Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation
ActivePhilanthropy & VoluntarismFunds Individuals
About Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation
The Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation concentrates large, place-based gifts in Idaho, prioritizing higher education (especially scholarships and support for the McCall field campus), community recreation infrastructure, and environmental/outdoor learning. Grants are targeted to a small set of repeat institutional partners and often fund capital campaigns, scholarships, and program capacity rather than many small grants.
Focus Areas
Scholarships for Idaho college students (University of Idaho & College of Idaho)Support for McCall Field Campus and outdoor experiential educationDowntown Boise YMCA capital and community recreation facilitiesRaptor conservation and environmental education (The Peregrine Fund)
Who They Fund
college students and prospective postsecondary learners (including scholarship recipients)low-income individuals and familiespeople experiencing homelessness / transitional housing residentsrural communities and small towns
About Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation
Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation Inc. stands out for backing Idaho’s scholarship pipeline at scale while also financing campus facilities and community infrastructure. Its largest recent award was $859,983 to the University of Idaho Foundation for the McCall Field Campus teaching and learning center, paired with scholarships. That same pattern shows up across the recipient list: major support for the College of Idaho, Boise State University Foundation, Idaho State University Foundation, and Northwest Nazarene University Foundation, all for scholarships. The foundation also funds projects tied to student learning and campus growth, such as the College of Western Idaho Foundation for campus construction and scholarships and Lewis & Clark State College Foundation for a healthcare immersive learning lab and scholarships. Beyond higher education, it has made large gifts to Idaho institutions working in outdoor education, public media, conservation, health care, recreation, and transitional housing. The result is a grantmaker with a clear local footprint and a preference for institutional partnerships that combine long-term capacity with direct student support.
What Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation Funds
Higher education is the clearest throughline in the foundation’s grantmaking. It gave $780,059 to the College of Idaho Foundation for scholarships and $596,034 to the University of Idaho Foundation for scholarships, alongside multiple other university awards for the same purpose. Campus and learning-space investments also appear in grants such as $360,093 to the College of Western Idaho Foundation for campus construction and scholarships and $235,108 to Lewis & Clark State College Foundation for a healthcare immersive learning lab and scholarships. The foundation also supports outdoor and environmental education through a $859,983 grant to the University of Idaho Foundation for the McCall Field Campus teaching and learning center. Community-serving infrastructure is another theme, including $500,000 to Treasure Valley Family YMCA for the Downtown Boise YMCA capital campaign and $300,000 to Idaho Public Television for local production and website upgrades.
How Laura Moore Cunningham Foundation Gives
Typical awards cluster in the five-figure range, with a p25 of $10,000, a median of $20,000, and a p75 of $50,000. Recent grants show a much larger upper tier for scholarships, campus construction, and capital projects, including awards in the hundreds of thousands. The foundation’s giving is highly recurring: the same institutions reappear across multiple years, especially Idaho colleges and universities. It operates both institutional scholarship programs and an annual grants program, and the annual grants program accepts unsolicited applications. The pattern is place-based rather than broad national funding, with most grants routed through partner institutions or Idaho nonprofits.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$5.1M
Total Assets
$34.4M
Total Revenue
$26.2M
Total Expenses
$5.6M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $10K and $50K, with a median of $20K.
25th Percentile
$10K
Median
$20K
75th Percentile
$50K
Geographic Reach
Local5 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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