OVERVIEW: The David and Lucile Packard Foundation makes over $300 million a year in grants. Environmental causes account for the foundation’s largest giving area, which includes land and ocean conservation, biodiversity initiatives, climate change and clean energy. Other areas of interest include global development, health, women and girls and early childhood education.
IP TAKE: According to past grantee reviews, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation is “supportive” and “accessible.” Note, however, that this funder does not accept unsolicited applications making it harder to get through the door. And while the Packard Foundation is known for giving to global nonprofits and NGOs, some smaller organizations involved in ocean research and sustainable fishing have had some success securing general operating support and multi-year grants, but on a smaller scale. Potential grantees should read about the foundation’s specific priorities on its individual program pages prior to submitting short descriptions of projects via its grant inquiry form or an email to an appropriate program officer. This funder is a major U.S. funder and great ally to know in its areas of giving.
PROFILE: The David and Lucile Packard Foundation was established in 1964 and is based in Los Altos, California. David Packard, who died in 1996, was the co-founder of the Hewlett-Packard technology company and a former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense. Lucile, who passed 1987, was instrumental in the management of Hewlett-Packard in its earliest years and oversaw much of the family’s philanthropy. During their lives, the Packards were instrumental in the establishment of Palo Alto’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and the Monterey Bay Aquarium and affiliated Research Institute, all three of which continue to receive support from the foundation. The Packards are signatories of the Climate Funders Justice Pledge.
Today, the Packard Foundation’s mission is to “work with people and communities to create enduring solutions for just societies and a healthy, resilient natural world.” Packard’s three main funding priorities are to build just societies, protect and restore the natural world and invest in families and communities. Beyond these priorities, the foundation organizes its grantmaking into nine specific overlapping “approaches” in the areas of climate change, conservation, education, scientific research, economic opportunity, food systems and agriculture. The foundation also makes grants for the communities of San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties in California.
Grants for Climate Change and Clean Energy
Climate change is currently this funder’s largest giving concern, and its Innovations in Climate Solutions initiative focuses on supporting “bold, creative ideas that wouldn’t otherwise get the support they need to have a chance at making a big difference.”
A current grantee, Climate Breakthrough, received $12 million in a recent year to support its awards program, which provides unrestricted funding to “extraordinary changemakers” whose projects have the potential for large scale mitigation of the climate crisis. Other grantees receiving grants of over $1 million in recent years include the United States Energy Foundation and the Climateworks Foundation. The foundation has also given to the Carbon Disclosure Project, the European Climate Foundation and Climate Advisors, Inc.
Grants for Environmental and Marine Conservation
The Packard Foundation supports the conservation of land and water through two of its stated funding initiatives, Forests for People and Climate, and Ocean. While both may overlap to some degree with Packard’s giving for climate change, these initiatives are distinct and provide opportunities that intersect with conservation and marine conservation.
The Forest for People and Climate initiative works to connect “funders and civil society organizations to end tropical deforestation.” The foundation participates in collaborative philanthropic efforts including the Climate and Land Use Alliance and Forests, People Climate which work to protect and reverse deforestation as a means of decreasing carbon emissions and limiting global warming over the coming decades. Other grantees working in the area of environmental conservation include the Big Sur Land Trust, Stand.earth and Germany’s ARbeitsgemeinschaft Regenwald und Artenschutz, which works to make the global paper industry sustainable.
Packard’s Ocean initiative focuses on marine biodiversity, sustainable fishing and “ocean-based climate solutions.” Recent geographic priorities for this work include Chile, China the U.S. and Indonesia, where the foundation has worked with Indigenous and community groups to support sustainable and equitable fishing practices. Grantees include Indonesia’s Perkumpulan Mandala Katalika, the Marine Science Institute, the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and Island Conservation in Santa Cruz, California.
Grants for Science Research and STEM Higher Education
Support for scientific research stems mainly from Packard’s Science funding program. The foundation’s approach here is three-pronged:
Packard Fellowships for Science and Engineering provide unrestricted funding to “early-career professors” at 50 participating universities in the U.S. and abroad. Fellows are generally nominated by university presidents and hail from disciplines including but not limited to mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, engineering and geosciences. Grants are awarded in the amount of $875,000 and distributed over a period of five years. For information about past
Fellows and participating universities, see the fellowship directory.
The foundation is the principal funder of the Monterrey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, which was founded by David Packard in 1987.
Other grantmaking supports “scientific assessments, research, and the connection of science and scientific thinking to decision-makers.” Areas of focus for these grants include:
Research that elucidates and works toward Packard’s stated conservation goals;
Research and/or innovations that relate directly to and may have an impact on the foundation’s environmental and climate change work;
Education, outreach, advocacy and policy that is science-based and and exemplary of “the value and integrity of science in decision-making, and the value of scientific research to society.”
The Packard Foundation notes that this approach is “in transition” with regard to its specific goals and interests. Grantseekers should check back periodically for updates. Past grantees include Goodwin Simon Strategic Research, the Hainan Zhiyu Sustainability Science and Technology Development Research Center and the the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.
Grants for Public Health, Women and Girls
Packard makes grants for health through its Children, Families and Communities program, as well as its Reproductive Health initiative.
The Children, Families and Communities program names healthcare access, affordable health insurance and paid family leave as priorities for funding. Previous grantees include organizations that have conducted research and developed policy on equitable children’s healthcare at the state and national levels. Grantees include the National Health Law Program, Utah Children, Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families and NC Child.
Grantmaking for Reproductive Health is global in scope and “is committed to promoting reproductive health and rights, with a focus on high quality information and services.” Areas of focus include sexuality education, contraception and abortion care, developing reproductive care infrastructure and norms and research and advocacy working toward reproductive justice around the world. Recent geographic priorities include the U.S., sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. In the U.S., the foundation has recently made grants to the National Abortion Federation, the Women’s Foundation of Mississippi and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice, among others. Global grantees include the African Population and Health Research Centre, the Ethiopian Center for Disability ad Development Association and Pathfinder International’s Promoting Change in Reproductive Behavior of Adolescents program in India.
Grants for Early Childhood Education, Economic Development and Food Systems
Packard provides support for three areas that funding overlaps for early childhood education, economic opportunity and food systems with grants through its Children, Families and Communities program.
Priorities here include affordable healthcare, equitable access to healthcare and nutrition and “comprehensive paid family leave policies” for all workers.
The Packard foundation approaches this work through strategies that include scaling successful programs and practices, supporting local leadership and developing quality community-based systems.
The initiative also supports research, advocacy and policy development towards its goals in these areas.
In a recent year, the foundation has made grants to the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, Common Good Iowa, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Health Leads, an organization that innovates solutions to pressing systemic problems that related to health and basic needs.
Grants for Global Development and Sustainable Agriculture
The Packard Foundation currently runs global grantmaking programs for Agriculture, Livelihoods and Conservation and Civil Society and Leadership. The Agriculture program builds of Packard’s previous funding of research and sustainable agriculture around the world and currently prioritizes funding for small-holder farming in Ethiopia and Indonesia, as well as continued research on sustainable farming in other areas of the world. In Ethiopia, Packard’s grants support agricultural initiatives that “aligns with conservation agendas” while simultaneously supporting local economies. Similarly, in Indonesia, the foundation supports projects that work with “forest-dependent communities” to support local economies and forest stewardship. Grants have supported Ethiopia’s Oromiya Development Association and Perkumpulan Hutan Itu Indonesia, which engages young people in environmental protection and sustainable farming programs. Other grantees of this initiative include the Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific and Farm Africa Limited.
Packard’s other area of global development grantmaking concerns Civil Society and Leadership. This initiative aims to “support leaders, organizations, and movements to achieve their missions and work towards collective change while fostering a thriving civil society.” This grantmaking overlaps with Packard’s work in the areas of reproductive health, environmental conservation and climate change. Grantmaking has prioritized inclusive organizations, collaborations and the promotion of civic engagement around the world. Recently, grants have gone to the Conversation Indonesia Foundation, the Turkish Philanthropy Fund; Mexico’s Proyecto de Derechos Economicos, Socialies y Culturales; the International Center for Not for Profit Law and the Alliance for Open Society International.
Grants for California
The Packard Foundation runs local grantmaking programs for San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties in California. Grantmaking aims to “create communities where everyone has access to the resources and services they need to be strong, resilient, and have opportunities to explore, grow and thrive.”
Areas of interest include arts and arts education, the environment, civic engagement, housing, food banks and basic needs and youth and afterschool programs.
Recent grantees include the Museum of Art and History at the McPherson Center, the Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara county and the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula.
Important Grant Details:
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation’s grants range from about $10,000 to several millions of dollars. This is a major funder The foundation’s average grant size is about $100,000. This funder supports a wide array of organizations ranging from well-recognized global entities to local grassroots groups working in areas of interest.
The Packard Foundation maintains a searchable database of its past grantees that dates back to 2015. Its website also features a insights page that describes the foundation’s recent work.
The Packard Foundation encourages grantseekers whose work aligns with its goals to complete its grant inquiry form or send a brief project description to the appropriate program officer.
Packard will not review unsolicited full proposals. About 15% of the Packard Foundation’s annual grantmaking is awarded to new grantees.
For additional information see the foundation’s FAQ and grantseekers pages. General inquiries may be made via the foundation’s contact page.
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