Medina Foundation

The Medina Foundation is a Seattle-based family foundation with a nearly 80-year history of funding direct human services across 14 Greater Puget Sound counties. CRITICAL CONTEXT: As of February 2026, the foundation is no longer accepting unsolicited applications. In December 2024, Trustees announced a decision to sunset the foundation by the end of 2027, its 80th anniversary. In 2025, the foundation distributed approximately $14 million in exit grants to 195 long-term grantees — 90% unrestricted — effectively concluding regular grantmaking. In February 2026, a final invitation-only Request for Proposals focused on transformative projects was launched.

For organizations that have received a formal invitation to this final RFP, understanding the foundation's giving philosophy is essential context. Medina historically prioritized four principles: (1) unrestricted general operating support, reflecting deep trust in nonprofit leadership; (2) long-term relationships — top grantees like Bike Works Seattle (12 grants, $220,000) and the Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship (10 grants, $225,000) demonstrate multi-year investment patterns; (3) direct services to low-income individuals and families rather than advocacy, policy, or systems work; and (4) geographic fidelity to the Puget Sound region.

The family-led board — President Jill Gardner, Vice Presidents Steve Gant and Margaret Clapp, and other family members including Edelveis Clapp, Kate Williams Nunn, and Marion Rawlinson — has consistently deferred to Executive Director Jennifer Teunon (tenured since at least 2011, compensated $213,896 in 2023) for program management and grantee relationships. This means the program staff is the primary point of contact, not board members.

For the final RFP, the philosophical frame has shifted from ongoing partnership to legacy impact. Invited organizations should not propose more of the same work already supported through exit grants. Instead, proposals should articulate transformation — a new service model, a significant organizational milestone, a replicable innovation, or a capital investment that removes a structural barrier. Organizations without a prior relationship with Medina should not contact the foundation speculatively; the invitation list is closed.

Across 1,156 recorded grants totaling $21.5 million in the grantee database, the Medina Foundation's median grant was $20,000, with an average of $20,592 and a range from $50 (employee matching donations) to $300,000 (Friends of the Children National, for the Tacoma Replication Project). IRS filings show total annual grants paid ranged from $3.5M (2021) to $5.7M (2022), with total giving (including program expenses) between $4.6M and $6.9M from 2019 to 2023.

Asset trajectory: The foundation grew from $84.7M in assets (2011) to a peak of $109.9M (2021), settling at $103.6M in 2023. Net investment income was the primary revenue driver — $6.3M in 2021, $2.6M in 2020, $2.2M in 2022, and $2.6M in 2023 — supplemented by $1.5M in contributions received in both 2022 and 2023 (likely family contributions). Officer compensation held steady at $194K–$214K, reflecting a lean staff model.

Geographic concentration: 1,104 of 1,156 grants (95.5%) went to Washington State organizations. The remaining 52 grants reached organizations in Oregon (14), California (12), DC (7), New York (6), Illinois (4), Massachusetts (3), Virginia (2), Arizona (1), and New Mexico (1) — exclusively for multi-state nonprofits with a demonstrated Washington presence (e.g., Friends of the Children, City Year, Juma Ventures).

Program area breakdown by top grantee analysis: Housing and homelessness stabilization accounts for 6 of the top 10 cumulative recipients (Plymouth Housing Group $210K; Housing Hope $200K; YMCA of Greater Seattle $200K; Lifewire $160K; Compass Housing Alliance $150K; Vision House $175K). Youth development organizations — including Boys & Girls Clubs, Team Read, Zeno, and Summer Search — collectively account for another significant share. Economic opportunity grantees include Year Up Puget Sound ($120K), Ventures ($165K), and Casa Latina ($120K).

The 2025 exit grant distribution of ~$14M to 195 grantees implies an average exit grant of approximately $71,800 — roughly 3.5x the historical average — signaling a deliberate effort to provide meaningful runway capital before closure.

The five foundations identified as asset-size peers (ranging from $105.6M to $115.0M in assets) all carry an Education NTEE classification, though their actual program focus and accessibility differ substantially from Medina's human services model.

Annual giving figures for peer foundations are not publicly disclosed in available records; asset figures are drawn from IRS Form 990 filings.

Medina stands apart from this cohort in three significant ways. First, it was historically among the most accessible foundations at this asset level — accepting rolling, unsolicited LOIs with no formal deadlines, a rarity among $100M+ endowments. Second, its singular geographic commitment to the Puget Sound region produced a depth of local institutional knowledge and multi-decade grantee relationships that national or corporate foundations of similar scale rarely develop. Third, its voluntary sunsetting is highly unusual: most foundations at this asset level operate in perpetuity. The final RFP represents a genuinely rare, time-limited opportunity for transformative Washington State nonprofits with prior ties to the foundation.

The defining event in Medina Foundation's recent history is its announced sunsetting. In December 2024, the Board of Trustees — led by President Jill Gardner, with family directors including Margaret Clapp, Steve Gant, Edelveis Clapp, Marion Rawlinson, and Kate Williams Nunn — voted to close the foundation by the end of 2027, citing nearly 80 years of grantmaking as a natural horizon.

In 2025, the foundation executed its most consequential single-year action: distributing approximately $14 million in exit grants to 195 long-term grantee organizations, with 90% of those grants unrestricted. This disbursement — roughly 2.5–3x the foundation's typical $4M–$6M annual giving — was funded through a combination of current endowment returns and a deliberate drawdown of reserves.

In February 2026, Trustees announced a final, invitation-only Request for Proposals process focused on transformative projects. This is expected to be the last competitive grantmaking cycle before full sunset.

Prior to these closure activities, the foundation's last major initiative was the Impact Initiative (2022–2026): a $1M, five-year commitment to five grantee partners — Puget Sound Voyaging Society/Community Boat Project, Speak With Purpose, Grays Harbor Youth Works, Bike Works Seattle, and the Center for Inclusive Entrepreneurship — each receiving $40,000 annually to mark the foundation's 75th anniversary. A Professional Development RFP (2022–2025) allocated $100,000 per year to support grantee staff training, equity work, and conference attendance.

Executive Director Jennifer Teunon has led operations throughout these transitions; no leadership changes have been publicly announced.

Given the Medina Foundation's active sunsetting, the guidance below applies exclusively to the final invitation-only RFP cycle announced in February 2026. Do not submit unsolicited materials — the foundation has explicitly closed its open LOI process.

For invited organizations, the following specific guidance applies:

• Frame the proposal around transformation, not continuation. The February 2026 RFP explicitly seeks 'transformative projects.' Unlike Medina's historic preference for steady general operating support, this final cycle rewards proposals that describe step-change outcomes: a new program model, an organizational merger, a major capital investment that removes a structural barrier, or a replicable innovation with regional scale. Proposals that describe the same work already supported through 2025 exit grants will not be competitive.

• Quantify long-term population impact. Medina has historically evaluated organizations on demonstrated results, strong leadership, and diverse funding. For the final RFP, tie outcomes to 5–10 year projections. How does this investment change the community after Medina is gone?

• Acknowledge the exit grant explicitly. If your organization received one of the 195 exit grants in 2025, note it and explain how the new investment is distinct, additive, and transformative — not duplicative.

• Anchor to the 14-county geographic scope. Eligible counties are Clallam, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Mason, Pacific, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, Thurston, and Whatcom. Ensure proposed activities are explicitly tied to residents of these counties.

• Mirror Medina's vocabulary. Language used consistently by the foundation: 'direct services,' 'low-income,' 'historically under-resourced communities,' 'diverse board,' 'strong leadership,' and 'additional funding support.' These terms signal cultural alignment.

• Contact grants@medinafoundation.org before submission if you are unclear on scope. The foundation's staff is small but responsive, and a focused pre-submission inquiry is appropriate.

• Know the hard exclusions: Religious programming, arts organizations, healthcare-specific work, environmental programs, and political advocacy are categorically excluded regardless of population served.