A different kind of funder.

Roughly half of our budget — and 95% of our staff time — is dedicating to doing our impact-focused project work. We contribute to aligned efforts and causes, but grant making is not our focus.

As a small funder we believe that the most effective, leveraged and just approach to this part of our mission is for us to do the legwork, and to give in a way that is simple and based in trust. As a result we do not accept grant applications or solicitation.

Here’s a full list of past grantees. We love their work and we hope you’ll join us in supporting them. In fact, we’ve helped individuals and family foundations give nearly than $500,000 in alignment with us over the last six years, which we think is pretty awesome.

How We Make Contributions

North Star Civic Foundation is a private operating foundation — this is an IRS designation for privately funded charitable entities whose primary focus is doing work directly, rather than through philanthropy.

We support causes, leaders, and projects through three funding mechanisms:

  • This is charitable support for work done in 501(c)3 non profit organizations. As a privately funded group, none of this funding can be used to support advocacy on specific bills or legislation, ballot measure efforts, or candidates. We think that’s right — private foundations should not get a tax exemption for influencing specific bills or elections.

  • The North Star Action Center is a separately funded 501(c)4 that supports work done by 501(c)4 non profit organizations as well as some policy initiatives within our broader mission to advance a more open democracy and a just and equitable market economy.

  • The two families that support our work also independently support other charitable and political causes, issues, organizations, and leaders.

We try to fund efficiently and to recognize the expertise that our grantees bring to their work. Our approach reduces unnecessary hoops for grantees — and ourselves. Our limited philanthropic resources go to important activities, not funding internal staff time to read grant requests, vet projects, or support grant-related systems. With this efficiency goal in mind, we do not accept grant requests.

Our Funders

North Star is fully supported by our board members, two generous and solutions-focused Oregon families.