Mount Baker Foundation
ActivePhilanthropy & VoluntarismFunds Individuals
About Mount Baker Foundation
Mount Baker Foundation concentrates its giving on durable community infrastructure and innovation in northwest Washington, prioritizing projects that preserve affordable housing, advance renal/dialysis technology, and strengthen Indigenous cultural and local educational facilities. Grants are often capital or program-startup in nature and are awarded to a mix of nonprofit developers, regional educational institutions, and research organizations that can deliver tangible, place-based outcomes.
Focus Areas
Preservation and development of affordable housing and emergency family shelter in Whatcom County (e.g., Mercy Housing Northwest, Lighthouse Mission)Dialysis innovation and renal research (support for Center for Dialysis Innovation and Kuleana Technology)Indigenous cultural infrastructure and place-based healing projects (longhouse construction, Salmon Project documentary/Setting Sun Institute)Regional workforce and early childhood facility development (Early Learning Center at Whatcom Skills Center)
Who They Fund
families experiencing housing instability / homeless familieslow-income renters / affordable housing residents
About Mount Baker Foundation
Mount Baker Foundation’s most distinctive recent pattern is its mix of capital support for community infrastructure and long-horizon investment in kidney research. One of its largest commitments is a 10-year fellowship at the University of Washington Kidney Research Institute, funded at $100,000 per year, to support a graduate student from an underrepresented minority background working in kidney research. Alongside that research focus, the foundation has backed dialysis innovation, including support for the Center for Dialysis Innovation and Kuleana Technology. Its grantmaking also reaches into housing and family stability, with major awards for a family micro-shelter at Lighthouse Mission Ministries and low-income housing work with Mercy Housing Northwest. The same pattern appears in education and cultural infrastructure, where Mount Baker Foundation has funded longhouse construction at Western Washington University and startup work tied to the Salmon Project and the Setting Sun Institute. Across these areas, the foundation favors place-based projects in Whatcom County and nearby northwest Washington that create physical capacity, program capacity, or both.
What Mount Baker Foundation Funds
Housing is a major area of support. Mount Baker Foundation gave $500,000 to Lighthouse Mission Ministries for construction of a family micro-shelter, and $500,000 to Mercy Housing Northwest for low-income housing at Millworks. It also provided $100,000 to Interfaith Coalition of Whatcom County for renovations and lien satisfaction on a house donated for family housing and support services. In early learning and childcare, the foundation gave $207,045 to Meridian School District for the Early Learning Center at the Whatcom Skills Center, and $105,000 to Whatcom Family YMCA for tenant improvements tied to a new childcare center within a low-income family housing development. It also supports health equity work through a $192,946 grant to Whatcom Center for Early Learning for language access coordination and convenings, plus $110,000 to Whatcom Family and Community Network for perinatal mental health interns at the Mobile Mama Clinic.
How Mount Baker Foundation Gives
Typical grant size centers around a median of $25,516, with the middle half of awards falling between $7,550 and $75,000. The recent record shows a mix of large catalytic gifts and smaller capacity-building grants, including multi-year structures such as the $100,000-per-year fellowship commitment and phased support for community organizing. Several organizations reappear across years, including Mercy Housing Northwest, Whatcom Family and Community Network, Communities in Schools, and University of Washington Foundation, which suggests recurring relationships rather than one-off awards. Mount Baker Foundation is a regular funder, not a program-only vehicle, and it funds individuals. It also accepts unsolicited applications for some programs, including Community Health Grants, Go! Grants, and Legacy Committee assistance programs.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$1.9M
Total Assets
$37.1M
Total Revenue
$1.8M
Total Expenses
$2.6M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $8K and $75K, with a median of $26K.
25th Percentile
$8K
Median
$26K
75th Percentile
$75K
Geographic Reach
Local3 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Unlock Deep Analysis
Sign up for a free Kindora account to access AI-generated insights into this funder's giving patterns, decision-makers, and fit signals.
Get Started FreeSee Similar Funders
Free Kindora accounts unlock side-by-side comparisons with foundations that share this funder's focus areas and giving profile.
Get Started FreeExplore related grant guides
Want a Personalized Pitch for Mount Baker Foundation?
Sign up free to see how well your nonprofit fits this funder, get an AI-generated pitch, and unlock similar foundations.
Free plan available
No contracts
Cancel anytime