Chinook Fund

History

The Chinook Fund was founded by a group of Colorado activists and “white inheritors of wealth who wanted to support social change and fight the rollbacks to civil rights, particularly under the Reagan Administration.” ³ A 13-member committee was formed to build a community fund focused on supporting community organizing led by people of color. The Fund hired its first employee in 1988 and dispensed $40,000 in grants during that year. ¹

Chinook was a member of the Funding Exchange, a now-defunct national network of foundations dedicated to providing seed money to untested “social justice movements” thought to be too controversial or risky to attract traditional philanthropic support. Funding Exchange pioneered the practice of involving community activists in funding decisions. ⁴

In 2016, the Chinook Fund started the Giving Project, a volunteer committee-driven grant awards process which currently distributes all of the Fund’s awards. ^{1 5}

As of June 2022, Chinook has distributed $4.5 million to 554 Colorado organizations. Ninety-two percent of its grantees are led by individuals classified as “BIPOC,” or Black, Indigenous, People of Color. ¹

Activities

The Chinook Fund provides seed grants to Colorado-based nonprofits representing “communities facing injustice or oppression” including immigrants, people of color, the poor, LGBT persons, and the disabled. All grantees must be engaged in community organizing and must have a budget no larger than $350,000. ⁶ The Fund describes itself as a “racial justice giver.” ⁷

Grants are awarded in three categories. Start-up grants are available to organizations no more than four years old. The maximum grant in this category is $4,000. Established Grants fund organizations in existence more than four years with a maximum grant of $10,000. Multi-year grants are awarded to organizations applying in the Established category which have been funded at least twice during the preceding three years. ⁸

Grant decisions are made by a 20-member volunteer committee drawn from the general public. The group attends workshops to develop a shared understanding of “race, class, and power” through examining their own relationships with “privilege and oppression.” It reads and scores proposals, participates in site visits, writes site visit reports, and awards grants. ⁹

After receiving grassroots fundraising training from the Chinook Fund, each volunteer commits to fundraising from “friends, family, and community” and is required to make a donation to the Chinook Fund. The amount of the gift is not specified. ⁹

Chinook Fund grantees have included Black Lives Matter; Denver Homeless Out Loud, which seeks to repeal homeless-camping bans in Denver; ¹⁰ the Colorado Immigrant Rights Coalition, which assists immigrants illegally entering the United States; ¹¹ and The Road Called STRATE, which offers rehabilitation services for offenders. ¹²

The Chinook Fund is a member of the Giving Project Network, a coalition of nine U.S. foundations dedicated to supporting “community organizing for systemic change across the U.S. and internationally.” ¹³

Funding

The Chinook Fund has received grants from the Community First Foundation, the Chicago Community Trust, and the United Philanthropy Forum. These grants ranged from $65,000 to $84,559. ¹⁴ In 2020 it was awarded $450,000 in general operating support from the left-of-center Colorado Health Foundation ¹⁵ and $20,000 from the Gates Family Foundation. ¹⁶

Chinook’s funding comes primarily from Colorado-based individuals and institutions. In 2021, 86.15 percent of its donations were from Colorado. ¹⁷

People

Crystal Middlestadt is the executive director of the Chinook Fund. She was previously development director of the Grassroots Institute for Fundraising and worked as an independent fundraising consultant. She received a bachelor’s degree in sociology and women’s studies from the University of Oregon. ¹⁸ She is a board member of Resource Generation, an organization dedicated to distributing $100 million per year from wealthy individuals to left-of-center movements. ¹⁹