Anschutz Foundation

The Anschutz Foundation operates as a high-trust, family-governed private foundation with $1.86 billion in assets and a distinctively Colorado identity. Founded in 1984 by Philip F. Anschutz — whose fortune spans oil, railroads, real estate, and entertainment — the foundation is led by his son Christian P. Anschutz as president and staffed by Executive Director Ted E. Harms (compensation: ~$443K) and Vice President David Ryan (~$423K). Multiple Anschutz family members serve as directors and officers, creating an institution where family values directly shape grantmaking decisions.

The foundation distributes more than 500 grants annually to Colorado-based 501(c)(3) organizations across five priority areas: Health & Wellness, Human Services, Youth Development & Education, Quality of Life & Development, and Values & Relationships. The portfolio is bimodal: flagship anchor grants to major institutions (University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Children's Hospital Colorado, Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver) run into the tens or hundreds of millions, while the community-facing grant program serves a much broader set of nonprofits with smaller awards.

For first-time applicants, the LOI is the critical first step. The foundation explicitly recommends submitting a one-to-two page letter of inquiry before preparing a full proposal. Staff review the LOI as a screening tool — if there is potential fit, they contact the organization and provide access to the online application portal. This means the LOI must function as a persuasive stand-alone pitch, not a cover letter: it should clearly state your mission, the population you serve, the funding amount requested, and how the program aligns with the foundation's five focus areas.

A key distinguishing factor is the foundation's emphasis on 'personal values and responsibilities' — language drawn directly from its own eligibility guidelines. This reflects a socially conservative philanthropic tradition that values individual agency, character development, and community self-sufficiency. Organizations whose theory of change emphasizes building personal capacity and civic responsibility alongside direct service provision will find stronger alignment here than those focused primarily on systemic or structural advocacy.

With four annual deadlines — January 15, March 30, July 15, and September 30 — the foundation offers regular entry points. The most strategic approach is to submit an LOI 4-6 weeks before a target deadline, leaving time for staff review and a potential invitation to apply within the same grant cycle.

The Anschutz Foundation's grantmaking reflects a high-variance, anchor-investment model anchored in Colorado's healthcare, education, and human services sectors. Between 2018 and 2023, total annual giving ranged from $49.7 million (2018) to $122.9 million (2022), with the wide swings driven primarily by timing of large challenge gifts and multi-year institutional commitments rather than changes in base programming.

Annual giving by fiscal year: - 2018: $49.7M - 2019: $71.7M - 2020: $69.0M - 2021: $90.1M - 2022: $122.9M (peak — likely includes major CU Anschutz investments) - 2023: $55.4M

The three-year average (2021–2023) is approximately $89 million annually. With net investment income reaching $106.2 million in 2023 — well above the $55.4M given that year — the foundation has significant distributable capacity and may increase giving in 2025–2026 given the September 2025 $50M challenge gift announcement.

The 990-PF filings show that the foundation's six largest documented grants averaged $72 million each, totaling $432 million across the filing period. This concentration is consistent with the known pattern of major institutional gifts: the 2018 $120M commitment to CU Anschutz (including $30M for mental health), and the 2025 $50M challenge gift for the Campus Mental Health Collaborative. The lifetime Anschutz Foundation contribution to Children's Hospital Colorado has reached $50 million, and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Denver benefited from the naming of the Nancy P. Anschutz Center.

For the community-facing grant portfolio (500+ grants annually), individual award sizes are not publicly itemized in 990 filings due to the 'See Attachment' format, but the foundation's broader Colorado nonprofit ecosystem suggests typical community grants in the range of $25,000–$150,000 for established relationships, with smaller introductory grants of $10,000–$25,000 for new grantees. Health & Wellness dominates dollar volume given the scale of healthcare institutional gifts; Human Services and Youth Development & Education account for the broadest grantee count. Rural Colorado organizations receive explicit priority alongside Denver-metro institutions.

The Anschutz Foundation sits within a tier of major U.S. private foundations with assets between $1.8B and $2.0B, but its Colorado geographic focus and family-values emphasis make it distinctive within that cohort.

Among these asset-tier peers, the Anschutz Foundation is the most geographically concentrated — nearly all grantmaking stays within Colorado — and the most accessible to new applicants, given its published LOI pathway and four annual deadlines. MJ Murdock offers more structured open competition but requires Pacific Northwest presence. Barr and Weinberg are invitation-preferred and operate nationally, making them practically inaccessible to cold applicants. Broad is effectively closed to unsolicited proposals.

For Colorado nonprofits, the Anschutz Foundation is the highest-capacity open-pathway funder in the state, and its Values & Relationships focus area is unique among foundations of this size — no peer foundation maintains a comparable explicit giving priority around civic virtue and personal responsibility. This creates a distinctive positioning opportunity for faith-adjacent organizations, character education programs, and direct service providers with a self-sufficiency orientation.

The most significant recent activity is the September 2025 announcement of a $50 million challenge gift to the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, the foundation's largest publicly disclosed grant in recent years. The gift launched the CU Anschutz Campus Mental Health Collaborative, designed to attract $150 million in additional funding from federal, state, and private partners to reach a $200 million total initiative. Christian Anschutz, foundation president, stated: 'There is a critical need for mental health care support across our state. We hope this gift will help attract additional funding to advance this vital work.' The Collaborative will develop technology-enabled programs across community interventions, crisis care systems, substance abuse treatment, and behavioral health workforce development, with Children's Hospital Colorado and UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital as operational partners.

This announcement brought the foundation's lifetime giving to Children's Hospital Colorado to $50 million and followed the 2018 commitment of $120 million to CU Anschutz's strategic priorities — $30 million of which was explicitly earmarked for mental health. Together, these gifts signal a sustained, deepening institutional partnership with Colorado's largest academic medical complex.

Christian P. Anschutz's emergence as the public face of these major announcements — rather than the foundation's professional staff or Philip Anschutz — reflects a generational leadership transition that appears well underway. No other major leadership changes or program restructurings were identified in public records for 2025–2026.

Start with the LOI — always. The foundation explicitly recommends a one-to-two page letter of inquiry as the first step for all new applicants, and treats it as the primary screening document. Invest as much care in the LOI as you would in a full proposal. Cover four things: who you are, what the program does, who it serves, and why it aligns with the foundation's priority areas. Staff will contact you within three to four weeks if the fit warrants further review.

Use the foundation's own vocabulary. The phrase 'personal values and responsibilities' appears in the foundation's eligibility guidelines and is not boilerplate — it reflects a deliberate philanthropic philosophy. Proposals that emphasize building individual agency, civic responsibility, and self-sufficiency alongside direct service will resonate more than those framing impact in purely structural or systemic terms.

Anchor into active priority themes. The September 2025 $50M challenge gift to CU Anschutz signals that mental health access, crisis care, and behavioral health workforce development are active priorities. If your work intersects these areas, explicitly connect it to the statewide mental health access challenge the foundation is trying to solve.

Respect the four deadlines. Submissions are due January 15, March 30, July 15, and September 30 at 5 p.m. Plan to submit your LOI at least four to six weeks before your target deadline. LOIs received too close to a deadline may not be reviewed until the following cycle.

Show Colorado depth. Geographic restriction is strict. If your organization serves both Colorado and other states, emphasize the Colorado-specific program and impact data. Rural Colorado reach is a particular asset — explicitly note if you serve rural counties or provide statewide programming.

Build toward the site visit. If invited to apply, staff may request additional information or schedule a site visit before the board decision. Prepare a concise site visit narrative that emphasizes direct program delivery, organizational financial health, and community need — not aspirational futures. The board's decision arrives by mail in late May (for January/March cycles) or late November (for July/September cycles).

Avoid common disqualifiers. The foundation does not fund individuals, organizations lacking 501(c)(3) status, or work primarily outside Colorado. Advocacy-heavy or politically oriented programs are unlikely fits given the foundation's values emphasis.