Ronald W. Naito MD Foundation

Ronald W. Naito MD Foundation is a US private foundation based in Portland, OR.

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 supports nonprofit organisations working to strengthen communities and protect the planet. Its four areas are climate, health equity, sustainable communities, and Oregon arts and culture. Climate grants support work to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, including policy, advocacy and grassroots climate justice. Health-equity funding seeks better health outcomes, reduced inequities and greater individual and social well-being. Sustainable-communities grants address pressing social issues and equitable infrastructure so communities can thrive. Oregon arts and culture grants support imaginative organisations that broaden access and celebrate diverse traditions. Its grants are unrestricted, and the foundation aims to balance frontline services with organisations pursuing systemic solutions.

Themes

• Climate
• Health equity
• Sustainable communities
• Oregon arts and culture

Geographic Focus

US; International; Oregon.

What They Don't Fund

• Individual or departmental medical, health, scientific, or other types of research
• Organizations whose primary constituents are not under-resourced (save in climate, which we regard as of global impact)
• Organizations that require clients to meet certain mandates to access services (mandated “volunteering” or classes, proof of employment/job-seeking, membership dues, high barrier shelters, faith requirements or proselytizing, specific identities, etc)
• Organizations with messaging or practices that are othering or exclusionary, or that don’t have strong leadership by and buy-in from the communities they are seeking to support or resource
• Primarily government-, corporate-, member-, or industry-funded nonprofits, except when there is a specific request that can’t be funded through normal means
• Memorial or endowment campaigns, deficit reduction, or debt retirement
• Capital projects with budgets over $1 million
• Fraternal organizations, service clubs, labor organizations, neighborhood associations, merchant associations, chambers of commerce, etc
• Organizations closely affiliated with or co-branded with a business or celebrity
• Section 501(c)4 or (c)6 organizations or 509(a)3 supporting organizations; political organizations or organizations designed primarily to lobby or advance legislation or political candidates; or causes private foundations cannot fund without additional expenditure responsibility or due diligence
• Private foundations. (In limited circumstances, private operating foundations may be acceptable. We are also open to funders collaboratives on our issue areas.)
• Individuals, including innovators or creators in areas that we fund
• Faith-based organizations, even if the programs being delivered are secular
• Any cause from which our trustees or their family or business partners would benefit financially, professionally, educationally, or otherwise
• Any other activities or organizations for which support would violate IRS regulations governing private foundations
• Impact investment opportunities through our grants
• Lobbying
• Climate only: Next generation climate leadership (but we do seek to build capacity and diversity amongst current climate leaders); Regenerative agriculture or ranching, reforestation, or other longer-term carbon sequestration strategies, as well as CSS additions to existing non-renewable infrastructure; Clean/green technology research and development; Community-specific renewable energy installations, clean transportation, or other locally-focused capital projects; Cap and trade initiatives; Species and habitat conservation, including land and marine trusts; Environmental clean-up initiatives (although we do fund some organizations that advocate or litigate upstream against greenhouse gas emissions or health-related industrial pollutants)
• Health Equity only: Medical, pharmaceutical, or medical technology research and development or usage expansion, including the promotion or use of emerging or alternative medical treatments; Prognosis-specific research and support organizations (eg. cancer, Parkinson’s); Clean water or anti-toxin initiatives that affect only one watershed or community; Animal rescue or therapy (despite our love for them!); Hospital systems and their affiliate clinics or provider groups; One-time or limited-time enrichment activities for people with medical needs; Disaster relief and medical transport; Emergency/frontlines hunger relief, including soup kitchens and meal delivery, and housing initiatives, including temporary shelter, recovery/sober housing, foster care, and housing capital projects; Orphanages and other school/congregate-housing facilities
• Sustainable Communities only: Chambers of commerce or local development authorities or neighborhood associations, or business- or chamber-driven economic development initiatives; Alternative living communities; Disaster relief; Small business incubator/angel-investor organizations; Economic initiatives that involve biomass fuels, the harvesting of timber, or other reliance on extractive economies; Environmental justice initiatives that affect only one watershed or community; 501(c)4 organizations or any type of organization that private foundations cannot fund without additional due diligence; Overseas sustainable development organizations/initiatives that do not have a long-term presence in or leadership from the communities they seek to resource
• Oregon Arts & Culture only: Arts and culture organizations that are based in or serve states/regions other than Oregon; Organizations that don’t center under-resourced communities (including both artists and audiences); Organizations with budgets greater than $10 million; Arts education initiatives that are housed in private, charter, or public schools, colleges, or universities, except 501(c)3-run arts educational programs that operate across multiple schools; School bands, choirs, etc; PTAs and school boards; Aquaria, zoos, and tourism or experiential attractions; Playgrounds and other non-program-related capital projects; Summer camps, outdoor schools, hospital-based arts, children’s theatres, educational travel, one-off workshops, or other one-time or short-term arts educational or arts opportunities; Individual artists, including organizations that center the work of a single performer or creator; Programs that have a tuition element, even if there are tuition waivers or subsidies; Artists residencies and educational retreats; Financing requests for independent films, books, podcasts, etc

Applicants submit a letter of inquiry first. After reviewing it, the foundation selects organisations to proceed to the full application, which is accessed through the same site.

Deadlines: There are two application cycles per year, with each phase open for around a month.

• Repeat giving: In its TY2024 filing, 50% 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 462 grants to organisations were $20,000 or less.

What the foundation says:

• The foundation seeks a balance between frontline service organisations and those working for systemic solutions.
• It prefers not to be an applicant’s largest or smallest institutional funder, although it sometimes supports small or start-up organisations as a first or largest institutional funder.
• It values capacity-building and requests that leverage other funding, while also supporting general operations.
• It may request a low-key site visit with grantees, by video or in person, to listen and learn.
• For a single-year grant, it requires one report roughly eleven months after the grant is received.