Winslow Foundation

OVERVIEW: The Winslow Foundation mainly supports environmental conservation and clean energy initiatives. Grants have also supported wildlife conservation and women’s reproductive health.

IP TAKE: This low-profile family foundation focuses on conservation, supporting a range of national and local conservation and clean energy efforts. The founder’s daughter, Kelsey Wirth, founded and chairs Mothers Out Front, a climate change activism organization that has received ongoing support. Winslow also gives to global and national women’s reproductive health organizations.

The Winslow Foundation is not transparent or accessible, preferring a proactive and broad approach to funding. A mailing address and phone number are provided below, but they have a smaller staff, limiting responsiveness. This funder likes to offer multi-year support, narrowing its grantmaking for newcomers; however, it likes to support its grantees in their evolution.

PROFILE: The Winslow Foundation was established in 1987 by Wren Winslow Wirth, a descendent of Sir Walter Scott and the wife of former U.S. Senator Timothy Wirth. The foundation is steered by Wren and her children, Christopher and Kelsey Wirth, and focuses on environmental and wildlife conservation and, to a lesser extent, women’s and girls’ causes. The Winslow Foundation maintains a low profile and does not operate a website. 

Grants for Environmental Conservation

For the past several years, environmental conservation has been the Winslow Foundation’s largest area of giving, with grants supporting a range of national and global organizations, as well as several smaller local land trusts and preservation initiatives. Recent grantees with national or global concerns include the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund, the Rainforest Action Network and the National Parks Conservation Association. The foundation has also supported smaller localized conservation efforts including Appalachian Voices, the Ohio Citizen Action Education Fund, Virginia Organizing, Colorado’s Crested Butte Land Trust and Maine’s Kennebec Estuary Land Trust.

Grants for Climate Change and Clean Energy

The Winslow Foundation expanded it’s environmental grantmaking in recent years to include organizations that work toward the adoption and implementation of clean and sustainable energy production. Kelsey Wirth is a co-founder and chair of Mothers Out Front, a national organization that mobilizes mothers and others “to protect all children from the climate crisis that impacts their health today and a livable climate for them tomorrow.” Mothers Out Front has received ongoing support from the foundation. In Massachusetts, the foundation has given to the Better Future Project, which advances “a fair and fast transition beyond coal, oil, and gas toward an economy powered by renewable energy that equitably benefits all people.” Other recent grants have gone to the Government Accountability Project, the Sunrise Movement Education Fund and the San Francisco-based Regeneration Project, which mobilizes faith-based communities to promote the adoption of renewable and sustainable energy production.

Grants for Animal Welfare and Wildlife

The Winslow Foundation does not name wildlife conservation as a focus of its grantmaking, but a small portion of its environmental grantmaking has gone to organizations involved in species conservation. In recent years, the foundation has given to Seattle’s Marine Conservation Biology Institute, Saving Species and WildEarth Guardians, which is known for legal actions that led to a broad expansion of the Endangered Species Act in 2011.

Grants for Women and Girls

The Winslow Foundation also funds a handful of organizations involved in reproductive and maternal health, including the United Nations Population Fund and Planned Parenthood of New Jersey and the NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation.

Important Grant Details:

The Winslow Foundation’s annual grantmaking has ranged from $1.5 to $2 million in recent years. Grants range anywhere from $5,000 to $500,000, with an average grants size of about $25,000. This funder supports a broad range of organizations, but tends to provide multi-year support to organizations with which it maintains ongoing relationships. Grantmaking is national in scope, but the foundation appears to prioritize organizations in California, New York, Massachusetts and Colorado. For additional information about past grantmaking, see the foundation’s recent tax filings. 

This funder does not maintain a website and does not appear to accept applications for fundings. A mailing address and phone number are provided below.

PEOPLE:

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

CONTACT:

Winslow Foundation

c/o Foundation Sources

501 Silverside Road

Wilmington, Delaware 19809

(800) 839-1754