Colf Family Foundation

## Mission & Funding Philosophy

The Colf Family Foundation is a small private family foundation incorporated in 1997 and based in Woodland, Washington — a rural community in Clark County near the Cowlitz County border. The foundation was established by the Colf family to support community organizations, educational institutions, religious entities, and civic groups in the greater Southwest Washington region.

The foundation's philosophy is relationship-driven and community-oriented. Rather than issuing open grant competitions, the Colf Family Foundation distributes funds to a wide range of preselected organizations — from the Washington State University Foundation to local churches, Rotary clubs, historical museums, and scholarship funds. The breadth of the grantee list suggests a family that is deeply embedded in the civic and religious life of Woodland and surrounding communities.

The foundation has no paid staff and is governed by three unpaid directors: Richard W. Colf (President), Nancy Colf (Vice President), and Forrest Giberson (Vice President). Its modest asset base of approximately $1.36M–$2.1M (fluctuating with investment performance) generates roughly $90,000–$100,000 in annual investment income, but the foundation distributes significantly more ($220,000–$264,000/year) by drawing down the corpus — a pattern consistent with an endowed family foundation in a distribution phase rather than an accumulation phase.

One notable feature: colf.org, the domain listed as the foundation's website, has been hijacked and now hosts a Thai slot machine site. There is no accessible foundation website.

## Grant Programs & Funding Priorities

The Colf Family Foundation distributes approximately $220,000–$264,000 per year across 9–16 grants. This translates to a median grant size of $5,000, but the range is extremely wide ($250 to $150,000).

Core Program Areas:

• WSU Vancouver Sciences Building (Major Capital): The largest known grant was $150,000 to the WSU Foundation for the WSU Vancouver Sciences Building. This appears to be a multi-year commitment to a capital campaign at a major regional university. Grants to WSU Foundation also appeared at $5,000 in recent years, suggesting an ongoing relationship.

• La Center Historical Museum / LCHS Scholarship: The foundation provides significant support ($50,000 in one year) to the La Center Historical Museum, with grants often designated for the "LCHS Scholarship" program benefiting La Center High School students. This is a recurring multi-year commitment.

• Community Unrestricted Contributions: The bulk of grants are unrestricted contributions of $1,000–$10,000 to local nonprofits and civic organizations, including:
• - Woodland Rotary
• - Green Mountain Baptist Church
• - Woodland Historical Museum Society
• - St. John Project Fund
• - Various other community organizations

• Frank Emerick Memorial: Periodic memorial contributions in honor of Frank Emerick.

Grant Size Distribution: - Small community grants: $250–$2,500 - Mid-range civic/nonprofit grants: $5,000–$10,000 - Major institutional grants: $50,000–$150,000 (WSU Foundation, La Center Historical Museum)

The foundation's 2024 filing shows $263,555 in total expenses with $246,000+ in qualifying distributions. Annual totals have ranged from $120,000 (2021) to $264,000 (2024).

## Peer Comparison

The Colf Family Foundation is a typical rural Pacific Northwest family foundation — community-oriented, relationship-based, and locally focused. It compares as follows to similar small private foundations in Southwest Washington:

Key differentiators: The Colf Family Foundation is unusual in combining very small ($250–$2,500) community grants with occasional very large ($50K–$150K) capital campaign grants. Most family foundations of this asset size stay in the $1,000–$25,000 range. The WSU Vancouver Sciences Building gift ($150,000) is a major institutional commitment that sets the Colf Foundation apart from its purely local peers.

The foundation's asset base has declined from ~$1.9M (2021) to ~$1.36M (2024), a 28% decrease over three years, as distributions have consistently outpaced investment returns. At this depletion rate, the foundation may have a 5–10 year giving horizon before requiring asset replenishment or reduced distributions.

## Recent Grants & Grantee Patterns

Based on IRS Form 990-PF filings from 2021–2024 and GrantExec/CauseIQ databases:

Patterns observed: - WSU Foundation and La Center Historical Museum are the anchor grantees receiving the largest grants - A long tail of 8–12 smaller grants ($250–$10,000) supports local churches, museums, service clubs, and civic groups - The foundation consistently makes grants to religious organizations (Green Mountain Baptist Church), which is notable for a private foundation - Grant count has grown from ~7 (2021) to ~16 (2024), suggesting increasing diversification of giving

## Application Process & Strategic Tips

The Colf Family Foundation is invite-only and does not accept unsolicited applications. On its IRS Form 990-PF, the foundation checked the box indicating it "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations and doesn't accept unsolicited applications for funds."

Foundation Contact: - No functional website (colf.org has been domain-hijacked) - Mailing address: Bank of America NA, 6816 NE Etna Rd, Woodland, WA 98674-2617 - Board: Richard W. Colf (President), Nancy Colf (Vice President), Forrest Giberson (Vice President)

Eligibility signals (based on grantee patterns): - Organization must be in Clark County or Cowlitz County, Washington (Southwest Washington region) - Community nonprofits, historical museums, educational institutions, civic organizations (Rotary), and religious organizations have all received grants - Both operating nonprofits and capital campaign recipients are in scope

Strategic Tips:

1. Personal connection is the only realistic pathway. The foundation is a family philanthropy with a small, personal board — relationships with Richard or Nancy Colf are required.

2. The WSU Vancouver and La Center Historical Museum relationships suggest the Colf family values educational legacy and local history/heritage organizations.

3. If you are a Woodland or La Center area organization working in education, local history, or civic life, this foundation may be approachable through community networking events, the Woodland Rotary (already a grantee), or through WSU Vancouver connections.

4. Grant requests in the $2,500–$10,000 range are most consistent with the foundation's typical community giving. Capital campaign support at $50,000–$150,000 appears reserved for multi-year institutional relationships.

5. The foundation's asset base is declining. Prospective applicants should prioritize outreach in the near term rather than waiting.