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MEYER MEMORIAL TRUST

Meyer Memorial Trust

Contact information:

425 Northwest 10th Avenue, Suite 400
Portland, OR 97209-3128
Phone: 503-228-5512
E-mail: mmt@mmt.org

Website: www.mmt.org 

Type of foundation: Independent foundation

Types of grants: Capital, equipment, general/operating support, income development, capacity-building, matching/challenge support, program-related investments/loans, program, seed money, technical assistance. 

Description: The Trust was established in 1978. Born in 1886 into a family of Brooklyn grocers, Mr. Meyer traveled west in 1905, working his way through the wheat fields of the Dakotas and Montana and the gold fields of Alaska. After building a door-to-door coffee business in Oregon, he established a coffee retail outlet in a downtown street market. Next, he invested everything he had in an "all package" grocery store. At the time of Mr. Meyer's death five decades later, the Fred Meyer chain of stores employed more than 13,000 people with annual sales exceeding $1 billion. The Foundation's main purpose is to invest in people, ideas and efforts that deliver significant social benefit to Oregon and Clark County, Washington.

The Foundation makes the following kinds of grants:

  • Grassroots Grants: Grassroots Grants range up to $25,000. This program is limited to tax-exempt organizations operating in Oregon and Clark County, WA. The Grassroots Grants program allows the Trust to assist a large number of worthy organizations with a wide variety of small projects that are limited in scope, but nevertheless significant for the applicant organization. It is unlikely that many of these grants will go to large organizations.
  • Nonprofit Capacity Building: The Trust is exploring funding opportunities, grants programs and resources for the nonprofit community. As part of this effort, it plans to include a Technical Assistance Grants Program to help nonprofits access needed resources, develop skills and build knowledge.
  • Program-Related Investments: The Trust seeks opportunities to make program-related investments (PRIs) to strengthen and expand the impact of its work. PRIs take the form of loans, loan guarantees, and equity investments that utilize capital to support a charitable project or activity. They help extend the reach of the Trust's grantmaking by aiding grantees in attracting other conventional sources of capital.
  • Responsive Grants: The Responsive Grants program (formerly General Purpose) supports projects related to arts and culture, education, environment and conservation, health, human services, public affairs/social benefit and a variety of other activities. Such grants are limited to organizations operating in Oregon and Clark County, WA. In reviewing requests, the Trust looks for proposals that have the promise of broad-scale or long-term impact on significant issues.

Sample grants:

  • $500,000 to KBPS, Portland, OR to help purchase station's broadcast license (2007).
  • $323,537 to Oregon Public Broadcasting for a two-year grant to expand radio service in rural Oregon (2009).
  • $250,000 to Lane Community College, KLCC Radio, Eugene, OR for a 15-year grant to purchase, renovate and equip new home for public radio station (2007).
  • $150,000 to Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, Warm Springs, OR to help construct building to co-locate newspaper office and KWSO radio station (2009).
  • $22,000 to PEG Broadcast Services, Coos Bay, OR to help this public access station provide more local performance and art programming (2009).

Fit for public broadcasting: The Foundation has made multiple gifts for public media and specifically to support several radio services. Public media appears to be a good fit for the Foundation's interest in arts, education and human services. The Foundation has made 12 grants for radio/television projects over the past six years, totaling more than $1.3 million.

Eligibility: Applications are open to organizations in Oregon and Clark County, Washington. No grants to individuals or for endowment funds, annual campaigns, general fund drives, special events, sponsorships, direct replacement funding for activities previously supported by federal, state, or local public sources, deficit financing or acquisition of land for conservation purposes (except through Program Related Investments).

Deadline: There is no deadline for initial inquiries. There are no proposal deadlines for Responsive Grants and PRIs. Deadlines for the Grassroots Grants program are March 15, July 15, October 15.

How to apply: An eligibility quiz is available online. All applications are made online using GrantIS, an application system developed by the Trust. Responsive Grants/PRIs use a two-step process: organizations should submit an online inquiry and then should submit a full online proposal, if invited. The Grassroots Grants program uses a one-step online proposal process.

Giving range: The average gift for radio projects is approximately $115,000 and the Foundation's high gift was $500,000 to KBPS AM/FM Radio Station. Most responsive grants are below $250,000.

Assets: $468,729,257 (2009)

Total giving: $22,069,279 (2009)

View 2004 Annual Report [PDF]. The Foundation no longer publishes annual reports since all relevant information about funding activities is now on the website.