About Gates Family Foundation
A $20,000,000 project-support grant to the University of Colorado Foundation in 2025 sits alongside another $20,000,000 award to the Gates Institute in 2024, showing the scale at which Gates Family Foundation backs Colorado institutions. The foundation’s recent giving centers on higher education, research, land, and civic infrastructure, with repeated support for the same recipients across multiple years. University of Denver has also received consecutive project-support grants of $2,800,000 in 2023, $2,150,000 in 2024, and $2,150,000 in 2025, pointing to sustained institutional partnerships rather than one-time awards. Other large grants go to schools and conservation organizations, including construction support for Thacher School and land-purchase funding for Palmer Land Conservancy and the Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust. The pattern suggests a funder that uses sizable project grants, endowments, and acquisition support to move specific institutional and regional initiatives forward. It also makes program-related investments and is classified as a regular funder, which aligns with an established, ongoing grantmaking operation.
What Gates Family Foundation Funds
Higher education and research are central themes. The foundation gave $20,000,000 to the University of Colorado Foundation in 2025 for project support, and it also made multi-year project-support grants to the University of Denver. In education outside Colorado, it funded Thacher School with $1,750,000 in 2024 and $1,500,000 in 2023 for construction, plus a $750,000 endowment grant to Cardigan Mountain School in 2024.
Land and conservation appear in another cluster of awards. Palmer Land Conservancy received $835,000 in 2024 and $685,000 in 2023 for land purchase, while Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust received $500,000 in 2024 and $500,000 in 2023 for the same purpose.
The foundation also supports health and community infrastructure. Colorado Prevention Center received a $500,000 endowment grant in 2024, and High Line Canal Conservancy received $300,000 in 2024 for construction.
How Gates Family Foundation Gives
Typical grant size is concentrated in the mid-five-figure to low-six-figure range, with p25 at $15,000, median at $25,000, and p75 at $50,000. The recent list also shows larger project grants, endowments, construction support, and land purchases, so the foundation’s distributions extend well above the median when it backs specific institutional or asset-building work. Recurring support is common: several recipients appear in multiple years, including the University of Denver, Gates Institute, Lyra, Rooted, Palmer Land Conservancy, and Rio Grande Headwaters Land Trust. Gates Family Foundation is a regular funder, makes program-related investments, and funds individuals only through organizations rather than directly.