Eleanor Crook Foundation

The Eleanor Crook Foundation is one of the most mission-focused private family foundations operating in global health philanthropy. Its singular purpose — ending child deaths from malnutrition — shapes every dimension of its grantmaking, from the types of organizations it funds to how it manages those relationships over time.

ECF positions itself not as a passive funder but as an 'active investor and thought partner.' The Crook family holds direct leadership roles (Eleanor Crook serves as President and Secretary; William H. Crook Jr. and Mary Elizabeth Crook hold VP positions; Amy Crook Kowalski serves as Director) while CEO William Moore ($210,500 annual compensation) leads day-to-day strategy and external advocacy. This family-led structure means the foundation has high internal alignment and can make decisions quickly on aligned opportunities.

The giving philosophy centers on three integrated pillars — Research, Policy, and Advocacy — which ECF deploys in concert to move proven interventions from clinical evidence to government-scale adoption. Grants are not made in isolation; ECF actively seeds coalitions and uses its own grantmaking to crowd in bilateral donors, other foundations, and government financing. This coalition-building orientation means ECF is particularly drawn to organizations that can serve as nodes in broader funding networks.

Grant opportunities are predominantly invitation-only. The relationship typically begins with a brief introductory email to info@eleanorcrookfoundation.org, followed by a relationship-building conversation, a potential invitation to submit a proposal, and then an iterative development process (often multiple drafts). Large grants of $400,000+ align with ECF's biannual 'Decision Days' for strategic evaluation, though time-sensitive opportunities can be expedited. Typical review timelines run 2-4 months.

First-time applicants should strongly prioritize alignment with ECF's 'Power 4' interventions (prenatal MMS, RUTF, vitamin A supplementation, breastfeeding support) and demonstrate existing work in at least one of ECF's three scaling partner countries: Ghana, Senegal, or Nepal. Organizations already in the ecosystem of top ECF grantees — UNICEF USA, Rotary Foundation, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, or Emergency Nutrition Network — carry relationship capital that can accelerate introduction. Above all, ECF expects grantees to demonstrate scalability planning from the initial proposal stage, not as a future aspiration.

ECF's grantmaking has grown dramatically over the past decade. Total giving rose from $1.7 million in 2015 to $6.1 million in 2020, $10.1 million in 2022, and $13.6 million in 2023 — an approximately 8x increase over eight years. Grants paid (direct cash disbursements) tracked a similar trajectory: $1.4 million in 2015, $3.4 million in 2020, $5.6 million in 2022, and $8.1 million in 2023. Total assets reached $83.3 million in 2024 on revenue of $11.7 million, with contributions received of $19.4 million in 2023 reflecting Eleanor Crook's continued personal giving into the endowment.

The foundation's payout rate is unusually high for a private foundation. In 2023, total giving of $13.6 million represented approximately 16.6% of the $82.2 million asset base — well above the statutory 5% minimum — signaling a spend-oriented rather than endowment-preservation philosophy.

Grant size ranges from a low of $3,750 to a maximum of $424,851, with a median of $110,000 and an average of $155,093 across 17 tracked grant records. Across the full grantee universe of 136 documented grants totaling $18.67 million, the average disbursement was $137,254. In practice, ECF builds large multi-grant relationships with its core partners: the United Nations Foundation has received $2.93 million across 7 grants; UNICEF USA $2.44 million across 8 grants; Rotary Foundation $2.39 million across 6 grants; and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine $1.28 million across 5 grants.

By program type, advocacy and Congressional engagement accounts for roughly 40% of documented giving (United Nations Foundation, UNICEF USA, Center for US Global Leadership, Alliance to End Hunger, One Campaign, Coalition for Global Prosperity). Research and technical work represents approximately 35% (Rotary Foundation, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Emergency Nutrition Network, Sight and Life Foundation, ALIMA USA). Policy analysis captures roughly 15% (Clinton Health Access Initiative, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Nutrition International). Media and journalism fellowships account for the remaining ~10% (Devex, International Center for Journalists).

Geographically, all grantees are funded for their work in low- and middle-income countries. Sub-Saharan African programs (Ethiopia, Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal) and South Asian programs (Nepal) are the primary implementation geographies. U.S.- and UK-based grantees are funded exclusively for their global advocacy or policy work. New entrants typically start with $50,000–$150,000 relationship-building grants before growing into larger multi-year commitments.

The database identifies ECF's asset-size peers as similarly-sized private family foundations in the $83 million asset range. The table below compares ECF against these peers, followed by strategic context.

ECF stands in a category apart from its asset-size peers. The Gray, Burke, Trinity, Upham, and Giorgi foundations are all private family foundations with comparable endowments but no publicly available grantmaking focus, application processes, or programmatic priorities. Their inclusion here reflects asset-based similarity only. ECF's true strategic peers in the global nutrition space are substantially larger: the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (which made a direct grant to ECF in 2021), the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, and the Wellcome Trust. Among foundations of comparable size, ECF is exceptional for the breadth of its public profile, the specificity of its mission, and a payout rate (approximately 16% of assets in 2023) that far exceeds the private foundation minimum of 5%. For grant seekers evaluating ECF against other potential funders, the relevant comparison is less about asset size and more about thematic fit: ECF is the rare mid-sized foundation where the entire grantmaking portfolio — every dollar — flows to a single cause.

ECF entered 2026 with significant momentum. In February 2026, the foundation helped secure a historic $300 million in U.S. Congressional funding for RUTF — the largest domestic legislative win for global malnutrition treatment on record, according to ECF's own framing. That same month, CEO William Moore was named to Devex's Power 50 list of the most influential figures in global development. March 2026 brought two ECF-authored commentaries: one on UK leadership in malnutrition as a geopolitical stability issue, and one on delivery system barriers in women's health.

In September 2025, ECF announced a $2.15 million partnership with Ghana Health Services and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) — one of ECF's existing grantees — to make RUTF routinely available through Ghana's public sector for the first time. The partnership targets 90% treatment coverage and includes institutionalizing RUTF reimbursement through Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme. December 2025 featured two strategic publications: a case study on Senegal's community health worker-led model for acute malnutrition management, and a forward-looking paper on rethinking investment in child wasting.

Earlier milestones include the March 2025 MMS Joint Challenge Commitment Statement, positioning ECF as a convener of multi-funder commitments on prenatal nutrition, and a June 2024 feature on maternal nutrition progress in Nepal, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia. The James P. Grant Child Survival Award — announced in partnership with the Grant family — reflects ECF's interest in recognizing and elevating champions within the global child survival ecosystem. No leadership changes have been reported; William Moore and the Crook family leadership team remain in place.

ECF requires a relationship before any formal proposal, and grants are almost never awarded to organizations without prior contact. The practical entry points are narrow but well-defined.

Start with an email, not a proposal. Send a 2-3 paragraph note to info@eleanorcrookfoundation.org. Include: (a) your organization's evidence base and track record, (b) the specific intervention you work on and why it aligns with ECF's 'Power 4' (MMS, RUTF, vitamin A, or breastfeeding support), (c) your target geography — Ghana, Senegal, Nepal, or East Africa carry the most weight, and (d) what type of partnership you are hoping to explore. Do not attach a full proposal at this stage.

Follow ECF on LinkedIn immediately. This is the only official channel for open calls for proposals. Occasional open RFPs appear with little notice; organizations already monitoring the page have a significant first-mover advantage.

Use the language of scale from the first conversation. ECF's RISE framework (Research, Innovate, Scale, Establish) requires proposals to map a three-phase pathway: single-setting testing → multi-context validation → national/government scale-up. Even in an introductory email, briefly signal that your theory of change includes government adoption. ECF will not fund perpetual pilots.

Quantify cost-effectiveness explicitly. ECF's team describes itself as 'obsessed with cost optimization.' Include cost-per-child-treated, cost-per-DALY-averted, or coverage metrics where available. Comparative data (your approach versus status quo) is particularly compelling.

Do not propose U.S.-based programs, lobbying activities, or individual scholarships. ECF explicitly excludes all three. All funded work must benefit populations in low- and middle-income countries.

Plan for 2-4 months between first contact and decision. Grants above $400,000 align with ECF's biannual 'Decision Days.' If your project has time-sensitive components (a government policy window, a clinical trial enrollment period), communicate this early and ask whether expedited review is possible.

Expect iterative drafts. ECF is known for active collaboration during proposal development — multiple revisions are the norm, not the exception. Treat this as relationship-building, not bureaucratic friction. Organizations that respond quickly and substantively to ECF's feedback consistently perform better in the review process.