William H Donner Foundation
ActivePhilanthropy & VoluntarismFunds Individuals
About William H Donner Foundation
A multi-generational family foundation that invests in creative solutions to critical problems, supporting initiatives at the community, national, and international levels across environmental, social, and public policy sectors.
Focus Areas
environmental conservationmarine conservationwildlife conservationpublic policy and civicsscientific research fellowshipscommunity health and family services
Who They Fund
families/caregivers of people with dementiaindigenous communities / Native communitiesrefugees and displaced persons (Ukrainian refugees in Turkey)students and scholars (scholarship recipients, early-career researchers)rural/global health populations (Amhara region, Ethiopia)
About William H Donner Foundation
A defining thread in The William H Donner Foundation Inc’s recent grantmaking is support for practical projects that move from research or advocacy into implementation. The foundation backed a dementia-care navigation roadmap with $220,462 to Harvard University in 2024 and $156,000 to Harvard University in 2023 for Ariadne Labs’ formula-focused version of that work. It also funded conservation and public-interest initiatives at meaningful scale, including $225,000 to Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation for the Monterey Bay Aquarium Sea Otter Program and $204,100 to Common Counsel Foundation for Native Voices Rising. The foundation’s portfolio reaches across environmental, social, and public policy sectors, with grants to universities, advocacy groups, conservation organizations, and humanitarian-oriented nonprofits. Several awards are unrestricted general support, while others name a specific program or capacity-building purpose. Its recent activity also shows attention to civic institutions, health-related research, and culturally grounded conservation efforts. The grant list suggests a multi-generational family foundation that uses discretionary funding to support organizations working on critical problems at national and international scales, while still making some investments in community-based work.
What William H Donner Foundation Funds
In conservation, the foundation supported species and habitat work through a $225,000 grant to Monterey Bay Aquarium Foundation for the Monterey Bay Aquarium Sea Otter Program and a $150,000 grant to Turtle Survival Alliance for general support. For indigenous-led advocacy, it gave $204,100 to Common Counsel Foundation for Native Voices Rising and $150,000 to Honor the Earth for general support. Public policy and civic work also appears in grants such as $250,000 to National Center for Public Policy Research Inc for general support and $207,000 to Bridgeusa Group for Investing in the Future of Democracy. On the health side, the foundation funded trachoma elimination in Amhara, Ethiopia through The Carter Center and supported family navigation in dementia care through Harvard-affiliated work.
How William H Donner Foundation Gives
Typical grants cluster around modest-to-mid six figures: the p25 is $10,000, the median is $20,000, and the p75 is $30,000. Recent awards show both large general-support grants and program-specific grants, including repeated support for some recipients across multiple years. The foundation is a regular funder with annual grantmaking of $32,858,874 and total assets of $200,687,998. It does not accept unsolicited letters of inquiry and states that grantmaking is by invitation only. The recent record also shows a mix of one-off awards and recurring relationships, including multi-year support for organizations such as Harvard University, Humanity in Action Inc, and The Carter Center.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$10.4M
Total Assets
$200.7M
Total Revenue
$6.1M
Total Expenses
$15M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $10K and $30K, with a median of $20K.
25th Percentile
$10K
Median
$20K
75th Percentile
$30K
Geographic Reach
National42 states funded
About 15% of grants go to recipients in CA.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
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