DaRin Butz Foundation

OVERVIEW: The DaRin Butz Foundation supports opportunities for women and girls to get involved in traditionally male-dominated STEM disciplines.  

IP TAKE: This funder mainly supports internships, research opportunities and summer camps. It maintains a low profile and does not accept grant applications. A bit of a confusing funder, it’s possible here to reach out to the foundation to learn more about how it makes grants, but don’t rush to introduce your work since it doesn’t consider proposals they’ve not solicited.

PROFILE: The DaRin Butz Foundation was established in 2011 to encourage women and girls to develop expertise and pursue careers in STEM fields. This foundation does not employ a staff or maintain a website, and little is known about its specific funding priorities. Tax filings suggest that the bulk of its funding supports internships, research opportunities and summer camps. 

Grants for Women and Girls 

This funder does not name specific goals for its grantmaking in this area, but it has supported some programs  for female students. At the University of Illinois, the foundation has endowed a named summer research program for undergraduate women at the Grainger College of Engineering. It has also supported the She Can summer camp at the National Air and Space Museum and the national organization Girls Who Code. 

Grants for STEM Education

Tax filings suggest that all of the Darin Butz Foundation’s grantmaking supports STEM programs. In addition to the aforementioned research program and camps, the foundation has bankrolled the DaRin Butz Foundation Research Internship Program Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum. The ten-week paid internship offers undergraduate women and men in the life sciences to experience “research from start to finish while gaining training and connections among scientific colleagues.” Past interns have used the opportunity to conduct research in the areas of plant physiology, air pollution and evolutionary diversification of plants.

Important Grant Details:

DaRin Butz grants generally range from $5,000 to $50,000, and the foundation only awards a few grants each year. 

While the foundation itself does not accept proposals or provide a direct means of contact, Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum accepts applications for the DaRin Butz Foundation Research Internship Program and posts guidelines on its website. For general inquiries, an address and phone number are provided below. 

PEOPLE:

Search for staff contact info and bios in PeopleFinder (paid subscribers only).

CONTACT:

DaRin Butz Foundation

P.O. Box 207

Middleburg, Virginia 20118

(540) 687-8078