OVERVIEW: The Biella Foundation primarily funds grantmaking related to higher education, Christianity and human services. Seattle is its main geographic priority.
IP TAKE: The Biella Foundation lacks transparency, which limits information available on its grantmaking priorities and activities. Its largest grants support Washington’s public colleges and universities, but many other grants support small community outfits working with homeless and vulnerable people in Seattle and elsewhere in the state. This will be a difficult foundation to get to know without a connection.
PROFILE: Established in 1982, the Biella Foundation was established by the late real estate developer Mart Bert, who emigrated to the U.S. from Italy when he was three years old and grew up in Seattle. The foundation is named for the Italian village, Biella, where his parents married. The Biella Foundation does not maintain a website, which limits information about its grantmaking priorities and activities. According to tax filings, the Biella Foundation funds grantmaking related to higher education, mental health, homelessness, Christianity and disaster relief. Giving is mainly limited to Washington.
Grants for Higher Education
Higher education is the Biella Foundation’s largest giving area. Tax filings suggest that the foundation prioritizes Washington’s public institutions, with grants going to the University of Washington, Washington State University, Central Washington University, Western Washington University, Eastern Washington University and South Seattle College, a public community college.
Grants for Housing, Homelessness and Mental Health
While the foundation does not name giving priorities, its tax filings indicate that Biella strongly supports Washington initiatives for homeless and vulnerable people, including emergency housing, mental health and other human services. In Seattle, the foundation has awarded grants to Solid Ground Washington, LifeWire, Real Escape from the Sex Trade, Recovery Cafe and Treehouse, which supports foster youth. Elsewhere in Washington, the foundation given to Vision House of Renton, the Rescue Mission of Tacoma, HopeLink of Redmond and the Sophia Way of Bellevue.
Grants for Religious Causes
Biella’s grants support several Christian organizations, some of which provide human services to people in need. One grantee, Christa Ministries, runs schools, camps and senior living communities. Another grantee, Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission, “loves and cares for our homeless neighbors throughout greater Seattle.” Outside of Washington, the foundation has given to Prison Fellowship Ministries, the Slavic Gospel Association of Illinois, and SAT-7, which broadcasts Christian television programming in the Middle East and North Africa.
Grants for Disaster Relief
Disaster relief is a smaller area of giving for this funder, but ongoing support has gone to Team Rubicon, which “serves global communities before, during, and after disasters and crises.”
Important Grant Details:
Grants range from $2,000 to about $400,000.
While this funder prioritizes the state of Washington and, specifically, Seattle, grantmaking is not strictly limited to this state.
This funder’s largest area of giving is higher education, with grants supporting Washington’s public institutions of higher education.
In other areas of giving, this funder supports many small- and medium-sized organizations.
The Biella Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals for funding.
For additional information about past giving, see the foundation’s past tax filings.
The foundation does not provide a way to get in touch, but its phone number is 425-829-1311. An address is provided below.
PEOPLE:
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CONTACT:
Biella Foundation
10709 Beardslee Blvd., Ste 201
Bothell, WA 98011-3280
425-829-1311
