefits or value gained by the organization from the training or capacity building activities made possible by the grant. When available, any summary reports provided by consultants engaged for the project are also required.