The Charlotte Martin Foundation

The Charlotte Martin Foundation is a US private foundation based in Seattle, WA.

Profile derived from the foundation's IRS Form 990-PF filings (TY2024, TY2023, TY2022) and its website, with every statement checked against those sources. Sources read on 7 October 2026.

Priority Areas

The foundation focuses its grantmaking on youth opportunities through athletics, culture and education, and on preserving wildlife and habitat, including biodiversity conservation in a changing climate. It prioritises BIPOC-led nonprofit organisations with diverse leadership and staff, organisations based in rural communities, and organisations serving LGBTQIA+ youth. Its youth work includes access to diverse cultural experiences, learning and post-secondary education, and sports. For biodiversity, it describes conservation based on sound conservation biology, community engagement and collaboration, with approaches such as restoring important lands, enhancing landscape connectivity, and protecting marine and freshwater biodiversity. Applicants must be headquartered in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana or Alaska, and proposed programmes must take place there. It gives special consideration to underserved populations and seeks community engagement and place-based work.

Themes

• Youth athletics
• Youth culture
• Youth education
• Wildlife and habitat preservation
• Biodiversity in a changing climate

Geographic Focus

Washington; Oregon; Idaho; Montana; Alaska.

What They Don't Fund

• Production of professional films, videos, books
• Travel costs and lodging for conference or event attendance
• Fitness, wellness, nutrition, health
• Education on behavioral issues, bullying, domestic and sexual violence, drug and alcohol abuse
• Animals used in therapies
• Capital projects
• Hardware, technology
• Rental of facilities
• Marketing
• Pass through funding
• Pre-kindergarten program
• Youth Programs only: Large capital investment projects (e.g. track renovation, swimming pools, tennis courts, lockers, gymnasium renovation, bleachers); Transportation to tournaments; Fitness equipment and activities (e.g. treadmills, weight rooms); Playgrounds or playground equipment; Trips to conferences; International exchange programs; Passive participation by youth; Artist-in-residence programs; Admission subsidies or purchase of tickets for events; Children’s testing or test preparation; Purchase of computers or textbooks; Programs whose goals are primarily social services; Pre-Kindergarten programs; Curriculum development; Programs for college students
• Wildlife and Habitat Programs only: Organizations whose mission statement does not include wildlife and habitat preservation; Preserving of small isolated parcels of land; Preservation of land solely valued for recreational purposes; Projects primarily in urban areas; Wildlife rehabilitation; Captive breeding; City parks; Zoos and aquariums

Applicants should wait for a grant cycle to open, then log in or create an account on the website and complete the online application.

Deadlines: Spring grant applications open in May and close in June.

• Repeat giving: In its TY2024 filing, 49% of its grant dollars to organisations went to organisations it had also funded in its TY2022 or TY2023 filing.
• Grant size: Across its TY2022, TY2023 and TY2024 filings, half of its 181 grants to organisations were $15,000 or less.

What the foundation says:

• Successful proposals respond explicitly to one of the foundation’s two emphases and explain how they support it.
• It prioritises smaller organisations, particularly in rural locations, with less access to financial and community resources.
• For youth work, it prioritises education and organisations serving rural youth and youth of colour.
• Youth projects should emphasise active participation and uplift youth leadership and community.
• For youth proposals, it looks for existing work or relationships with the populations described.
• Successful proposals clearly describe the project activity or conservation outcome and are sustainable, with defined goals and work proportionate to the amount requested.
• It asks funded organisations to describe how grant funds were spent in their final reports.
• The board makes site visits very rarely.