Swift Foundation

Quick Stats

• Annual Giving: Approximately $7.5 million USD (2023); projected $67 million total through 2028 spend-down
• Success Rate: Not publicly available; foundation is no longer accepting new applications
• Decision Time: Not applicable (no public application process)
• Grant Range: $20,000 - $80,000 (historical range; now providing larger unrestricted grants to existing partners)
• Geographic Focus: Pacific Northwest (USA), Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, British Columbia (Canada), North American Indigenous Networks, Africa
• Status: Sunsetting by December 2028; exclusively funding existing partner organizations

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Contact Details

• Website: swiftfoundation.org
• Phone: 805-969-5670
• Mailing Address: 7 Avenida Vista Grande, Suite B7, PMB 446, Santa Fe, NM 87508
• Historical Address: 1157 Coast Village Rd, Suite A, Santa Barbara, CA 93108
• EIN: 77-0559600
• Note: The foundation is not accepting new applications or unsolicited inquiries related to grant funding.

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Overview

The Swift Foundation is a private family foundation established in 1999 by John Swift, funded from the proceeds of his family's shares in UPS. Originally based in Santa Barbara, California, it is dedicated to protecting biocultural diversity, supporting Indigenous rights, food sovereignty, and community-based resilience systems. From its founding, the foundation built a philosophy of trust-based solidarity philanthropy, prioritising long-term partnerships with Indigenous peoples' organisations and grassroots community-based groups in the Americas and beyond.

In 2009, the foundation expanded its approach to include mission-related investing, eventually committing approximately 30% of its endowment to aligned investments. By 2019, the board had expanded to a multicultural majority of non-family members and doubled its annual payout rate. In December 2022, the board voted to sunset the foundation by December 2028, planning to disburse approximately $67 million in assets to Indigenous-led and mission-aligned organisations. As of 2023, the foundation is no longer accepting applications from new grantees and is directing its remaining resources exclusively to long-standing partner organisations. Total assets stood at approximately $42.86 million as of the most recent filing.

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Funding Priorities

Grant Programs

The Swift Foundation historically operated the following grant tiers:

• First-time / introductory grants: $15,000 - $35,000 (one-time programmatic grants for new relationships)
• Long-term partnership grants: $40,000 - $80,000 (multi-year general support funding for established partners)
• Spend-down unrestricted grants: Significantly larger, unrestricted grants to existing partners during the 2023-2028 wind-down phase
• Seed investment (Indigenize Fund): $4.5 million committed to seed two key initiatives — the Indigenize Fund (Peru) and tmixw Land Trust (British Columbia, Canada)
• Mission-related investments: The foundation held approximately $10 million in below-market impact investments alongside its core endowment

During the 2019-2021 period, the foundation disbursed grants to 50 organisations, with the largest single grant of $1.4 million going to Global Greengrants Fund for small grants to grassroots groups.

In the spend-down phase (2023-2028), the foundation has structured giving regionally:

• 2023: Andes Amazon region
• 2024: Canada (British Columbia)
• 2025: Western United States (California and Southwest)

Priority Areas

The foundation's grantmaking is structured around a "holistic concentric circles" model:

• Core Circle (highest priority): Indigenous peoples' organisations, NGOs, movements, collectives, networks, land defenders, farmers, local communities, and social movements whose work most closely aligns with protecting Mother Earth
• Inner Circle: Biocultural resilience — food sovereignty, sacred site protection, agroecology and smallholder agriculture, community land stewardship, linking local work to national and international policy
• Outer Circle: Organisational sustainability — capacity building for trusted partners, amplifying critical research and knowledge creation
• Periphery: Philanthropic learning — sharing insights about power dynamics in philanthropy, stimulating systemic change dialogue

Thematic priorities include:

• Indigenous Peoples' rights and self-determination
• Food sovereignty in Indigenous communities (North and South America)
• Biocultural diversity conservation
• Legal defence of territory and environmental law
• Economic development rooted in Indigenous values
• Climate justice and opposition to extractive industries
• Land stewardship and Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs)

What They Don't Fund

• Organisations not aligned with Indigenous rights and biocultural diversity
• Unsolicited proposals from new organisations (formally since the 2022 spend-down decision)
• Projects outside the foundation's three core geographic focus regions (Andes-Amazon, British Columbia, Western USA)
• Work that does not centre Indigenous self-determination and community-based decision-making
• Traditional conservation models that exclude Indigenous voices
• Organisations based on or promoting extractive industries

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Governance and Leadership

Board of Directors

• John F. Swift — President / Chair (Founder; philanthropist and organic farmer; funded foundation from UPS family shares)
• Karen Swift — Treasurer
• Sonja Swift — Secretary / Vice President (joined board 2009)
• Jeannette Armstrong — Director (Syilx Okanagan author and academic)
• Humberto Rios Labrada — Director
• Elaine Rasmussen — Director
• Rajasvini Bhansali — Director

The board has been majority non-family and multicultural since 2019.

Staff

• Suzanne Benally — Executive Director (joined 2020; Navajo and Santa Clara Tewa; previously Executive Director of Cultural Survival; co-chair of International Funders for Indigenous Peoples; Trustee of Naropa University)
• Alejandro Argumedo — Program Director / Andes Amazon Lead
• Rosemary Hitchens — Operations Manager

Leadership Quotes

On Indigenous self-determination and grant-making philosophy, Executive Director Suzanne Benally has said:

"If we're truly going to honor the self-determination of Indigenous peoples, then we should let them determine how that funding gets used."

On the spend-down decision:

"With the payout and the kinds of investments we were making, the foundation was in a natural spend down already."

On the foundation's current direction:

"We're not accepting new applications, but focusing on building out those organizations' sustainability."

On conservation and Indigenous rights:

"You can't have conservation and at the same time have extractive industries... Conservation is not about setting aside land for conservation... It is about our cosmovision, our living spaces, about this concept of life, it is about Indigenous Peoples voices. Our rights – legal and spiritual."

Founder John F. Swift has said:

"By moving into a spend down at this urgent moment in history, Swift Foundation is able to provide significant resources to our partners and help envision a stronger future."

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Application Process & Timeline

How to Apply

This funder does not have a public application process.

The Swift Foundation has never accepted unsolicited proposals, and as of the board's December 2022 decision to sunset the foundation, it has formally ceased accepting applications from any new organisations. All remaining grant funds are being directed exclusively to long-standing existing partners as part of the spend-down strategy through December 2028.

Prior to the spend-down decision, the foundation's approach was:

• All grantmaking was relationship-driven; new organisations were not solicited via open calls
• The foundation stated it "will respond to inquiries as we are able to" but did not encourage unsolicited contact
• Grantees were identified through the foundation's own networks, board connections, and field knowledge

Decision Timeline

Not applicable for new organisations. The foundation is in active spend-down mode with no new grantee intake.

Success Rates

Not publicly available. The foundation historically funded 50 organisations during 2019-2021. As of 2023, new grantee intake has ceased.

Reapplication Policy

Not applicable. The foundation will not reopen to new applications prior to its closure in December 2028.

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Application Success Factors

While Swift Foundation is no longer accepting new applications, understanding what they have historically valued is instructive for grant writers seeking similarly aligned funders, and for any organisations that may have had prior contact with the foundation:

• Long-term relationship building was essential: The foundation explicitly prioritised "long-term partnerships with multi-year general support funding" and built trust over time before committing to significant grants
• Indigenous leadership at the core: The foundation's highest priority ("Core Circle") was organisations led by and accountable to Indigenous peoples — not simply organisations that work on Indigenous issues from outside
• Holistic and integrated approaches: The foundation consistently sought applicants whose work demonstrated "an integrated approach grounded in local knowledge and expertise" rather than siloed programmatic interventions
• Free, prior, and informed consent: The foundation explicitly honoured "Indigenous peoples' free, prior, and informed consent and self-determination" as a non-negotiable principle
• Local accountability: Preference was given to "local and/or community-based organizations who are responsible to their home places in solidarity with neighboring Indigenous communities"
• Mission-related investing alignment: The foundation also considered alignment in the investment space, screening for organisations consistent with their "No Buy Guidelines" around negative environmental and social impacts
• Unrestricted funding philosophy: During spend-down, the foundation moved toward fully unrestricted grants, signalling a deep trust in grantee decision-making — a value applicants to similar funders should demonstrate they can reciprocate

Notable past grantees include: EarthRights International, Indigenous Environmental Network, Global Greengrants Fund, Gaia Amazonas, International Indigenous Women's Forum, Cultural Survival, NDN Collective, Climate Justice Alliance, Asociación ANDES, and En'owkin Centre.

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Key Takeaways for Grant Writers

• The Swift Foundation is closed to new applications as of 2022/2023. Any outreach to this funder for new grant relationships is unlikely to be productive prior to its planned closure in December 2028. Grant writers should direct efforts to other aligned funders.
• The foundation exclusively funds existing partners during its spend-down phase (2023-2028), with approximately $67 million to be disbursed to a closed set of long-standing Indigenous-led partner organisations.
• Historical grant ranges were $20,000 - $80,000, with first-time grants at the lower end ($15,000-$35,000) and long-term partnerships at $40,000-$80,000. During spend-down, grants have been significantly larger and unrestricted.
• The foundation has always been relationship-driven and invitation-only: it never operated an open application process, selecting all grantees through board and staff networks.
• Strong Indigenous leadership and self-determination values were non-negotiable selection criteria — organisations working in this space should look to similarly values-aligned funders such as the Christensen Fund, Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples, NDN Collective, and First Nations Development Institute.
• Mission-related investing was central to the foundation's model, and grantees were expected to align with a broad ecological and social justice framework, not just a single programme area.
• The spend-down model itself may be instructive: the foundation's public documentation of its sunsetting process is a valuable resource for understanding trust-based and participatory philanthropy approaches, useful context for writing applications to other Indigenous-rights funders.

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References

1. Swift Foundation Official Website — swiftfoundation.org (accessed February 2026)
2. Swift Foundation Spend Down Page — https://www.swiftfoundation.org/spend-down/ (accessed February 2026)
3. Swift Foundation Partners Page — https://www.swiftfoundation.org/partners/ (accessed February 2026)
4. Swift Foundation Our Spend Down Strategies — https://www.swiftfoundation.org/our-spend-down-strategies/ (accessed February 2026)
5. Swift Foundation Announces Plans to Sunset — https://www.swiftfoundation.org/2023/02/22/swift-foundation-announces-plans-to-sunset/ (accessed February 2026)
6. Inside Philanthropy: "How the Sunsetting Swift Foundation Supports Indigenous Communities" — https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2023-11-7-how-the-sunsetting-swift-foundation-supports-indigenous-communities (November 2023, accessed February 2026)
7. Inside Philanthropy: "The Sunsetting Swift Foundation Is Giving Grantees the Power to Sustain Themselves" — https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2024-4-29-as-it-sunsets-the-swift-foundation-is-giving-grantees-room-to-sustain-themselves (April 2024, accessed February 2026)
8. Inside Philanthropy: Swift Foundation Profile — https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/find-a-grant/grants-s/swift-foundation (accessed February 2026)
9. Nonprofit Quarterly: "From Sunset to Sunrise: A Philanthropic Investment in Indigenous Sovereignty" — https://nonprofitquarterly.org/from-sunset-to-sunrise-a-philanthropic-investment-in-indigenous-sovereignty/ (accessed February 2026)
10. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer: Swift Foundation — https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/770559600 (accessed February 2026); financial data from 2024 filing: Revenue $3.77M, Expenses $9.42M, Total Assets $42.86M, Charitable Disbursements $7.46M
11. CauseIQ: Swift Foundation — https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/swift-foundation-co-manchester-capital-management,770559600/ (accessed February 2026); grants total $7,008,810 in 2023
12. Grantmakers.io: Swift Foundation Profile — https://www.grantmakers.io/profiles/v0/770559600-swift-foundation/ (accessed February 2026)
13. Charity Navigator: Swift Foundation — https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/770559600 (accessed February 2026)
14. FundsForNGOs: Swift Foundation Grants — https://www.fundsforngos.org/indigenous-2/swift-foundation-grants-to-us-global-organisations-working-for-indigenous-people-issues/ (accessed February 2026)
15. Mission Investors Exchange: "Swift Foundation Invests in RSF Food & Agriculture PRI Fund" — https://missioninvestors.org/resources/swift-foundation-invests-rsf-food-agriculture-pri-fund (accessed February 2026)