Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
/OVERVIEW: The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is one of the largest and most active grantmakers in science and conservation philanthropy. The foundation’s focus ares include basic science research in a variety of sub-disciplines including physics and astronomy; marine and rainforest conservation; sustainable agriculture and food systems; wildfire resilience; and a San Francisco Bay Area program that is likewise focused on science and environmental conservation.
IP TAKE: With assets exceeding $8 billion, The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation is not only one of the largest U.S. family foundations, but among the most important global grantmakers in science philanthropy, funding basic research across the life and physical sciences. Grantmaking prioritizes projects with rigorous scientific methods and the potential for impactful change in the foundation’s areas of interest. The foundation previously ran a patient healthcare program that it phased out as it created substantial new programs, including one focused on wildfire prevention. Gordon and Betty Moore both passed away in 2023, leaving behind a foundation with a strong global presence and a clear mission.
Moore is a transparent funder, with detailed information about its grants and financials available at its website. This is a moonshot for new grantseekers; Moore takes a proactive approach to grantmaking and does not accept unsolicited inquiries or proposals. The foundation’s grants mainly fund top research universities and institutes, along with well-known global environmental and science organizations. This foundation works globally, but runs a program that prioritizes California and the San Francisco Bay Area.
PROFILE: The Moore Foundation was launched in 2000 in San Francisco by the late Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, and his wife, Betty. Gordon and Betty both passed away in 2023 at the ages of 94 and 95. Their foundation seeks to “advance scientific discovery, environmental conservation, and the special character of the San Francisco Bay Area.”
According to a 2015 document of intent from the Moores, the foundation aims to “tackle large, important issues at a scale where it can achieve significant and measurable impacts,” and create “durable change, not simply delaying consequences for a short time.” Grantmaking focuses on rigorous scientific research and interventions with strong potential to have lasting impact on the environment and scientific advancement, education, and inquiry. Geographic priorities include the state of California and its San Francisco Bay region, but grantmaking is global in scope, including a longtime program focused on conserving the forests of the Amazon.
Grants for Science Research
The Moore Foundation’s Science Program “invests in the development of new technologies, supports the world’s top research scientists and brings together new—often groundbreaking—scientific partnerships.”
It hosts several sub-initiatives which change frequently; however, current initiatives include curiosity-driven science initiative, data-driven discovery initiative, emergent phenomena in quantum systems initiative, and experimental physics investigators initiative.
Moore provides significant funding to California universities, including the California Institute of Technology and campuses within the University of California system, but support has also gone to leading universities in other parts of the U.S.
The foundation only awards between 30 and 50 large science grants annually, with research topics as diverse as quantum mechanics, microbiology and astronomy.
Science grants from Moore often take the form of long-term collaborations; the development of each grant usually involves a number of consultations to design the project goals and establish strategies to get there over an extended period of time.
When a grant is awarded, program officers meet periodically with grant recipients to monitor progress and adapt backup strategies to modify the original plans if necessary.
The foundation is a major funder of the controversial Thirty Meter Telescope that is planned for construction on Hawaii’s Mount Mauna Kea.
The Moore Inventor Fellows program honors Gordon Moore’s legacy by supporting “scientist-inventors who create new tools and technologies with a high potential to accelerate progress in the foundation’s areas of interest”: scientific discovery, environmental conservation and patient care. The foundation plans to award five fellowships per year until 2026.
The foundation also supports science research through its Environmental Conservation program, which “balances long-term conservation with sustainable use” and is especially focused on marine ecosystem management. This program is international and multidisciplinary in scope, with subprograms dedicated to the Andes, the study of economics, agriculture and wild salmon ecosystems.
Grants for Environmental and Marine Conservation
Moore’s environmental conservation program seeks to “create lasting change in how land, freshwater and coastal marine ecosystems are managed,” balance “long-term conservation with sustainable use,” protect critical ecosystems, and “establish models for collaboration that can be replicated and expanded around the globe.” Offering several separate sub-initiatives, the program invests in:
The Andes-Amazon Initiative, which works towards “securing the biodiversity and climate function of the Amazon basin, which is currently estimated to require that 70 percent of the original forest cover remains standing.”
The Conservation and Markets Initiative works to align “markets with conservation-minded approaches to feeding a hungry planet.” This program funds initiatives to support sustainable agricultural practices, and works to incentivize food corporations to bolster sustainable food systems, with a particular focus on beef and soy production, as well as wild-capture fish stocks and improving aquaculture practices.
The Marine Conservation Initiative supports “healthy and resilient ocean ecosystems that will sustain future generations” in the U.S. and Canada. Moore is also a well-known supporter of fishery management and habitat-protection initiatives across North America and the Pacific.
The Wildlife Resilience Initiative is a major new program that "aims to support a transformation in the role that fire plays and is perceived to play in Western North America, from an unwanted, destructive threat to an essential, integral element in our landscapes."
Moore’s initiatives change occasionally and are ever expanding. As such, grantseekers are advised to check back for updates. Past grantees include the World Wildlife Fund, the Stockholm Environment Institute and the Brazilian Biodiversity Fund.
Grants for STEM Education
Moore funds STEM higher education projects through its Science Program, which “invests in the development of new technologies, supports the world’s top research scientists and brings together new—often groundbreaking—scientific partnerships.”
Grantmaking in this area often prioritizes but is not limited to California-based institutions.
The Moore Foundation has been a major supporter of the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at the University of California at Davis, which was launched with an initial endowment of $100 million.
Through its newer Curiosity-Driven Science initiative, Moore funds a variety of education programs, including out-of-school community programs, “to increase active engagement with and in science through catalytic investments in design and development of experiences that enable youth and their communities to draw on curiosity to ask questions, use and pursue evidence, and solve problems in areas that matter to them.”
The Experimental Physics Investigator Initiative is a major new funding bucket launched in 2022 to “advance the scientific frontier in experimental physics” by “selecting and supporting outstanding individual investigators” and to “host convocations and facilitate other interactions among the investigators.”
Important Grant Details:
The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation makes hundreds of million in grants a year. Grants typically range from $50,000 to several million. The foundation’s average grant size is about $500,000.
Among Moore’s grantees are top U.S. universities, research facilities and global conservation organizations.
A more in-depth look into funded projects and more is available at the foundation’s grantmaking page.
The foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals, but interested grantseekers may submit an email of 100 words or less introducing their organization and work to the foundation.
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