Maxwell/Hanrahan Foundation

• The foundation makes grants by invitation only and does not accept unsolicited requests, so the realistic route in is a connection with one of the external experts or staff who recommend projects, not a cold application.
• Its interests centre on field-based science, art and craft, teaching and nature protection, with a stated priority for Hawaiʻi, so an organisation whose work fits those themes, and that has a clear link to the place, is the closest match.
• About 8 in 10 of its 159 grants to organisations fall between $150 and $30,000, and half were $10,000 or less, so a modest request in that range suits its typical grant; its largest grant was about $695,000, which is not a typical ask.
• The filing gives no timing for decisions, so build the relationship first and do not expect a quick answer.

The largest grants to organisations in the foundation’s latest filing:

• United States Artists · To support design and administration of the 2023 Maxwell/Hanrahan Awards in Craft
  $696,9002022 tax year
• Rhode Island School of Design · To endow a Maxwell/Hanrahan Society of Presidential Fellowship
  $500,0002022 tax year
• National Geographic Society · To support STEM Field Assistant Program, and Level I and II National Geographic Grants for Explorers engaging in field-based natural science research
  $300,0002022 tax year
• SF Botanical Garden Society At Strybing Arboretum · To support San Francisco Botanical Garden's new nursery
  $250,0002022 tax year
• Rhode Island School of Design · To support an expanded understanding of the cultural, social, and visual significance of movement by developing a paid, post-graduate research fellowship program for artists and scholars whose work engages with the study of and experimentation with movement at the intersection of race and culture
  $200,0002022 tax year
• California Institute of the Arts · To support the expansion of current infrastructure for the Institute's Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) strategy as it relates to faculty development, to support the recruitment and retention of diverse students, faculty, and staff for programs at the intersection of the arts, design, and computer-based technology
  $200,0002022 tax year
• Peninsula Open Space Trust · To support the Coyote Valley and Farmland programs
  $150,0002022 tax year
• Philanthropic Ventures Foundation · To support 1) Visiting Artist, 2) Excursion and 3) Technology, Engineering and Design Thinking small grants programs for teachers in the Bay Area
  $130,0002022 tax year

Grants to organisations listed in the foundation’s Form 990-PF filings. Grants to individuals are not shown.

Figures from the foundation’s IRS Form 990-PF filings. Assets are at fair market value at year end. The document icon links to each year’s filing on ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.