Marguerite Casey Foundation to donate half a billion by 2036 to help rescue “suffering” nonprofits under Trump

The Marguerite Casey Foundation plans to donate at least $500 million over the next decade, increasing its annual payout as leaders try to spur more urgent grantmaking throughout philanthropy — especially given what it calls the sector’s “suffering” under President Donald Trump’s policies. The White House’s cuts to federal funding, attacks on civil society and dismantling of diversity programs have amounted to what the National Council of Nonprofits calls an “existential crisis.” But funders’ responses have been lacking in the view of many nonprofit executives. Where, some ask, are the sorts of emergency funds launched when the coronavirus pandemic tested nonprofits? Most private foundations pay out about 5% of their assets annually, the minimum required by the Internal Revenue Service. Debates rage over whether that contribution limit should be increased. Any higher, the philanthropic consensus goes, and foundations would risk shortening their life spans. The Marguerite Casey Foundation did significantly increase donations in 2025, taking the rare step of dipping into its endowment to give $130 million. That experience confirmed what Carmen Rojas, its president and CEO, believed: Her duty to ensure the foundation’s perpetuity is not at odds with her obligation to adequately bankroll the communities they support. “A very practical lesson is that we could give out more money and exist for a long time,” she told The Associated Press. Funding examples of governments ‘for everybody’ The Seattle-based foundation, created in 2001 with funds from United Parcel Service founder Jim Casey, has an uncommon model. Invite-only grants cover one quarter of their beneficiaries’ budgets for five years. They broadly fund “community-based organizations” that organize to make sure “government works for everybody,” according to Rojas. That includes groups focused on issues of economic well-being such as housing and quality jobs as well as news o