Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust
/OVERVIEW: The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust supports work and economic opportunity, housing, conservation, animals and education. Granting mainly focuses on the states of Arizona and Indiana.
IP TAKE: A review of the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust describes this funder as “open-minded,” “responsive” and “culturally sensitive.” It mainly operates in the states of Arizona and Indiana. Grantees tend to be well-established nonprofits that have a broad impact on the communities they serve, although many are not large organizations.
This funder accepts applications on an invitation-only basis but invites prospective grantees that meet eligibility requirements to reach out and schedule consultations to discuss funding opportunities. Pulliam runs two grant cycles each year, with application due dates in January and June.
PROFILE: The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust was established in 1997 upon the death of Nina Mason Pulliam, a prominent journalist and humanitarian, and aims to support the causes championed by its founder in her home states, Arizona and Indiana. The trust awards grants through three main giving areas: Helping People in Need, Protecting Animals and Nature and Enriching Community Life. The fund also runs a scholarship program, Nina Scholars, and a Summer Youth Program Fund. While most of this funder’s grants support causes serving communities in Indian and Arizona, the trust occasionally supports organizations in other states.
Grants for Work and Economic Opportunity
The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable supports work and economic opportunity through its Helping People in Need funding initiative. The initiative names self-sufficiency as one of its subprograms and has made grants to organizations involved in adult education, small business development and micro-lending programs for low-income communities and individuals. Through another sub-program, foster care, the trust supports education, job training and economic literacy for young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 who have recently aged out of foster care systems. A third sub-initiative, education and literacy, supports career education and literacy initiatives for teens and adults.
One past Pulliam grantee, Ascend Indiana, supports collaborations between employers and educational institutions to create accessible pathways to high-demand. Other grantees include a career planning initiative run by 100 Black Men of Indianapolis, Foster Success of Indiana, which helps young adults transition from foster care to independent lives, and the Near Eastside Area Renewal, which aims to “enhance business and entrepreneur opportunities to serve and employ” residents of Indianapolis’s Near Eastside neighborhoods.
Grants for Housing, Homelessness and Food Systems
The Pulliam Trust’s Helping People in Need recently named crisis intervention as an area of focus. Grants stemming from this program prioritize vulnerable people and the provision of housing, clothing and food for those in need. Central Arizona Shelter Services received general operating support to offset losses due to the COVID-19 crisis. Another grantee, Arizona’s Chrysalis Shelter for Victims of Domestic Violence, provides housing to women and children who are fleeing abusive situations. And in Indiana, the trust has provided general operating support to the Coalition for Homeless Intervention and Prevention of Greater Indianapolis.
Grants for Environmental Conservation and Animals
The Pulliam Trust’s Protecting Animals and Nature initiative aims to “encourage human bonds” with both nature and the animal world. Recent areas of grantmaking interest include the conservation of natural habitats and ecosystems and public awareness programs that promote stewardship of the environment. One past grantee, the Central Indiana Land Trust, runs visitor education programs at three preserves along the White River. A grantee in Arizona, the Desert Botanical Garden, partnered with the Central Arizona Conservation Alliance to develop a system of preserves in Central Arizona that supports healthy ecosystems for the entire region. Other conservation grantees include Indiana’s Conservation Law Center, the Hoosier Environmental Council, Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and the Arizona Nature Conservancy.
Through the same program, the Pulliam Trust supports initiatives in Indiana and Arizona that promote the humane treatment and wellness of domestic animals. Grantees include spay/neuter clinics, rescues, shelters and pet adoption programs. Arizona’s Alliance for Companion Animals has used funding to run its no-kill animal shelters, spay/neuter clinics and mobile vaccination clinics for dogs and cats. Another grantee, IndyHumane, works broadly to improve the wellbeing of domestic animals in the state of Indiana. Other past grantees include FACE Low-Cost Animal Clinics, the Phoenix Animal Care Coalition, Altered Tails and the Friends of Indianapolis Animal Care and Control Foundation. Although wildlife is not a major area of focus for the Pulliam Trust, it has supported some organizations that support the protection and rehabilitation of wildlife and habitats, including the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center and the Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary.
Grants for Arts and Culture
Arts and culture funding is the main focus of Pulliam’s Enriching Community Life initiative, which supports programs that “add to the overall civic vibrancy and cultural vitality” of communities in Indiana and Arizona. The program has recently focused on libraries, zoos and museums. Recent grantees of this program include Hamilton County Tourism, the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art and the Indianapolis Zoo. The trust has also supported cultural programming on public radio and television outlets including Indiana’s WFYI and Arizona Public Radio.
Grants for Higher Education
The Pulliam Trust’s Nina Scholars program supports non-traditional “students who face barriers to obtaining education” with scholarships, coordinated support services, mentoring and peer support groups. The program targets three separate populations of college students: students with dependents, students with physical disabilities and students who “have experienced foster care or been disconnected from their parents or primary caregiver and are responsible for their own financial support.” The program is open to students who are residents of Arizona or India, who demonstrate financial need and who meet the requirements for admission to a participating school. The program funds scholarships for study at Arizona State University, Maricopa Community Colleges, Indian University, Purdue University and Ivy Tech Community College of Indianapolis.
Grants for K-12 Education
Pulliam’s Helping People in Need initiative prioritizes educational opportunities for underserved K-12 students. The trust names mentoring, tutoring, out-of-school learning and college readiness as areas of interest. Arizona’s Stepping Stone Foundation has received funding for their educational programs for at-risk children, and the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona used funding to support its one-one-one mentoring programs. Another grantee, Girls Inc. of Greater Indianapolis, runs after-school programs for girls that aim to build self-confidence as girls enter their teen years.
Pulliam also supports K-12 populations through the Summer Youth Program Fund, a collaboration of funders that support agencies that run summer enrichment programs for children and youth in Marion County, Indiana and Maricopa County, Arizona. The fund has supported summer programs run by Sheroic, the National Association of Black Accountants Greater Indianapolis Chapter, Nextech Org, Big Brothers and Big Sisters and Winning Experiences, Inc.
Grants for Early Childhood Education
Early childhood education is a smaller area of funding for the Pulliam Trust, but grants for organizations supporting at-risk families often run early childhood education and early literacy programs as a component of their services. Arizona’s Children’s Action Alliance used funding to run programs that help non-parent caregivers meet the educational needs of young children during the COVID-19 crisis. Another grant went to Indiana’s Visually Impaired Preschool Services, which provides early home-based intervention services to blind and visually impaired children in Marion County.
Important Grant Details:
The Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust made over $18 million in grants in a recent year. Recent grants have ranged from $25,000 to $1 million, with an average grant size of about $50,000.
Grantmaking is generally limited to organizations serving communities in the states of Indiana and Arizona, with only a few national organizations and organizations serving other states receiving funding from time to time.
This funder prioritizes programs for underserved and at-risk people.
The trust provides a database of past grants, financial statements and annual reports on its website.
While this funder accepts full applications on an invitation-only basis, the trust conducts consultations with representatives from eligible organizations to discuss potential funding opportunities. If selected, applicants should submit a letter of intent, and the trust will provide instructions for full application. The trust runs three grant cycles each year, with due dates that fall December, February and June. Specific due dates vary from year to year. The Nina Scholars program runs an open application system for each participating school. General inquiries may be directed to the trust’s staff by telephone at 602-955-3000 in Arizona and 317-231-6075 in Indiana.
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